Bridging the Distance: Onboarding Your New Hire Remotely

Despite the many obstacles that the real estate industry has faced since lockdown began; with agency offices closed and face to face meetings forced into the digital realm – there has been a positive shift towards normalcy over the past few weeks.

The reality is that real estate business owners are still hiring. And the candidate market has never been stronger. Companies who were mid-hiring process when Covid-19 hit have now taken advantage of the top-shelf talent pool to secure the best staff possible who can help them get back to business.

On the flip side, many more business owners have since had to navigate the daunting ‘remote interview’ process and put forward formal job offers and employment contracts to candidates they have only met online.

But until the restrictions on in-office headcounts ease, many Hiring Managers are left thinking – what happens now? You’ve jumped through every hoop of the virtual hiring process and secured the perfect candidate who is raring to get started, but how exactly can you onboard your new staff member from home?

Before Covid-19, 40% of jobseekers left their roles within the first 6 months due to issues with onboarding. And without organic integration and physical interaction to get the ball rolling, these stakes are even higher for new remote recruits.

Take a look below at our top tips to bridge the gap from the home to office workplace and onboard your new at-home hire like a pro.

PRE-START DATE & THEIR FIRST WEEK

• Encourage your new hire to be proactive by asking them to write a short ‘bio’ which can be used for their online profile and to e-introduce them to your team. By sharing more detail about themselves (eg. where they worked previously, their hobbies, what they’re looking forward to most about the role/the business and what skills they’ll bring to the team), your employee will feel more comfortable and welcome when starting work remotely.

• Provide a thorough description of the role and responsibilities as well as any training manuals, company history and other required documents that your new starter will need to complete prior to their commencement (including bank details, tax and superannuation forms). Giving them time to read through these documents at their own pace before getting straight on the tools will avoid a feeling of ‘information overload’ in their first week.

• In lieu of setting up a physical desk to welcome your new employee – send them a welcome pack on their first day with some fun company ‘swag’ including notebooks, pens, mugs and general office supplies to add to their home office workspace. Add in a nice bottle of champagne and a personalised card to welcome them to the team and make them feel more ‘at home’ in the business – even from their living room!

• Schedule a virtual welcome lunch or coffee with your team to replicate face to face introductions. If you can’t meet in person to take your new recruit out to lunch to celebrate, get creative by sending them a Meal Delivery voucher so they can order in and ‘share’ lunch with their new co-workers over video conference.

• Be clear about expectations surrounding work hours, meal breaks and primary contact methods from the outset. Give your new employee a chance to get their head around your systems and software and encourage them to interact with their team by delegating a small group project for them to take the lead on in their first week.

GET THEM ONLINE

• Ensure that any email, software and online accounts utilised on a daily basis are set up and installed for your new employee to access from day one. Send them an itemised email on their first day containing all the usernames/passwords they will need and links to login pages for any cloud-based CRM systems for ease of access.

• Help your new starter set up a productive home office space by providing them with any tech they will need including a company phone, laptop or desktop computer, keyboard and mouse. Make sure they have access to a stable internet connection, your company intranet (via VPN setup if need be) and a dedicated IT contact for any tech glitches.  

• Promote a clutter-free, paperless remote-work environment by introducing your new employee to cloud-based storage services such as DropBox, Google Drive, One Drive or Box Drive to access and edit shared documents in real time. Filter their progress on group projects using a collaborative tool such as Monday.com to keep your new recruit on track and avoid double up with other team members.

• A remote workflow is only as effective as your team’s communication. Walk your new starter through your remote video conferencing software of choice (such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Hangouts) and encourage them to participate in daily group calls, chats or emails to build familiarity with their team members and have their ideas heard.

• Use a group Outlook or Google Calendar to book in daily team catch ups, one on ones or feedback sessions/reviews with your new hire. Make sure they also set a calendar reminder to mark the start and end of their work day and regular break intervals. Identify the best avenue for your new employee to contact you and vice versa and set boundaries for out of hours contact off the bat.   

HIGHLIGHT YOUR PEOPLE & CULTURE

• Hold a remote induction day or training session with your HR representative to go through key business values, procedures and departmental structures with your new starter. Address the elephant in the room and be upfront with them about where your business stands, how your onboarding process has adapted to operate remotely and when they can expect to return to a physical office.

• Ask your team to reach out and introduce themselves to your new hire via phone, email or video call during their first week to break the ice. Prompt your new employee to share their email, phone and social media contact details with their co-workers and encourage your staff to pick up a conversation with them to cement a relationship in the absence of ‘office banter’ or drive-by desk chats.

• Shine a light on your company culture without the ‘vibe’ of a physical workplace by sharing images or a virtual walkthrough of your office so that your new hire can see workers in action. Show off your unique company perks, initiatives or committees and encourage your inductee to join in. A more intentional approach to creating those ‘little moments’ is what will solidify your bond with a remote employee from early on.  

• Conduct online group/1-to-1 check ins twice a week to keep abreast of your team’s goals and challenges. Encourage your new staff member to create informal interactions with their colleagues through fun ice-breaker games, WFH challenges or an after-work video call to strike a balance between office formalities and getting to know your newbie on a personal level.

• Re-create the sense of ‘belonging’ that is often felt unconsciously in a physical office space. Smiles in the hallway, wishing someone good morning and building an emotional connection through physical interaction may seem like a distant memory. The biggest challenge your new remote employee will have to overcome is isolation. Make it clear that they can turn to you for feedback, questions or if they just need someone to talk to. Particularly at home, a new recruit may be nervous to make the first move.  

‘PULSE-CHECK’ & ASK FOR FEEDBACK

• Check in daily and weekly with your new recruit to see where they are at, work through any obstacles and most importantly – break the digital silence. Block out an hour at the end of every week to go through their questions, progress on active projects and outline action points for the coming week.

• If you have never onboarded a remote worker before – there are bound to be setbacks and hiccups along the way. Ask your inductee for suggestions on how to smooth out these issues, what worked for them and what didn’t and how you can improve ‘work from home’ support in your business to offer staff more flexibility once they are back in the office.

• Set clear expectations on deliverables and deadlines for routine tasks or ongoing projects while your new hire is at home. Outline timeframes for the completion of training modules and explain if/how their probationary period and reviews of performance will be impacted by the switch to remote onboarding. 

• Be patient. Working from home is a new and challenging concept for both of you. Give your new employee extra time to review training materials and adapt to your internal systems and procedures. It is easy for a remote hire to become buried under an avalanche of new information. Make the onboarding process less paperwork-focused and more people-focused and the rest will come with time.  

EMBRACE CHANGE

If there’s one thing this pandemic has taught real estate businesses – it’s innovation. Business owners and Hiring Managers have had to overhaul their recruitment process and redefine what it means to ‘onboard’ a new member of staff.

Now more than ever – onboarding is not just about getting to know a business; it’s about getting to know the people behind it.

Done well, a remotely onboarded new hire may wind up becoming one of your most valuable employees by the time you meet them face to face.

Image Credit: TalentLms