Remote onboarding: how to make the most of it?

10 of February, 2025

It is becoming more common to hire remotely, an option originally associated with mobility or meeting restrictions but now allows us to hire employees from other fields. And if it is important by itself, the digital onboarding takes on special importance. Here you can use remote onboarding for your remote team.

Organizations have been forced to update the incorporation processes to welcome new workers and reflect their current reality. It allows us to integrate good practices in remote work, facilitate the integration of remote employees or face the proactive management of crises efficiently. With good onboarding it is easier to retain talent and facilitate the progress of the new remote employees.

Incorporation is more important than ever

We all know the advantages of good onboarding. Higher employee retention, improve the productivity of the new worker, accelerates adaptation, reduces anxiety, generates expectations…

Therefore, remote onboarding is particularly important when it comes to talent management. Having the help of solutions like human resources software and its onboarding checklist becomes decisive in achieving the best welcome to the company.

In the case of remote hiring, onboarding goes beyond providing basic information for new additions to do their job. It empowers the remote worker to make decisions on their own, as well as anticipating their needs. The feedback they offer us will allow us to reinforce onboarding for future hires.

How to make the most of a remote onboarding process

When we address the arrival of a new remote worker, we should approach the process in three dimensions: organizational, technical, and social. Let’s delve into each one, highlighting aspects you can’t overlook while preparing the new employee’s first days in the company.

Organizational incorporation

A part of the onboarding serves to answer key questions about the day-to-day of the organization. What tools are used? How are vacations and days off managed? Who do you ask in case of doubt? Where do you need to sign up to take advantage of the benefits that the company offers? How is the hourly control carried out? This information needs to be accessible, and for that, we have the employee manual.

We should send the employee manual before the worker’s actual incorporation. In this way, the first day comes with a minimum of knowledge and an idea of what awaits them. You can also have a remote employee training session to prepare them. Thus, we have the least problematic incorporation possible, with self-sufficient and proactive employees. If they have any doubts, they know that the answer is in the employee manual.

Technical incorporation

It is not enough for new workers to know which tools are used in the organization, they must also know how to use them. During the onboarding, we must train employees in the use of key tools for their job. For this, apart from the employee manual, we must provide the manuals or the appropriate documentation that allows the use of these solutions.

It is surprising that more than half of HR managers point to technology as one of the significant deficiencies of remote work. A problem that has such an easy solution as to promote the use of these tools as soon as possible. The sooner they start, the easier it will be to build trust in their use. We can start with small tasks, no matter how insignificant, to get practice.

Social integration

This might be the critical point of remote onboarding. Especially if the new employee has never worked remotely before. On one hand, you have to make sure that telework expectations are met. If we take sociabilisation into account, new workers will have a better connection with their colleagues despite not sharing a physical office.

On the other hand, the company must promote informal internal communication to facilitate workers building relationships. Resources such as a guide buddy contribute to this goal, while facilitating the incorporation of new faces. Also, leaders must involve themselves here by organizing virtual meetings to introduce new workmates.

How to do remote onboarding?

The collaboration digital tools play a fundamental role. They facilitate this virtual incorporation, but they also serve to promote communication and contact with the new employee.

They allow you to enhance the flexibility and autonomy that remote work offers, thus accelerating the integration process in the company. This way, you can make the most of remote work’s potential.

Enhance communication at every step

Internal communication is key to the success of any company, regardless of its activity. But when we talk about remote work, it becomes even more important since it is the only link between the worker and the company. HR and management must boost internal communication to the maximum. For that, we can put initiatives like these into practice:

Create office hours: a daily schedule where we open a “virtual office” to talk live with remote employees. This way, we can respond to their questions and doubts or offer feedback on their work. We can resort to video calls, calls, or live chat.
Announcement of the hiring: even if they are going to work remotely, we must announce the arrival of a new colleague to the entire company. No matter if they work in the office or remotely, introducing the remote employee facilitates their integration.
Welcome pack: from the time the proposal is accepted until the incorporation time can pass a few days. To avoid regrets, we can give them messages like “looking forward to you starting to work with us”, in addition to the welcome package to the company. Also, the necessary documents for incorporation or the employee manual so that they familiarize themselves with their tasks.

Clarify the functions of the new worker

One of the critical elements for the success of any incorporation is knowing exactly what functions they need to perform. This issue becomes even more critical when dealing with remote hire, as there is a higher likelihood of role confusion. Making clear the values of the company, objectives, and duties of the new employee will facilitate a quick and, most importantly, a successful integration.

Focus on the employee’s commitment

Aside from communication, efforts should be concentrated on strengthening the worker’s commitment to our company. There is a tendency to think that a remote worker will be less committed to the organization than their on-site colleagues. After all, day-to-day is experienced differently from the office than remotely. And a lack of commitment can pose a considerable burden on competitiveness.

Positive reinforcement is critical to strengthen the sense of belonging to the company. If the worker sees that their achievements are recognized, we have more possibilities to awaken this feeling. And as it could not be otherwise, feedback implies that we are on top of the remote workers, that we are attentive to their work and we want to help them improve.

Regularly you can hold follow-up meetings, individually or with the entire team, to reinforce this connection with remote workers. Keep in mind that these strategies not only allow to strengthen the attachment feeling to the company, but they also serve to boost the work environment. It is a way to maintain morale and work better within the organization.

Flexibility is key to the experience

One of the significant advantages of remote onboarding is that flexibility when completing the process. We can choose between visual sessions, where screen-sharing video calls are used, or the new employee’s self-learning. A flexibility that does not exist in face-to-face onboarding, and that allows the new employee to prepare in the way that suits them best.

We cannot ignore that the new reality of the job market will increasingly produce more remote hires. Empower new employees to offer their best version, preparing and training them to work remotely, is the best way to guarantee a good result in the short, medium, and above all, long term. The advantages of a good onboarding should never be underestimated.

Ensure workers have the necessary resources

To facilitate the incorporation and improve the employee experience, we need to be proactive and, above all, make sure that new employees have the necessary resources to start working remotely. This includes the necessary employee training, the worker’s manual, or other incorporation materials, which must be digitalized if we want to expedite the process.

Sometimes, you will have to provide the employee with the right equipment to carry out their work, especially if they need equipment with specific capacities. The welcome package can also offer ergonomic chairs or other accessories to make the activity of the new employees more comfortable.

As you can see, the company incorporation process has undergone a radical change in recent years. With the arrival of remote workers, it is more important than ever to integrate new employees into the office as soon as possible. Setting communication standards and transparency protocols while offering them the right resources is the best introduction to succeed in remote onboarding.

Implement onboarding software

If you need to set up a digital onboarding plan because you have a team working remotely, the best solution is to hire specialized software like Sesame HR. In this way, you improve the experience of new employees and optimize the internal processes of human resources. Here is a step-by-step guide to do it effectively:

1. Analyze your company’s needs

Evaluate your current onboarding processes and detect bottlenecks or areas that would benefit from digitization, like document management, task assignment, or goal tracking.

It would be helpful if you establish what you want to achieve with the software, like improving the employee experience, reducing administrative times, or centralizing information.

2. Choose the appropriate plan

Review the available plans and functionalities, like custom welcome workflows, training tracking, and digital document registration. Consider the number of employees and the volume of data you will manage to select the most appropriate package.

3. Configure the system

Design onboarding workflows tailored to each position or department, including specific tasks, initial meetings, and key deadlines.

You can upload manuals, internal policies, and forms that employees can review and sign digitally. Remember to set up access for managers, HR teams and those responsible for each area.

4. Train the responsible staff

Provide HR personnel and managers with training to use the software and make the most of its functionalities.

5. Integration with other systems

Make sure the software integrates with other tools used in the company, like payroll systems, corporate email, or employee databases.

6. Launch the onboarding process

Implement the software with a small group of new employees to identify possible adjustments. So, once the details are refined, extend the use of the software to all new employees.

7. Monitor and optimize

Use Sesame HR’s reports and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of the onboarding (for example, integration times or task completion).

It’s good to request feedback from employees to continually improve flows and resources.

8. Expected benefits

Automation: administrative tasks such as document signing or data collection are handled without manual intervention.
Personalization: new employees receive specific and relevant information for their role.
Positive Experience: a structured onboarding process helps retain talent and improve the company’s image from day one.

With effective implementation, software like Sesame HR can transform onboarding into a smooth and efficient experience, contributing to employee satisfaction and productivity from the very beginning. Discover it for yourself and request a free 14-day trial.

Customer-oriented, both internally and externally, specializing in the definition and implementation of HR policies, as well as talent management, recruitment, and retention. Strong leadership, communication, negotiation, organization, and team coordination skills. Over 12 years of experience in Human Resources.

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iriserrador

HR Content Specialist