Onboarding Remote Workers: Key Aspects to Consider
We appreciate the difficulty organisations are facing with regards to onboarding remote workers.
Here is a list of key aspects of the process to be considered:
INDUCTION AND SET UP
- All necessary equipment needed for the employee needs to be received early or on time.
- Provide all the necessary login details so they can get working as quickly as possible.
- You will need to welcome, set up, and train a new member of the team remotely.
- Business processes, IT infrastructure, and support need to be set up according to personal needs, appreciating the individual and unique working style of each employee, as you would if they were in the office.
- Schedule meetings to allow for the induction process to be completed as effortlessly as possible.
- They will need to have an introduction to the organisation, its story, mission and goals, as well as any past achievements.
- Welcome team meetings done remotely.
- Provide insight into each department and how it works, processors, team members, and their duties.
IT TRAINING
- Phishing email.
- Public folders.
- Intranet.
- Computer access and use.
- Accessing key documents, resources, and reports.
- Ensure they have all necessary applications set up on their laptops and all login details provided.
- Any applications downloaded onto their mobiles and training on how to use these.
- Training on internal CRM.
HUMAN RESOURCES AND COMPLIANCE
- Have a workstation checklist to conduct a risk assessment; ideally, staff should complete a DSE (Display Screen Equipment) workstation checklist.
- Each employee needs a dedicated desk/workstation set up that is fit for purpose to ensure the health and safety of your employee.
- GDPR training.
- Services like DocuSign can help you with your digital signatures, legitimately and legally binding for remote signing. You can read guidance about guidance on this here.
- Health and safety checklist.
- Provide your organisation's manual and policy documents.
- Payroll.
REMOTE TOOLS
Employees need ongoing support, particularly when working remotely due to the lack of face-to-face interaction.
There are many useful online tools to allow for face-to-face meetings, for example Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, and WhatsApp. All staff must be trained to utilize these correctly and safely. It is important that your remote employees are aware of and agree on the times that these online meetings are to take place. Here at TPP, we have been doing remote team meetings, social catch-ups, and lunches together.
COMMUNICATION
Ensure your remote workers feel included; don't leave it too long without calling them. Regular and agreed weekly catchups will keep communication flowing and employees feeling like a valuable part of the organisation.
Allocate a buddy or mentor.
If you would like any further information on onboarding remote workers for your team, please get in touch with us on 020 7198 6000 or email info@tpp.co.uk.
You can also read about managing remote workers "https://www.tpp.co.uk/employers/managing-remote-workers">here>.
