Introduction
To onboard remote developers seamlessly, you must first find out why modern-day recruiters have switched to remote onboarding.
Well it happened following the coronavirus outbreak, remote modes of operation. It was previously looked down upon. But, it became a practical choice for businesses all across the globe. Since everyone has accepted the new normal, organizations must start their remote onboarding process soon.
However, the increased shift towards these monumental changes in workforce management has left most employers scrambling. Many startups and enterprises are not confident enough to scale up. The below discussion will surely help them. It specifies the steps that ensure smooth remote onboarding. It also includes other necessary information. Please continue reading.
Benefits Of Remote Onboarding
Before learning how to onboard remotely, let’s define remote onboarding and its key benefits.
Remote onboarding involves hiring new employees into a workplace. Check out this employee guide to know more.
Businesses have been opting for remoting onboarding because –
- It offers flexibility
- It is cost effective
- It creates a personalized learning experience
- It elevates efficiency
Steps To Implement When Onboarding Remote Developers
If you want to know how to onboard a new developer, you have come to the right place. As a recruitment manager, you must acquaint yourself with the onboarding developer procedures. Doing so will let you incorporate the new hires without any hassle. There are several stages related to remote onboarding, and the below guide dives into them.
Execute The Pre-Onboarding Process Properly
A trustworthy onboarding process can decrease employee turnover. Also, it can increase your organization's overall productivity. You must, however, execute the pre-onboarding process diligently.
Pre-onboarding refers to the period when a candidate has accepted the frontend developer job offer but has yet to start working. It includes internal measures that can streamline the onboarding phase.
The developers will operate from their homes. Thus, you do not have to prepare the office space, hardware, software, and other facilities. So, what must you do? First, you must create a detailed employee contract delineating the developer's role, schedule, and salary.
Next, mention the framework, programming language, platform, and tools. You also must create new accounts for the developer and invite them to group chats. Lastly, send a welcome email together with a series of valuable tutorials. Check this to land a software engineer job.
Describe Company Culture
Company culture consists of a company's values, practices, goals, and attitudes. New developers must learn your culture to perform optimally. Share videos of all the meetings, an employee handbook, or a presentation on your company's mission and vision to help.
It is also useful when new developers attend a one-on-one call with somebody at the top of your company. For instance, the CEO can lecture on the company's history, objectives, best services/products, etc.
Introduce Software And Tools
Let the developers know about the software and tools . It can cut short the training procedure. Also, it will make the first couple of days of new developers effective. For instance, mention the software the new developers will need immediately and ask them to install it on their computer.
Set Expectations
With the software and tools in place, the next step is setting expectations for the new hires. For example, should they work during peak hours? Can they work flexibly? How to measure their performance?
It may take some time to decide on the customizations the new developers may require. For instance, they might not speak your organization’s native language. Ensure they at least familiar with the technical terms your organization uses daily? A glossary of the unusual yet relevant terms may help, but it will help more if your team can communicate in plain English.
Non-native speakers may also find written materials useful. Distribute reports and minutes a day before every meeting. Then the non-native speakers can become habituated to the content.
Organize Daily Check-Ins
How to onboard new employees remotely? A daily check-in meeting is another item on the remote onboarding checklist. Coordinate the status of ongoing projects or what is happening throughout the day. This way, the new developers will remain up-to-date and feel connected with the rest of their teammates.
Gather Feedback
Gathering feedback from the developers is an integral part of the employer-employee relationship. Hearing what the developers say about the onboarding procedure is also necessary.
Remote onboarding may be good, but it is full of challenges. Get feedback for constant improvement. For example, ask the developers if they felt confused or upset. I hope you can detect critical bottlenecks and offer substantial assistance during onboarding.
Ways To Enhance Productivity Of Remote Developers
Thanks to the above section, you have an idea of how to onboard new employees remotely. However, to ensure the remote developers are cent percent productive, please keep in mind the tips below.
Make Sure The Developers Understand The Tasks Assigned To Them
Working from home can be challenging. If the newly hired developers have not understood a task, they cannot walk over to their manager or co-workers. Thus, when assigning tasks, please be thorough. It is better to give as much information as possible. Unclear instructions pave the way for continuous interruptions, which ultimately decrease productivity. Instead, arrange a meeting to elaborate on a task at length and answer the questions the developers may have.
Finally, please remind the developers of the bigger picture. They should know that every task completed is a step towards accomplishing the organization’s final goal.
Automate Development Lifecycle
Developers must always carry out repetitive tasks such as log mining, command lines, and deploying. Please automate these procedures. Automation will save time. It will also eliminate the collaboration blocks and speed up code distribution. Due to these reasons, it is considered a colossal productivity booster for remote teams.
Have Enough Documents For Internal Procedures
Documentation is a necessity for remote developers. You can create a permanent digitized record that the employees can refer to always.
Instead of waiting for an email, developers can review the documentation to find the information they seek.
Suppose a developer has joined your company and is assigned a project. It will help if they are provided with documents specifying the steps for handling the project.
Rely On Collaboration Tools To Communicate With Remote Teams
To promote the home office setting, companies have designed numerous collaboration tools. By streamlining cooperation, these tools help remote teams function efficiently.
Slack is a popular collaboration tool. It has concentrated topics on communication to help everyone access the same conversations. Slack can be integrated with Opsgenie, PagerDuty, GitHub, etc.
By combining different tools into Stack, the developers do not have to spend time on iterative tasks. All routine processes are automated.
Difference Between Remote Onboarding And Traditional Onboarding
Since you know how to do onboarding remotely, it is time to discover the differences. Read on to know differences between remote and traditional onboarding.
Traditional onboarding is done in person, with new employees coming into the office daily. This approach has plenty of benefits, including the opportunity to interact face-to-face. The only disadvantage is that traditional onboarding is exceptionally resource-intensive and time-consuming.
Remote onboarding involves incorporating new hires into an organization by amalgamating online resources and video conferencing. With remote onboarding, you can have employees regardless of any location. However, be prepared for collaboration and communication challenges.
Remote Work Policy
In many countries, having a written work policy is legally necessary. It is good to document the agreements even in areas where it isn’t. A remote work contract is the best way to hold a person accountable. It must state the expected hours of operation, even the right to go offline, and reimbursements or allowances.
Remote work policies are fundamental to the HR (human resource) policy stack. Just like you need safety, non-discrimination, and health policies, you must also need an agreement setting out guidance for remote employees. This protects the employee and employer from legal risks and informs the former about how the remote arrangements work.
Detail Insight: How To Onboard Developers?
Onboarding remote developers is not about dumping information on the employees. Instead, it is about allowing the new developers to feel comfortable and allowing them to succeed. If done right, remote onboarding can reduce employee turnover, enhance job satisfaction and engagement, decrease anxiety and stress, build long-term commitment, and bring employees from worldwide.
A poor remote onboarding process can be expensive. For example, studies have shown that if a junior software developer with a salary of around $97,000 leaves after a year, it can cost your organization $300,000 to look for and train a replacement.
Employees who cannot ensure positive remote onboarding are less productive and constantly stressed. It could ruin the reputation of your organization.
Conclusion
Even though it has become much more convenient, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to remote onboarding. Utilizing a remote setup for employees and employers has countless benefits, such as no need for commuting, elevated productivity, reduced overhead costs, and easy access to talent.
Each organization has its tools, requirements, culture, and remote onboarding procedure, which its owner can customize. That said, the practices proposed in this write-up apply whether you have a remote or traditional setting. Set your expectations, stress the importance of open communication, and allow new developers to connect with everybody.
You should create a proper onboarding process to maximize the available resources and hire the best talent. That’s the only way you can decrease volatility and increase the potential of the new developers.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to onboard remote employees? I hope the above article has answered this question. Below are a few other frequently asked questions people ask about remote onboarding.
What Onboarding Tools Should A Company Invest In?
The onboarding tools a company must invest in are as follows –
- Signature tools such as HelloSign or DocuSign
- Video conferencing tools such as Google Hangouts or Zoom
- Informal communication tools such as Microsoft Teams or Slack
- Collaboration and project management tools such as Notion, Click Up, or Asana
What Team-Building Activities Can Remote Employees Participate In?
You cannot expect only the in-house developers to have fun. Invite the remote developers to virtual lunch dates. Arrange costume parties over Zoom. Play different types of online games.
If you wish to establish strong relationships and improve your business, pair your employees. Two software developers can collaborate to come up with unique ideas and write codes.
How To Train Remote Employees?
Proper training is essential for remote employees. Besides sending out reading materials and video tutorials, you should organize job shadowing sessions. They will help your new developers feel comfortable.
Remote developers can ask the elected onboarding buddy whatever they want. They can put forward as many queries as they like without feeling like they are disturbing their boss.
Why Is Remote Onboarding Considered Important?
30% of tech employees leave their job in six months, and 95% of employees decide if they want to leave or stay in a new position within six months. Online onboarding and hiring experience can incredibly impact this particular outcome.
