Onboarding checklist for remote employees

How to use this onboarding checklist

When you bring a new colleague on board, the onboarding phase is pivotal. A well-run experience validates their decision to join, whereas a poor one can have the opposite effect.

For remote hires, effective onboarding is even more important. Since you cannot greet them in person or immerse them in the office environment, you must take extra steps and adapt some practices.

An onboarding checklist helps here. It provides a standard template to deliver consistent experiences for remote hires and to scale the process as your organisation grows.

Drawing on our extensive experience onboarding staff at Remote, below are the principal tasks and procedures to prioritise:

Arrange introductory callsRemote employees frequently feel more isolated and siloed than colleagues in an office, so you must make additional efforts to foster belonging and team cohesion.Informal social sessions can deliver significant benefits — improved engagement, productivity and retention. They also help new hires feel welcomed, comfortable and confident to seek support.

To-dos:

• Arrange 1:1 video calls (or ask the hire to arrange them) with teammates and cross-functional partners

• Arrange casual virtual team meet-and-greets, such as coffee chats, happy hours,

  or lunch meetings

• Assign a dedicated onboarding buddy to help the new employee settle in

• Share personality assessments or work-style quizzes, then review the results together online

• Encourage “personal shares”, where the new hire tells colleagues about their hobbies and background

Highlight key policiesAvoid handing over a hefty policy manual and stopping there. Call out the policies most relevant to remote workers — for example, time off, expenses and equipment.

To-dos:

• Curate and distribute policy briefs, codes of conduct and training materials

• Hold virtual sessions or record Loom videos to explain remote-specific policies, such as reimbursements for home office expenses

• Explain the applicable cybersecurity and digital asset policies

• Set out the rules on information protection and data privacy

• Leave room for asynchronous discussion to interpret policies for distributed teams

It’s also useful to include self-service elements so hires can be onboarded asynchronously and at their own pace. If you choose this approach, provide a self-serve checklist for the employee to follow.

Explain the tools and communication flowsRemote workers depend far more on software and tools to collaborate and manage workflows. Without the chance to look over a colleague’s shoulder or ask quick questions, new hires must become self-sufficient rapidly.To support this, explain the purpose of each tool they will use. Again, self-serve materials and user guides are advisable.

To-dos:

• Create guides to log into key systems and accounts

• Demonstrate (asynchronously if needed) how the tools integrate and function together

• Explain how the hire’s team uses project-management systems (where applicable)

Also explain how your communication channels operate, particularly if the hire has no prior remote experience.

To-dos:

• Set expectations for online hours and availability

• Provide guidance on email, chat and meeting etiquette

• Explain the norms for response times and video usage

• Share best practices for calendar management

Clarify roles and personnelNew hires need clarity on which tasks they are expected to perform, who they will work with and the precise nature of their duties. Clearly distinguishing their responsibilities from colleagues’ will reduce confusion.Also set expectations for response times, meeting cadences and availability. For example, employees in the US typically begin their workdays later than those in Europe; if the hire will collaborate across time zones, explain how this will be managed.To-dos:

• Outline regional versus centralised responsibilities

• Set expectations for response times and meetings, and include these in the handbook and welcome emails

• Identify key regional contacts and stakeholders

Promote your company’s cultureFor remote workers, cultural nuances — unwritten rules, in-jokes and workplace rituals — are harder to learn. Make sure your hire is briefed from day one.

To-dos:

• Email new hires a staff handbook explaining the company’s culture, values and work environment

• Explain company terminology, acronyms and traditions

• Send remote workers company swag such as shirts with slogans or value statements

  Plan beyond the first dayRemote staff receive fewer environmental cues and informal touchpoints than in-office employees. Therefore, onboarding should be more structured, with more frequent check-ins.For instance, remote workers miss out on informal learning from overheard conversations or impromptu peer mentoring. A structured onboarding journey compensates.

To-dos:

• Establish milestones and performance goals for 30, 60 and 90 days to enable new hires to own their development paths

• Schedule check-ins on progress and any obstacles new hires need to overcome

• Provide training on any skills required for the role, for example product knowledge

• Arrange for new employees to connect with a mentor about acclimating, strengths and development areas

• Regularly run engagement and onboarding satisfaction surveys

Leverage data

Without face-to-face interaction, nonverbal cues and sentiments are harder to read. That makes it difficult to know whether onboarding resources resonate with remote staff. Remote managers can fall prey to incorrect assumptions without data; collecting data supplies useful insights and reduces guesswork.

To-dos:

• Send weekly polls about experience, challenges and needs

• Use learning-management systems (LMSs) to track training completion rates

• Assess how long new hires need to reach full productivity in their roles

• Gather feedback on new hires’ preferred communication methods

Data bridges the visibility gaps of remote work, helping ensure your onboarding process meets the needs of hires you do not see face-to-face.

Why is the employment onboarding process so important?

A personalised and carefully planned onboarding process helps new employees feel a stronger sense of belonging.

However, success is about more than a welcome pack or branded swag. An effective onboarding programme can:

• Build meaningful workplace relationships that boost engagement

• Create strong cultural alignment in new employees and help them feel aligned with your organisation's objectives

• Enable new employees to connect with your mission and vision, encouraging initiative rather than mere compliance.

Onboard remote hires with Remote

One method to secure a consistent, positive onboarding experience is to partner with a proven global HR provider such as Remote.

We manage all administrative aspects of onboarding, and our self-serve platform lets team members access and submit required items quickly. This lets you focus on integrating the hire into your company culture and ensuring they can hit the ground running.To find out how we can simplify the onboarding process — and manage and pay your team — speak to one of our friendly experts today.