Onboarding employee checklist for remote hires

How to use the onboarding checklist

When you bring a new team member on board, onboarding matters. A good experience helps them feel confident in their choice and starts the working relationship well; a poor one can do the reverse.

For remote hires, getting onboarding right is even more important. Because you can’t greet them in person or immerse them in your workplace, you must be more deliberate and make some adjustments.

An onboarding checklist helps here — it gives you a repeatable framework so every remote starter gets a consistent experience and so you can scale the process as the business expands.

Drawing on our experience onboarding staff at Remote, here are the main tasks and processes to prioritise:

Set up introduction callsRemote employees can feel more isolated and siloed than their in-office counterparts. As a result, you’ll need to put more effort into creating belonging and team cohesion.Informal social get-togethers can make a big difference — improving engagement, productivity and retention — and help your new starter feel welcome, at ease and more likely to ask for help.

To-dos:

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

• Set up informal virtual team introductions, such as coffee chats and happy hours,

  or lunch meetings

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

• Share personality assessments or work-style quizzes and discuss the outcomes with the team online

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

Spotlight key policiesDon’t hand over a bulky policy manual and leave it at that. Highlight the policies most relevant to remote workers, such as leave, expenses and equipment.

To-dos:

• Curate and share policy briefs, codes of conduct and training resources

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

• Make sure to explain relevant cybersecurity and digital asset policies

• Set out the rules on information protection and data privacy

• Allow space for asynchronous discussion about policy interpretation for distributed teams

It’s a good idea to include self-service elements so your hire can be onboarded asynchronously and at their own pace. If you do, create a self-serve checklist for them to follow.

Explain tools and communication flowsRemote workers depend more on software and tools to collaborate and keep work moving. Without the chance to glance over a colleague’s shoulder or pop a quick question, a new hire must become self-reliant fast.To help with that, explain what each tool is for. Again, provide self-serve materials and user guides.

To-dos:

• Create guides for logging into key systems and accounts

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

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

Explain how your communication channels work, especially if the hire is new to remote work.

To-dos:

• Set expectations for online hours and availability

• Give guidance on email, chat and meeting etiquette

• Explain norms around response times and video use

• Share calendar-management practices

Clarify roles and personnelNew starters want to know which tasks they should handle, who they’ll work with and exactly what’s expected of them. Clearly separating their responsibilities from those of colleagues reduces confusion.Set expectations around response times, meeting cadences and availability as well. For example, employees in the US typically start their workdays later than those in Europe. If your hire will be working closely with people in different time zones, they need to know how this will work.To-dos:

• Outline regional versus centralised responsibilities

• Set expectations for response times and meetings, and include them in your handbook and welcome emails

• Identify key regional contacts and stakeholders

Promote your company’s cultureFor remote workers, the nuances of company culture — unwritten rules, inside jokes and workplace rituals — can be 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

  Look beyond the first dayRemote staff have fewer environmental cues and casual touchpoints than office workers. That’s why their onboarding needs a more structured approach with more frequent check-ins.For example, remote staff miss out on organic learning from overheard conversations or impromptu peer mentoring. A structured onboarding journey makes up for this.

To-dos:

• Establish 30-, 60- and 90-day milestones and performance goals that empower new hires to own their development paths

• Schedule check-ins to review progress and any barriers new hires face

• Provide training on any new skills required for the role, such as product knowledge

• Have new employees connect with a mentor about acclimating, strengths and development areas

• Regularly run engagement and onboarding satisfaction surveys

Leverage data

Without face-to-face interaction, it’s harder to read nonverbal cues and sentiments. That makes it difficult to tell whether onboarding materials are landing with remote staff, and can lead managers to make assumptions. Data provides 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

• Measure how long it takes new hires to become fully productive in their roles

• Gather feedback on new hires’ preferred communication methods

Data fills the visibility gaps of remote work, helping ensure your onboarding process meets the needs of hires you don’t meet face-to-face.

Why is the employment onboarding process so important?

A personalised and carefully planned onboarding process can help your new employee feel a sense of belonging in several ways.

But a successful approach is more than a welcome pack or some branded swag. An effective onboarding programme can:

• Build meaningful work relationships that boost engagement

• Help new employees develop a strong cultural connection and feel aligned with your business objectives

• Help new employees connect with your mission and vision, and encourage initiative rather than mere compliance.

Onboard remote hires with Remote

One reliable way to secure a consistent, positive onboarding experience is to work with a proven global HR partner, like Remote.

We handle the administrative side of onboarding, and our self-serve platform lets team members access and submit everything they need quickly and easily. That lets you concentrate on integrating your hire into your company’s culture and making sure they hit the ground running.To find out how we can simplify onboarding — and manage and pay your team — speak to one of our friendly experts today.