Remote working has taken the world by storm, and as companies grow they have to hire external workers. However, attracting these new employees can be a challenge. Organizations cannot necessarily rely on the same methods that they use to engage on-site employees. To find out what to do, we asked nine successful entrepreneurs on the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question:
What onboarding idea can a company use to make a new remote employee feel welcome? Why is it effective?
1. Create an onboarding hub
Create an onboarding hub that describes what employees can expect in the first few days. We have an onboarding page on our online hub that is broken down by role and team. There is a schedule of what new hires should do on each of their first days. It’s a great introduction to the company and shows how we support them to be successful from the start. – Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster
2. Create a buddy system
One tool that has been incredibly powerful for us over the years is our buddy system. We assign a buddy to every new employee (often not from his own immediate team) who supports his integration and who checks in regularly in addition to his immediate team leader. This offers several ways to ask questions, point out ambiguities, and get a broader context for the business. – Alex Furman, Invitae
3. Have them reach five employees
We ask all of our new hires to reach at least five members of our team who are not part of their department and schedule 15-minute calls. It’s probably one of the best things we do. Everyone is a little reluctant to go into it, but once they get out they are so happy that they did. It’s an amazing way to build relationships between your departments. Dave Nevogt, Hubstaff
4. Send a welcome gift with a note
Send them a welcome gift with a message from their team. We send each new employee a package with a t-shirt, coffee gift card and a note signed by all teammates with specific reasons why they are so excited for that person to join the team. – Kelsey Raymond, Influence & Co.
5. Include their names in the company newsletter
A great way to welcome new employees is to include them in your weekly company newsletter. Add a section to greet the newest team members and celebrate anniversaries. We found that the inclusion of this role helped put new employees in their roles. – John Turner, SeedProd LLC
Other items from AllBusiness.com:
6. Hold a special Zoom meeting to introduce them
Create a Zoom meeting to introduce the new remote employee to the rest of your team. This makes your new employee feel welcome and part of the crew. It also shows that you care about creating and developing a corporate culture and building a community. – Riccardo Conte, Virtus Flow
7. Send them a care package
One of the best ways to make a new employee feel connected to the company is to send them a care package when they join. While we have all the technology necessary to communicate effectively, employees can still feel cut off when their only contact with their employer is through a machine. Pick up something solid, be it onboarding supplies or healthy snacks. or a cozy company hoodie. – Ismael Wrixen, FE International
8. Set up an online conference with your manager
One of the first things you can do is have an online conference between the new hire and their manager. It gives them an opportunity to connect with someone on your team who will help them feel more grounded. In our business, we also start a series of drip emails with relevant onboarding information. This automates the onboarding process and leaves the new hiring tasks to be done. – Blair Williams, Member Press
9. Use your work chat channels
If you want new remote workers to feel welcome, use your work chat channels. We have a group called “Family” that consists of every member of our team. When someone joins we all say hello and let them know we are here if they have any questions. I think this shows that we are all one big family and that they are welcome in our circle. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
RELATED: 10 Lessons I Learned From Building and Managing a Remote Team
Comments are closed.