Congratulations to both the employer and candidate for successfully navigating through the remote interview process and now the offer is being extended to the successful candidate.    69% of employees are more likely to stay at a company for 3 years if they have a good onboarding experience.  20% of employee turnover occurs during the first 45 days.  These two statistics demonstrate the importance of a GREAT onboarding experience.  So much time and effort are spent on screening, selecting, interviewing, signing the offer that the company does not want to lose that amazing talent and ensure that the new hire will be delighted.

The following template will assist with timelines and continued touch points to ensure that the new hire is trained and engaged.

Finalize the offer

• Agree on the compensation, start date and time.
• Complete the reference checks, criminal check etc…
• Full mailing address, email and mobile number of the candidate.
• Payroll, banking information for direct deposit.
• Sign the non-disclosure, confidentiality, non-solicitation, non-compete agreements.

Once offer is signed

• Company send a welcome email letter to the new employee.  If the company has any swag such as t-shirt, coffee mug, key chain etc… please ship to the new hire.

1-2 Days Prior to Start Date

• Ship hardware such as laptop, monitor, phone, etc… so that it will arrive prior to the start date.

1 Day Prior to Start Date

• Send another welcome note to the candidate so that the new hire is clear on the start time and has invitations to remote meeting(s).

Enable the Hiring Manager

• Have the hiring manager assign a “buddy” to be a resource for the new hire.
• Ensure that the new hire has the IT support contact information to ensure all hardware, logins, permissions, applications are working properly.
• Create a network list of contacts that the new hire should reach out to.  Keep all informed of the of the new hire’s start date.
• Ensure the new hire is added to all calls, distribution lists and invited to meetings.
• Provide a call sign up for the team to schedule introduction meetings with the new hire.
• Have a training plan for the new hire with a schedule, trainers, training content, training documents, possibly pre-recorded training videos

Day 1 Morning

• Welcome the new hire “remotely in-person” to ensure the new hire has everything that they need.

Week 1-2

• Schedule daily stand up team meetings for the first 2 weeks.

Week 1

• Schedule a daily morning call and evening call with the hiring manager.
• Orientation meeting for a company overview, history, products, systems, policies, benefits information. (HR may perform this function).
• Virtual tour of the office – this could be a pre-recorded video.

Week 2

• Schedule a daily morning call with the hiring manager.

Week 3-4

• Schedule 3 calls per week with the hiring manager.

Ongoing with all remote employees – to keep everyone socially engaged

• Have remote coffee chats. ☕️
• Have remote happy hours – perhaps have a virtual demo of a new mixed drink such as a quarantini! ?
• At the end of each month – have a debrief with the team and ask what they liked, disliked, request feedback on any improvements.  

Working fully remotely is new to everyone due to COVID-19 so treat this as a work in progress. ?

COVID-19, Hiring, New Hire, onboarding, Remote, Virtual

Tags: hiring, new hire, onboarding, remote, virtual