By Julie Kuepers (Senior Digital Content Strategist at Click Boarding)
The genesis of remote onboarding best practices
Out of sheer necessity, the intrinsic need for remote onboarding manifested when the Covid pandemic began in early 2020. Over the past two plus years since then, an overwhelming 83% of employers have reported successfully adopting and transitioning to remote onboarding for new employees. For the world of HR, the news couldn’t be better! But during this chaotic time, have remote onboarding best practices been established?
For years, numerous industry data and statistics have underscored the immense value and importance of a structured onboarding process for new hires joining an organization. In addition, both in-person and remote onboarding offer the same tangible benefits, both immediate and long-term. With strategic, well-orchestrated onboarding, businesses can expect:
- increased employee productivity
- significantly improved engagement
- reduced employee retention
- a holistic employee experience
And the statistics prove it:
- Companies with organized onboarding have 62% higher productivity among new employees.
- Great onboarding can increase employee retention by 82%.
- 93% of employers realize that onboarding can influence a new hire’s choice to stay with a company.
- Nearly 50% of employees who had a great onboarding experience report team contributions in the first week.
- 89% of employees who went through structured onboarding felt “strongly integrated into their company culture.”
Regardless of your position within the HR ecosystem, chances are you’re familiar with the best practices for delivering great employee onboarding within an office setting. But If you’re stumped for the best way to transition these to remote onboarding best practices, Click Boarding is here to help.
So, what are these best practices?
If your company’s current onboarding program includes a remote (virtual) or hybrid model, it’s important to not only grasp but act upon the most recent remote onboarding best practices if you want to win the war on talent.
Although there are definite similarities between the two types of onboarding best practices, there are a few remote-friendly considerations for virtual onboarding. By aligning with these, you’ll allow your employees to focus on meaningful work starting on Day 1 and beyond.
Let’s begin!
Remote onboarding best practice #1: Onboarding automation
Prior to automated onboarding software, a host of errors were commonplace. Data could be manually entered incorrectly. Sometimes there were timing delays between when new hires started and when they actually had access to the network or other vital systems. Critical paperwork took time to compete correctly, further complicating and extending the onboarding process.
Automated onboarding provides an extensive list of highly appreciable benefits, including:
- A considerable reduction of costs
- Increased employee efficiency and productivity
- Time-saving forms and workflows that drastically reduce errors
- Enhanced security and compliance protocols
- A more robust, meaningful employee experience
- Comprehensive data for analysis and actionable insights
- Removal of all paper from the entire process
- Seamless integration with ATS and HRIS
- Task reduction for HR hiring managers
Sink your teeth into this case study: Delta Dental
Struggling with providing their new hires with a great onboarding experience, the Click Boarding Platform helped Delta Dental smile with:
- A completion time reduction of 89%
- Improved employee experience
- Personalized onboarding experiences
- Heightened compliance and data security
Remote onboarding best practice #2: Data security & regulatory compliance
One of the questions our engineers ask most frequently is, “How will this impact our client’s data?” That’s because the security of each Click client is at the heart of everything we do.
There’s a great deal of personal employee data that’s collected during the onboarding process. Unlike paper-based onboarding, virtual onboarding captures information in a more reliable, simplified manner. We’re so serious about security that the Click Boarding Platform stores sensitive employee data in a SOC 2 Type 2-compliant cloud-based repository for convenient access and complete peace of mind.
Remote onboarding best practice #3: A uniquely customized experience
You’ve invested the time and resources to find the perfect new hire. You want their first day to be positive and memorable. By personalizing the remote onboarding experience, you’ll create a priceless connection with the company and instill the culture, values and brand.
Our automated onboarding workflows make your new hire’s first experience with the organization a positive and proactive one. Workflows can be easily tailored to feature your company’s branding along with integrating short videos to welcome and share. This ensures the delivery of consistent messaging to all new hires – irrespective of role or department – throughout the entire onboarding process.
We also recommend:
- Using images to depict culture and community throughout various areas of the company
- Fully customizing workflows with your new hire’s role, team and location details
- Adding position-specific details to give your new hire confidence and self-assurance
Remote onboarding best practice #4: A mobile-first platform
In today’s device-centric world, the simple fact is that mobile access to your onboarding program has become a fundamental requirement. Candidates are no longer tethered to the confines of a desktop computer nor encumbered by stacks of paperwork.
With a mobile-first employee experience platform, new hires are empowered to quickly and efficiently complete the necessary onboarding forms remotely, wherever they are and whenever they’re able.
In summary
There are no two ways about it, folks: remote onboarding is here to stay. The sooner you adopt these remote onboarding best practices, the sooner you’ll see a return on your talent investment.
If your remote onboarding program is falling short, Click Boarding is the solution that gives you more:
- Guided, intuitive experiences
- Employee lifecycle capabilities
- SOC 2 Type 2 compliance
- Mobile-first access, 24/7/365
- Unmatched data security & integrity
- Seamless workflow coordination
- Intuitive, IT-friendly APIs
- Proprietary eSignature
- Self-service for full configuration
When you’re ready to get remote onboarding right, you can trust Click to deliver. It’s the win you’ve been waiting for, and we’re excited to help.
ClickBoarding Overview
In today’s competitive environment, engagement is the key to long-term, people ROI.
Amidst elevated employee expectations and the detrimental impact of turnover, onboarding is critical. It’s where employee retention begins and it sets the stage for elevated experiences across the employee lifecycle. Click’s end-to-end experience platform enables countless opportunities for true human moments that keep team members delighted, engaged and – ultimately – onboard.
It’s time to transform new hires from candidates to advocates with Click’s fully compliant and ever-engaging employee journey platform. Because onboarding is just the beginning.
For more information, follow us at @ClickBoardingHR, or at www.clickboarding.com.
