Employee onboarding for remote workers

What is an onboarding process?
Professionals often confuse onboarding with orientation, but they are not the same thing. Orientation is part of the onboarding process whereas onboarding is a process used to integrate the new hires into your organisation.

Why is a good onboarding process important?
Today, organisations need to realize that they have to update their existing onboarding process to ensure employee retention. The onboarding process is a strategic plan for any organisation to avoid employee turnover. According to a study, 22% of new hires look for job replacement within the first 45 days of hiring while 33% consider a new job just within 6 months of working at their existing company. The cost of replacement is more than companies realize. Research shows that the cost of replacing a regular employee range between 16% to 20% of their annual salary.

Today, people entering the work setting are very particular about how they want their place of work to be. An average person changes jobs 11 times before reaching the age of 42. This number is predicted to grow according to a survey report by The Bureau of Labour Statistics.

However, high employee turnover is preventable. 87% of recruits are less expected to leave their existing company if they feel engaged. Companies can start at creating an involved work environment by improving their onboarding process. It can help introduce the new hires to company norms and values. This way new employees are less likely to leave the company to look for a new place that better fits their preferred work environment and culture.

"When it comes to employee screening and onboarding your workers, you need a fast and flexible solution, so you don’t lose talent."

New remote work model
The pandemic has changed the normal course of business. Remote and hybrid working is gaining more popularity these days. This shift brings new challenges for organisations, one of them being the onboarding of new employees. The question is how to devise an onboarding plan that will make employees feel engaged from day one.

Remote onboarding process challenges
The new remote onboarding is promising but it is also a source of many impediments and doubts. Here are a few reasons why this new remote and hybrid do not work.

Inadequate pre-boarding
The time between the offer and start date marks as pre-boarding. During this time most companies do the bare minimum by sending new hires their contract to sign or a few documents to complete and submit before joining. This is not ideal if companies aim for developing engaging work environments.

Companies can utilise this period to introduce their new employees to company values. The time can be used to prepare employees for their first day. Moreover, the pre-boarding period can be used to explain to new employees about the benefits, policies, and structure of the company, this can help build employee interest in the company and its role.

Lack of organisation
The world has seen a rapid shift towards digitalisation in this past year because of the pandemic. Like everything else, onboarding relies on technology now. With the help of technological development, companies can establish an efficient remote onboarding process.

Companies can ensure the process is effective by providing the new hires with all the login details beforehand. An online portal with all the necessary resources can help new employees build their company understanding. They can utilise their time efficiently learning about their role and company earlier.

Insufficient support
The pandemic has increased communication barriers. In the traditional work setup, it was possible for new employees to ask questions from people around them and build better knowledge. Finding answers is not as easy as before. Fresh joiners can expect delays in getting replies, they may also struggle to find the right person remotely.

However, companies can minimize this obstacle by making sure there is a dedicated person available for the new joiners. Also, an organised meeting schedule can also help them in finding answers to their queries.

Outsourcing onboarding
If your company aims at developing an equal opportunity environment for fresh hires, it’s about time you make the right decision. A good onboarding strategy is more than paperwork, it is about embracing the new employees into the existing teams and delivering them all the necessary things from their first day of joining.

When it comes to employee screening and onboarding your workers, you need a fast and flexible solution, so you don’t lose talent, therefore companies outsource to Giant Screening. We deliver a positive candidate experience with tailored communications. Our cutting-edge technology enables a fully mobile-friendly candidate process. With Giant, you can be paper-free, all paperwork is completed through Docu-Sign. We deliver service that will make you want to work with us.