When it comes to remote work, one of the most important things you should do is develop a remote onboarding checklist. By taking the time to orient each new hire, you will help them hit the ground running and be productive from day one.
Here is a remote onboarding checklist to help you get started! First of all, you might want to invest in a dedicated welcome kit and offer each new employee a home office bonus that will go towards purchasing things like a comfortable desk and a pair of high-quality headphones.
Next, have the new hire fill out all the necessary paperwork online using a platform like Autenti, patiently answer all the questions that they might have, and deliver essential information, such as access details to company accounts, a checklist of assignments for the first week, and a list of company resources. Last but not least, welcome the new hire by organizing a team meeting or an in-person event.
Do you want to know more? If so, below, we will elaborate on all the things listed here. Once you have read through it all, the whole remote onboarding process should get much easier to handle!
Invest in a Dedicated Welcome Kit
Welcome kits are an excellent way to make new hires feel appreciated and supported right from the start. A welcome kit could include items like a company t-shirt, stickers with the company logo, a personalized note from the CEO, and small gadgets, such as headphones and mugs.
If possible, splurge on the kit, but do not overdo it! On the one hand, you do not want to break the bank by buying insanely expensive stuff. On the other hand, you do not want to give the impression that the company is cheap by opting for the cheapest things possible. To find the perfect balance, you might want to explore websites like heydiscount.co.uk that allow you to buy a variety of different items with promo codes and sometimes even in bulk.
Offer a Home Office Bonus
A home office bonus will go a long way in making sure that each new hire is set up for success. It will allow them to purchase things like a comfortable desk, a high-quality pair of headphones, and any other equipment they might need to do their job. The bonus should be significant enough to make a difference but not so large that it seems excessive. Ideally, it should be a few hundred dollars, but no more than a thousand dollars.
Allow to Fill Out All the Necessary Paperwork Online
While it is entirely plausible to have an employee fill out paperwork by hand in a physical office, it can be troublesome for remote employees. If you decide to hire someone who lives on the other side of the world, getting all the necessary paperwork to that person and back could take weeks or even months. In addition, the documents could potentially get lost in transit, which can be pretty problematic both for you and the virtual employee.
Instead of dealing with that, fill out all the necessary paperwork online using a platform like Autenti. Doing so will allow you to securely send documents to the new hire and have them fill everything out electronically. Not only is this much faster, but it is also more secure and convenient.
Patiently Answer All the Questions They Might Have
When you are onboarding a new remote employee, it is important to be patient and answer all the questions that they might have. This might seem like common sense, but you would be surprised by how many companies make the mistake of rushing through the onboarding process and not taking the time to orient their new hires properly.
As a result, the new hires are left feeling confused and frustrated. Do yourself and the new hire a favor by taking the time to answer all their questions. Not only will this make the onboarding process smoother, but it will also help the new hire be productive from day one.
Deliver Essential Information
It is vital to deliver all the essential information your virtual employee needs to do their job. This includes things like access details to company accounts, a checklist of assignments for the first week, and a list of company resources, such as documents with standard operating procedures and company policies.
You could put all this information in a dedicated welcome email that you can send to the new hire or in a message on your company’s instant messaging platform, such as Slack. It is up to you!
Welcome the New Hire
Last but not least, it is important that you welcome the new hire in a personal way. You could do this by organizing a virtual team meeting or, if the employee lives close to the company office, an in-person event. The important thing is that you take the time to introduce the new hire to the team and make them feel like they are part of the company.
In Conclusion
There you have it! These are the things you need to include in your remote onboarding checklist.
To begin with, you should invest in a dedicated welcome kit and offer each new hire a home office bonus. Then, have the new hire fill out all the necessary paperwork online and give them essential information, such as access details to company accounts, a list of assignments to take care of during the first week, and a list of company resources. Finally, make the new hire feel welcomed by organizing a team meeting or an in-person event.
Doing all these things is guaranteed to help you set your new remote employees up for success!
HR Future Staff Writer