Virtual Onboarding

Creating a Magical Moment 

Are you interested in: encouraging new-hire productivity, increasing retention, forging connections with your employees? What if I told you we have the keys to building employee engagement for the first 30 days of employment and beyond? From checklists to virtual happy hours, we've gathered best practices for new hire engagement from business leaders across the region.

A common misconception is that onboarding is strictly Human Resources' responsibility. Now, more than ever before, we need to step away from this belief. Consider these five practices when hiring in this virtual era.

• Be Considerate of Their Situation
  First and foremost, ask and seek to understand the environment in which your new hire is coming from. COVID-19 has pushed employees into a variety of different work situations. Practicing empathy and showing patience will leave a lasting impact on your employee. If they are required to come into the office, make sure they have a complete understanding of your office's COVID-19 Protocol.
• Implement a New Hire Checklist
  It took you a long time to find the perfect candidate, don't let them start off on the wrong foot. First things first, ask Human Resources if they use a checklist for onboarding. This may include: building badge, paperwork, parking pass, etc. Secondly, create a checklist for yourself or someone who will be working closely with (or training) the new hire. This particular list might include: engaging with your tech team to have the proper software installed, setting initial onboarding meetings, informal evaluations, and more.
• Own your New Hire's Success
  As a leader you are responsible for creating your new hire's roadmap for success with clearly defined goals and expectations. Before and during the first 30, 60, 90 days of your new hire's career, it's important that you and your team provide tools for success. This might include setting regular and consistent touch points, necessary training, including them in meetings, etc. If you're able to go into the office, spend the first week together (but 6 ft apart) and screen share, have lunch, get to know your employee's professional and personal goals.
• Showcase Your Culture
  Introduce your new hires to the management team and all of the support teams that they'd be working with. This can be as simple as a 15 minute round robin video call. Both formal & casual (social) meetings are important. Consider hosting a virtual happy hour to welcome the new hire. If your office has a mentorship program, provide those details. Want to go above and beyond? Create a PowerPoint to share prior to their first day and include a few fun facts about the office and its members.
• Keep Communication Open
  Open communication in a fully (or partial) virtual world is incredibly important. Are you the go-to person for questions, or is it a seasoned peer? Provide a list of internal contacts on the first day. Explicitly state the "unwritten" rules such as expected response times and your preferred way of communicating, whether it's MS Teams, text, email, phone call.

Lastly, make them feel welcome. The time, energy, and resources you and your team put into finding this person should continue as they ramp up. This will not only ensure company loyalty, but will increase positive engagement and productivity. 

A big thanks to the business leaders who met with Vaco's team and shared their best practices and experiences as they relate to onboarding. We're grateful for your openness.