Michael Page Logo

Main menu

  • Home
  • Jobs+

    Browse for Jobs

    • https://www.michaelpage.com.hk/
    • Banking & Financial Services
    • Construction
    • Digital
    • Education
    • Engineering & Manufacturing
    • Finance & Accounting
    • Healthcare
    • Human Resources
    • Legal
    • Life Sciences
    • Marketing
    • Procurement & Supply Chain
    • Retail & Sourcing
    • Property
    • Sales
    • Secretarial & Business Support
    • Technology
    • Executive Search

    Searching for a job?

    • Submit your CV
    • Submit your CV
    • Resume and cover letter advice
    • Salary guide
    • Salary comparison tool

    Contracting

    • Contracting
    • Benefits of Contracting
    • FAQs for Contractors
    • View Contracting Jobs

    Looking to return to Hong Kong?

    • https://www.michaelpage.com.hk/
    • Returning to HK

    Quick Job Search

  • Contracting
  • Recruiting+

    Recruitment Expertise

    • https://www.michaelpage.com.hk/
    • Banking and Financial Services
    • Construction
    • Digital
    • Engineering and Manufacturing
    • Education
    • Finance and Accounting
    • Healthcare
    • Human Resources
    • Legal
    • Life Sciences
    • Marketing
    • Procurement and Supply Chain
    • Property
    • Retail and Sourcing
    • Sales
    • Secretarial and Office Support
    • Technology
    • Executive Search

    Looking to hire?

    • Recruitment services
    • Recruitment services
    • Outsourcing / project recruitment
    • Job Advertising: ReachTalent

    Hiring Contractors

    • Hiring Contractors
    • Benefits
    • FAQs

    Start a Hiring Conversation

    • Request a call back
    • Request a call back

    Salary & Hiring Insights

    • Salary guide
    • Salary guide
    • Salary benchmarking tool
    • Hiring advice
    • AI hiring trends & report
    • Blockchain hiring trends & report
    • Cybersecurity hiring trends & report
  • Advice+

    Career Advice

    • Career Advice
    • Career progression
    • Changing jobs
    • Interview
    • Productivity and performance
    • Resume and cover letter
    • Salary and negotiation
    • Work-life balance

    Powering Asia's Future

    • https://www.michaelpage.com.hk/
    • Stories from 9 inspirational leaders in Asia

    Management advice

    • Management advice
    • Engagement and retention
    • Hiring
    • Leadership
    • Staff development
    • Diversity and inclusion

    Market insights

    • Market insights
    • Market updates
    • Industry reports
    • Salary Guide 2021
    • Market Movers

    Leading Women

    • https://www.michaelpage.com.hk/
    • Women in Leadership Interviews

    Popular articles

    • Best practices for virtual recruitment and hiring
    • Top 10 highest paying jobs in Hong Kong for 2021
    • AI Innovations & Hiring Trends
    • How to negotiate for a higher salary in 2020
    • Common interview questions
    • Resume and cover letter
    • How to manage a remote team effectively
    • 8 must have qualities of an effective leader
  • About+

    About us

    • Who we are
    • Recruitment services
    • Diversity & inclusion
    • Media releases
    • Awards
    • Reviews
  • Join PageGroup+

    Join PageGroup

    • Work for us
    • Why choose us?
    • Your role here
    • Use your skills
    • FAQs
    • Apply now
  • Contact+

    Contact us

    • Find our office
    • Find our office
    • Looking to hire?
    • Submit your CV
    • Feedback
  • 企业招聘+

    企业招聘

    • https://www.michaelpage.com.hk/
    • 咨询服务
    • 中资企业新浪潮
Sign In
Saved jobs (0)
Saved jobs (0)
Sign In
Login or Sign up
Search for a job

You are here

Home>Advice>Management Advice>Hiring>Onboarding new hires with a remote team

Onboarding new hires with a remote team

by Michael Page
-
06/04/2020

You have a brilliant new hire that has just signed their offer letter. The role has been open a long time, and after a long, thorough recruitment process, the right fit has finally been found. They start on Monday, but there is one very big catch - everyone in the company is working from home. 

In these times where entire offices are remote - spread out across the city, region, or even country, how can companies approach onboarding? And how can they ensure that professionals feel prepared, informed and well-trained to do their job when in-person meetings just can’t take place?

It can be done, it just takes a little creativity, a lot of adaptation and a willingness to think outside of the box, or office, as it were. Here is some advice for onboarding new hires remotely. 

First, use your existing process

To start, the team should sit down and do a review of your company’s existing onboarding process. Evaluate each step of the process determining which parts can easily be converted to a virtual setup. This would include: 

Meeting colleagues and key stakeholders

Introductions to the team can still take place, just that they will likely take place over Zoom, Skype Microsoft teams or other meeting software. Be sure to encourage use of video, as the next best thing to meeting in person. 

Tools and software training

Most software programs already offer online training sessions, either live or in person. Seek out those trainings and schedule online webinars or conference calls for the missing pieces. 

Handovers and other important documents 

Instead of using printouts, or local files, put all handover and training documents on a cloud-based file sharing platform, so they are easily accessible. Ensure they can be updated by multiple people, making collaboration easy. This also ensures documents such as handovers are up to date. 

Keeping these changes in mind, companies can create an updated onboarding process that meets both needs of making sure new hires are well-prepared to do the job in front of them, and do it all virtually.  

Once you have a new process set up for your company, here are a few more tips for successful virtual onboarding.

Make advance preparations

Before starting any remote onboarding with the employee, take time to make preparations such as testing software that you’re using, confirm virtual appointments with everyone, and mapping out the exact track for onboarding. With everything being virtual, it can be easy to lose track of what’s going on - being organised and prepared at the beginning can make a big difference. 

Communicate, communicate, communicate

Now, more than ever, it’s essential to openly communicate. Ensure that the new employee has regular meetups with their direct manager, and a clear line of communication for the entire team. Suggest specific team members to direct questions to, and ensure they know who to contact for various technical needs that might come up, such as HR, the finance department, and IT. 

If the company is large, there may not be time for new hires to arrange one-on-one calls with everyone. Consider making videos consisting of welcome messages from CEOs or other stakeholders. 

Don’t forget the team building

Between formal trainings, and serious work conversations, be sure to schedule some time to make up for the lack of in-person welcome lunches, happy hour drinks and other team-building activities. These are essential to helping the new hire bond with a team. Schedule hangouts, lunches or virtual happy hours over Zoom. With the virtual barrier, it can be even more challenging for new hires to get the culture of the team - make sure they have it. 

In situations of virtual hiring, team managers should prioritise team engagement overall. 

Be transparent

When they start, lay out the onboarding process and leave plenty of room for questions. Transparency in the digital context has taken on a whole new meaning, so this will be essential for success. 

Get ready now 

Don’t wait until you have a new hire to make plans for virtual hiring. As part of making changes to your standard hiring process, lay out a plan for onboarding new hires in the future. If things are slow right now, business will pick up sooner, rather than later. 

Currently, virtual onboarding is being adapted by companies out of necessity. However, when looking ahead, getting these processes right means preparing for the future workplace - one in which finding the right team isn’t limited by physical geography. This opens up possibilities to a new type of work, and a new level of global collaboration that creates a workplace that’s ready to meet the challenges of the future. 

Previous article
#100in2020: Top 8 essential skills in financial services for 2020
by Michael Page
Read article
Next article
Top executive trends in Hong Kong for 2020: how digital transformation elevates people’s potential
by Michael Page
Read article
If you are looking for a job, visit the Candidates section

 

Looking to Hire?

Looking to Hire?

If you are an employer and would like to discuss your hiring needs, fill in the form below and we will call you back.

 

 

Advertise Your Role With Us

Advertise Your Role With ReachTalent

Michael Page Logo
  • Read our BlogRead our Blog
  • Follow us on FacebookFollow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on LinkedInFollow us on LinkedIn
  • Watch us on YouTubeWatch us on YouTube

General

  • Our response to COVID-19
  • Change Country/Region
  • Page Personnel Hong Kong
  • Page Executive
  • Investor site
  • PageGroup corporate site
  • Email Disclaimer
  • Site map
  • Site terms
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookie policy

Jobs by function

  • Banking & Financial Services
  • Construction
  • Digital
  • Education
  • Engineering & Manufacturing
  • Executive Search
  • Finance & Accounting
  • Healthcare
  • Human Resources
  • IT
  • Legal
  • Life Sciences
  • Marketing
  • Procurement & Supply Chain
  • Property
  • Retail & Sourcing
  • Sales
  • Secretarial & Business Support

Contact

  • Feedback
  • Looking to hire?
  • Submit your CV
 

Our Offices

  • Central Tower

Accreditations

ISO27001 Accreditation

Michael Page International (Hong Kong) Limited 米高蒲志國際(香港)有限公司 (Company No.176887, EA Licence No.60630 and its related brands – Page Executive (EA Licence No.58961), Page Personnel (EA Licence No.58960) and Page Outsourcing (EA Licence No. 58962) is part of the PageGroup. Registered Office: 17th Floor, Central Tower, 28 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong