Check Out Our Customizable Remote Onboarding Checklist
Struggling to Establish a Remote Onboarding Process? Try These Tips + Download Our Free Checklist!
Onboarding is a vital step in any company's growth. For new employees to be able to make the impact they were hired for, they first need to be oriented to and trained up on a company's history, mission, and workflows, while meeting and building relationships with their new team and understanding their new responsibilities.
Normal onboarding is complicated enough, and all-remote onboarding—which comes with extra reliance on tools and tech and less options for in-person bonding—can seem even harder to plan and execute.
But here at PowerToFly, we've been a remote-first company since we started connecting companies to women in tech six years ago. Our 50+ employees work all around the globe. As we've grown to help more and more companies bring diverse talent onto their teams, we've gotten plenty of practice working remotely, including how to successfully remotely onboard a new team member.
We've come to see remote onboarding as a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Managed well, they allow a company to set a new hire up for success. Managed poorly, they contribute to the sobering statistic that 31% of employees have left a job in the first six months, with 68% of those leaving in the first three months. Here's how we look at it:
Whether your company is 100% remote all the time or you've moved remote to respond to the global health crisis we're all currently facing, having a solid remote onboarding plan is a key part of closing the loop on hiring and recruiting and reaping the benefit of finding new team members.
How to Onboard Remote Employees
Keep in mind a few general principles that apply to remote work in general:
- Communicate, communicate, communicate. When your team doesn't sit in the same space, you need to rely extra on thoughtful communication to make sure everyone feels included and is up-to-date on what's happening. Written communication is best for asynchronous communication—that is, communication across time zones or when you don't need an immediate response—and verbal (whether through phone or video) is best for building rapport, sensitive topics, or dealing with quick-moving variables or crises. Experiment with what works best for your team, but definitely try to fall on the side of over-communicating (and documenting that communication with open and perusable channels) versus leaving them in the dark.
- Don't micromanage. Trust. Yes, it's weird that you can't look over someone's shoulder as they respond to a help ticket or swing by their cubicle to check in on their code. But don't try to make up for the lack of in-person contact with smothering your team or micromanaging their every move. Make sure they know what their responsibilities and deliverables are and that you're there to help, but then trust them to get their work done and pull you in as needed. Obviously, for a new hire, you can be more proactive about checking-in, but even with your newest team members, make sure they know trust is automatic, and not something that has to be earned.
- Team building is vital. You may not be able to go to happy hour together every Friday, but there's a myriad of ways you can bring team spirit to work, and it's important that you do so. People who feel supported and part of a work community are more likely to stay at your company long term.
With those challenges and opportunities in mind, and a good understanding of remote-first principles, you're ready to build your own remote onboarding guide. We've gotten you started with a customizable version of our tried-and-true remote onboarding checklist, ready for you to download and start using right now.
It provides a detailed walkthrough of the first four weeks of onboarding a new employee, and guidance on how to adapt the checklist to your business and your department.
If you'd like to create a smooth, memorable-in-a-good-way onboarding experience for your new hires, download our Customizable Remote Onboarding Checklist and get started today.
Check Out Our Customizable Remote Onboarding Checklist
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8 (Virtual) Diversity Conferences to Attend in 2021
Diversity Reboot 2021: The One Hundred Day Kickoff
<p><strong>When</strong>: February 1-5, 2021</p><p><strong>Where</strong>: Virtual</p><p><strong>Price to register:</strong> Free!</p><p><strong>Where to register: </strong><a href="https://summit.powertofly.com/" target="_blank">Here</a></p><p>We had to include our own Diversity Reboot on our list of the best diversity and inclusion events to attend in 2021 because we know firsthand how the quality of 100+ expert speakers, the enthusiasm of 10,000 participants, and the cutting-edge tech that enables meaningful virtual networking and job fairs combine to create a truly epic five-day experience. This year, the theme 100 Day Kickoff harnesses the energy of the new government's first 100 days in office to help jump-start personal and professional plans to build more diverse and inclusive workplaces. </p><p>Following the February summit, we'll have a monthly series of smaller virtual summits on topics spanning everything from returnships to LGBTQ+ advocacy, so be sure to stay tuned for updates!<br></p>The Future of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 2021
<p><strong>When</strong>: February 3-4, 2021</p><p><strong>Where</strong>: Virtual</p><p><strong>Price to register:</strong> Free</p><p><strong>Where to register:</strong> <a href="https://www.hr.com/en/webcasts_events/virtual_events/upcoming_virtual_events/the-future-of-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-2021_kcxf8glq.html#detail" target="_blank">Here</a></p><p>This virtual conference put on by HR.com focuses on how social movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter have pushed DEI at work beyond legal compliance and into a major factor of any company or brand's culture, employee engagement, and performance. Topics include how to uncover and resolve pay gaps across your team and hire top-level diverse talent.</p>Workplace Revolution: From Talk to Collective Action
<p><strong>When</strong>: March 8-12, 2021</p><p><strong>Where</strong>: Virtual</p><p><strong>Price to register: </strong>$820</p><p><strong>Where to register:</strong> <a href="https://cvent.me/ZQ4BbE" target="_blank">Here</a></p><p>The Forum on Workplace Inclusion's 33rd annual conference includes 12 session tracks, from DEI Strategy to Social Responsibility, along with 59 workshops and daily networking sessions. This year's theme focuses on one question: "What will it take to start a workplace revolution that moves us from talk to action?"</p>Diversity: How Employers Can Match Words With Deeds
<p><strong>When</strong><strong>: </strong>May 19, 2021</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Virtual</p><p><strong>Price to register</strong><strong>: </strong>Early bird registration is $49 and general admission is $149</p><p><strong>Where to register:</strong> <a href="https://hopin.com/events/may-virtual-conference-diversity-how-employers-can-match-words-with-deeds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Here</a></p><p>From Day One is hosting monthly conferences in 2021 focused on different ways for companies to foster strong relationships with their customers, communities, and employees. May's half-day virtual event is focused specifically on how companies can make diversity promises that don't fall flat and features workshops, panels, and a fireside chat.</p>Hire with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
<p><strong>When:</strong> August 18, 2021</p><p><strong>Where: </strong>Virtual</p><p><strong>Price to register: </strong>$195</p><p><strong>Where to register:</strong> <a href="https://www.hci.org/conferences/2021-virtual-conference-hire-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-august-18-2021" target="_blank">Here</a></p><p>This conference put on by the Human Capital Institute is one of 12 virtual conferences that HCI has planned for 2021. This one focuses on fair and inclusive talent acquisition, including how to attract diverse talent, implement inclusive hiring practices, and addressing bias in employee selection. Other conferences will focus on optimizing talent strategy, engaging employees, and developing your workforce.</p>Virtual Grace Hopper Celebration 2021
<p><strong>When:</strong> September 26-29, 2021</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Virtual, broadcast from Chicago, Illinois</p><p><strong>Price to register:</strong> Was $799 for regular access to the virtual conference in 2020; 2021 pricing hasn't yet been announced</p><p><strong>Where to register:</strong> <a href="https://ghc.anitab.org/attend/registration/" target="_blank">Here</a>, though 2021 registration wasn't live at the time of writing</p><p>Grace Hopper might be the best-known conference for women in tech. Through keynote presentations, networking sessions, job fairs, and community-building activities, vGHC reached over 30,000 women for their 2020 conference and are expecting even more in 2021! While not a conference focused exclusively on diversity and inclusion, many speakers plan to focus their talks on creating environments for women to thrive in the male-dominated tech field.</p>Inclusion 2021
<p><strong>When:</strong> October 25-27, 2021</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Virtual and in person in Austin, Texas as of now</p><p><strong>Price to register:</strong> Hasn't yet been announced</p><p><strong>Where to register: </strong><a href="https://conferences.shrm.org/inclusion" target="_blank">Here</a>, though 2021 registration wasn't live at the time of writing</p><p>The Society for Human Resource Management's biggest conference of the year saw 1,200 DEI leaders participate last year; SHRM hopes to see even more come to learn, be inspired, and to walk away with a playbook of implementable strategies to create truly inclusive workplace cultures.</p>AfroTech 2021
<p><strong></strong><strong>When:</strong> November 8-13, 2021</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Virtual</p><p><strong>Price to register:</strong> Early bird pricing is $149 for individuals and $249 for corporate attendees; regular pricing hasn't yet been announced</p><p><strong>Where to register:</strong> <a href="https://experience.afrotech.com/" target="_blank">Here</a></p><p>AfroTech is a conference hosted by Blavity, a tech media platform for Black millennials. It focuses on emerging tech trends, connecting Black talent with top tech recruiters, and providing networking and educational opportunities, with an overall goal of building a strong Black tech community. Over 10,000 people participated in 2020. While the conference isn't focused specifically on DEI, its main audience of Black tech talent is an important one to understand and to engage at work and beyond, and several speakers plan to focus on issues of race and inclusion at work. </p>Finding Her Sport: Being Part of the Team in a Startup Environment
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Tips to Prepare for Your Interview at SoftwareONE
Nina Unger, Talent Acquisition Specialist at SoftwareONE gave us a behind-the-scenes look at SoftwareONE's Application process, culture, and values.
Learn about the company and how you can make your application stand out!
To learn more about SoftwareONE and their open roles, click here.