Getting new hires acclimated to their role and productive quickly has never been without its challenges. In today’s world of remote and hybrid teams, remote on-boarding can be more difficult than when we were all co-located. But is it actually easier with a co-located team or simply a more familiar process?
For years, we onboarded new employees in the same way, based on location.
- We introduced the newbie to their coworkers, usually during a meeting.
- We assigned a senior member of the team to be a mentor and main point-of-contact for the new employee.
- The manager was in close proximity and would do frequent check-ins and answer questions on the fly.
- There was plenty of informal socializing with the teammates. Relationships formed that built trust and made it easy to get information and other help when needed.
As with so much in remote work, these basic tenets remain the same. We need to allow for the different dynamics of working apart from each other.
Introducing New Teammates.
According to studies by SHRM and others, a strong on-boarding process can increase employee retention by over 80%. In the “before time,” you often brought the person in for their first day when there was a meeting planned. You’d introduce the person and give them a chance to say hello and meet their teammates. Maybe there’d be a lunch planned (or even provided) so people could chat.
When people are separated by distance and often time zones, this is less practical. Yes, you can have a team web-cam call. These often aren’t as effective as in-person introductions. Not everyone uses their cameras, there’s a lot of multitasking, and the introductions are often sandwiched between other team business. And as soon as the meeting is over, everyone disappears into the ether. There’s no informal socializing when everyone logs off at the same time.
You can enhance the one-on-one connections by doing something simple. When a new person joins our team at The Kevin Eikenberry Group, we have a remote on-boarding tradition. In the first week, the new hire must reach out to every member of the team (that’s about 13 people) and schedule a one-on-one, 30-minute conversation (In person, if possible. On webcam, if not) that is only partly about the job. These are friendly, informal, “get to know you” chats. It’s funny how uninterrupted time in a rich communication environment quickly forms relationships.
Also, try training in cohorts. While eLearning is fast and efficient, it can also feel isolating. Creating a block of people who are learning together helps form working relationships and teamwork.
Jumpstarting social connections during their remote on-boarding can help the new person feel accepted. They learn who they want to spend more time getting to know, and who can help them make necessary adjustments.
Mentoring and Shadowing
The traditional method of getting a new hire up to speed usually involved bolting them to an experienced team member. That person became their lifeline as they navigated this new job.
This worked well, partly because people learned from more experienced teammates. But they didn’t work in isolation. The mentor often knew who to ask about certain things, or how to work across departments. This isn’t always possible when a portion of the team is not in the same workplace all the time.
Try breaking the mentoring and shadowing into chunks based on function. Rather than have a single mentor, assign multiple mentors based on job functions. Mary is in Denver, but she’s the Excel whiz on the team. Bob is in the office on Tuesdays, so that’s when you want to schedule time for troubleshooting customer complaints.
This approach serves two purposes. First, it jumpstarts working relationships and makes distance less of a psychological barrier. Second, it stops the new employee from imprinting on their mentor. They shouldn’t become over-reliant on those in the office at the expense of other team members.
The Leader’s Availability and Time
When you share a workplace with your new team member, there’s a tendency to hover. The manager often takes on the role of mentor. Because you can actually see that person, your brain reminds you to make yourself available to them. You’re more apt to notice if they’re struggling, and you can jump in to help. Those aren’t bad things.
Yet, when you are apart, this doesn’t feel as natural (and it isn’t.) The new hire wants to build a strong working relationship with their new boss. They need answers to questions in order to feel supported and do good work. He or she needs frequent feedback until they develop confidence in their work. As the leader, here are some things you can do:
- Schedule frequent (daily?) check-ins using multiple communication methods. Setting times for this interaction will reduce the feeling of being checked-up on, and also reduce the stress of the newbie not knowing when they’ll be able to reach you. As their confidence and capability grows, the frequency of your check-ins can subside.
- If you’re not available, ensure that the new hire knows who to go to for answers. Having someone in their time zone or on their schedule who is prepared to help can be of great value.
- Let them know when you’re available. Shared schedules are great, but people always worry they’re interrupting your work or being a problem. Setting the workplace version of a professor’s “office hours” is helpful.
Socializing
Help the new hire develop social connections. Take time during meetings to build interpersonal connections. Ice Breakers are one obvious way to do that. Have their new peers take part in the meeting by teaching something they know. Bringing the new person into problem solving discussions, (even if they might not be able to help at first) is important.
Use asynchronous tools like chat rooms in Teams or Slack to engage in social activities. “Watercooler” channels are becoming popular places to be a bit more casual. Think of it as a “virtual break room.” Have fun and share personal news that wouldn’t be appropriate in general email or “work-related” chat discussions.
As you can see, the basics of onboarding remain the same. How you do it fits under our motto of “leadership first, location second.”
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