Pre-Covid-19, most executive recruiters and hiring managers would have agreed that meeting candidates in person was a crucial part of the recruitment process. In a world before ‘pandemic’ entered our everyday lexicon, it was a given that the hiring process would include physical human touchpoints. Now, with many of us still working remotely and some of the country’s major businesses extending their break away from the office – including Facebook, Google and JPMorgan Chase – the goalposts have moved for recruiting and onboarding talent.

Much has been said about the challenges and opportunities of virtual interviewing, but what about the next steps? How can you ensure your new employee has the best start possible and feels like part of the team, when they haven’t even met the team? As 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experience great onboarding, this is incredibly important step that is now harder than ever to get right.

Here’s how to make your virtual onboarding process as smooth and positive as possible.

Your onboarding plan should begin before you even make the hire. Create a blueprint for what their first day, week and month should look like, including who they’ll need to (virtually) meet, what documentation they should read and sign, what access they’ll need to software and, crucially, how they will be managed. Your prep might also include a welcome package for the new hire, including not just the relevant employee forms and company policies but also things like a welcome card signed by the team, company swag, culture videos and bios of who they’ll be working with.

Develop a checklist to set out what needs doing before, during and after the onboarding process, from sending the relevant hardware to your new starter through to what their first few work projects might entail. You might also consider assigning new remote workers a buddy – someone who is not their direct line manager who can help to provide more business context and assistance. This is also beneficial to help mimic the social side of the office environment.

For many firms, it won’t be enough to simply send out a laptop and cell phone and hope for the best. As well as purchasing the relevant hardware, your IT team will need to install company software and programs, ensuring they can be updated remotely and your new starter can access them easily. A standardised login that will work across email, laptop and all programs and accounts can be beneficial, and it’s important to check the Wi-Fi capacity of your new team member. They may need a VPN, so check with your IT team. Any computer and information security policies should also be stated.

Technology should be your friend when it comes to remote hiring and onboarding, particularly if you implement tools designed to help get new members up to speed. Consider using something like Enboarder, which is an experience-driven online platform ideal for remote onboarding, or BambooHR’s online self-onboarding tool.

Research shows that many managers are struggling with trust issues and have low confidence in their abilities to manage workers remotely. Remedy this by facilitating as much communication between teams as possible, especially when you have a new starter. Add your employee to the relevant Slack or Teams channels before they begin and schedule regular video calls to help encourage communication. You should also clearly outline expectations and objectives with your new starter, just as you would if you were onboarding them in person. Clarity and connectivity over goals and progress will help all employees feel more connected to their roles and the business. It’s easy to think of remote teams as ‘out of sight, out of mind’, but training and development should continue as usual.

At Hanover, we’ve seen a huge shift to remote working amongst our clients in recent months, and many expect to be working from home for a long time to come. Those firms that have been the most successful at this are the ones that are open-minded, flexible and up for the challenge of taking an in-person process digital. Some have been daunted by the prospect of building relationships and rapport virtually, and we’ve been helping to coach them through this transition to ensure this doesn’t detrimentally impact their hiring and onboarding. Within banking, the clients who have navigated this new frontier the most successfully have been the ones who were prepared to be agile and rethink their strategies. Some have been so adaptable that they’ve increased their hiring in the previous months, which is testament to their ability to pivot and be entrepreneurial in their approach to hiring and business in general.

During these incredibly challenging times, we’ve seen professionals make huge career changes based on a process where they’ve never physically met their new employer or their team members. This is an incredible turn of events for recruitment and something that may continue long into the future, and we feel privileged to help make it happen. If you’re looking for new talent in any of our specialist sectors, contact us here to start a conversation.