Importance of Engagement & Cultural Immersion During Virtual Onboarding

If an employee is expected to make a great first impression during their transition into a new firm, isn’t the employer also expected to put their best foot forward? That first impression can be especially hard now that we have transitioned into a virtual or hybrid workplace. The onboarding process leaves a lasting impression on someone joining a new firm, including engagement, retention, success, and overall happiness at a company, thus, it’s important to take necessary steps to develop a well-rounded and thoughtful onboarding process. In doing so, you create a  positive employee experience. 

During a virtual onboard it can be particularly difficult to transfer cultural identity and to engage a new hire to the highest level. That does not mean employers should overlook these aspects. On the contrary, I believe these two aspects of virtual onboarding are the most important.  

During virtual onboarding, redundancy and over-communication are perfectly acceptable, if not expected. Forbes states, “The only way to fast track onboarding and enable those workers to reach peak performance as soon as possible is to be very deliberate in developing a remote onboarding strategy and to dedicate twice as much effort and time to executing that strategy as compared to an in-person process.” Onboarding a new employee does not just take two days; in fact, an employee may not be fully assimilated until their 90th day on the job. 

Below are tips to ensure engagement remains at the highest level during onboarding: 

• Time: To ensure a positive and effective onboarding process, it is advised to take about 2 weeks of heavy engagement with the new employee. During a virtual onboard, there is no such thing as overcommunication! After 2-3 weeks, the new hire should still have continuous touchpoints and check-ins with their supervisor. Sixteen experts from Human Resource Council at Forbes suggest that it is important to stretch this process over multiple days, but this does this process need to be more time-intensive. To streamline this process, an organization can pre-record videos to share certain messages. This process may take up to 3-months until the person feels fully assimilated into the organization and its processes.
• Onboarding Buddy: Assign a peer of the new employee to act as a resource, knowledge hub, and friend. This person should not be a manager. The onboarding buddy should reach out to the new hire before their first day to introduce themselves. This person will act as the  “virtual tour guide” of the company’s intranet and processes. Further, they should grab a coffee or eat lunch together at least once a week for the first month to share advice and offer guidance. This person will be the go-to for any questions the new hire might have (especially those questions a new employee may be nervous to ask a supervisor). 
• Scheduling: Scheduling is key during a remote onboard. It is easy to call an ad-hoc meeting with a new employee when in-person, but that sort of ease is not as streamlined virtually. The supervisor should schedule daily one-on-one meetings with their new team member. I would even suggest morning and evening check-ins to ensure the employee knows what is expected and to talk about challenges or successes throughout the day. If possible, it is suggested to have a weekly or bi-weekly meeting with employes for the first 6-months of their employment. 

Company culture is often what draws employees to a firm, and that unique environment should not get lost in a fully virtual or hybrid work environment. A firm should set aside time with the new hire to discuss company culture and values, outside of the daily check-ins. These values often make the company stand-out, and they should not lose sight of that while virtual.

When onboarding a new hire virtually an employer can schedule: 

• Welcome Lunch: during the new hire’s first week, have their team all join a Zoom call for lunch. This time should not be focused on work, but more about building a personal relationship with each other.

• Happy Hour or Team Bonding: Continue to show the fun and unique side of the firm. Gather the team for a happy hour. No one wants to feel isolated from their team, especially during a pandemic. Take the time to build personal relationships with the new hire, to learn about their interests and hobbies. 
  • Below are some unique ideas to bond during virtual team happy hour:
    • Scattergories – You’ll learn who is the most creative and who is the quickest typist
    • Two Truths and a Lie – Have the team guess interesting facts about each other (a designforce favorite)
    • Virtual Bingo – play themed bingo or customize your own cards