6 Ways to Make Remote New Hires Feel Welcome

The first few days and weeks for a new remote team member can make or break their experience. It’s during this time where relationships are built, company culture is embraced, and setting the stage for success in their new role is established. 

It’s a lot easier to welcome new employees in office because they have the opportunity to connect with everyone organically. It’s important to replicate some of those in-person experiences online, so remote employees can feel comfortable, connected and confident to excel in their new role and environment from day one. 

Let’s dive into six ways to welcome new remote hires to the team. 

Start building connection

Starting the introduction process on day one will create a memorable and exciting onboarding experience. In an office environment, a new employee has the privilege of getting to know people a lot easier, as they are forced to interact and chit-chat which is natural when you’re sharing a physical space. Encouraging some initial “face-to-face” interaction over video calls for team members to get to know each other is a great alternative. 

Some ideas for building peer to peer connection:

• Space out the introductory meetings over the first few weeks, so you don’t overwhelm new employees. 

• Depending on the company size, consider a company-wide or department video call. You could make it a casual virtual welcome lunch or happy hour. 

• Please don’t leave it up to the employee to do all the work. Meetings should be set in advance by HR or an office manager. 

Provide a company wiki or handbook

The concept of the company wiki is nothing new. However, how company information is formatted and shared throughout has changed in recent years. Tools like Notion have made it extremely easy to share tribal company knowledge and processes in a digestible way. An up-to-date and readable company wiki is essential for onboarding remote new hires quicker. It provides answers to basic questions and gives them a place to reference in the future. 

A good company wiki should cover the following basics:

• Mission, vision and values

• Employee directory 

• HR-related information on vacation, benefits and perks 

• Where to find things 

• Team boards and what they’re working on 

Assign a peer or mentor

Assigning a primary point of content like a peer or mentor to your remote hire gives a safe space to ask specific questions and receive support. The peer or mentor should be someone who has been on the team for a long period of time, and can answer more complicated questions or point them towards the right person. Picking someone within their team, will help onboard them faster and increase their comfort level in their new role. 

Engaging virtual culture

Over the last two years, companies have been shifting their focus to building a stronger company culture using software tools for everything from managing 1:1s to hosting virtual events. Remote-first companies see company processes through an inclusive lens that might look like mandatory virtual meetings (every meeting has a zoom invite) or record essential meetings for those in different time zones. 

Another remote-first practice is avoiding unnecessary meetings all together by making the work environment as asynchronous as possible. For company events like celebrations or team-building activities, offering a virtual option ensures the remote employee feels seen and valued even if they’re half-way across the world. 

Send them a welcome gift box

Nothing is more exciting than showing up for work on your first day to your designated desk, full of swag and other fun goodies to welcoming you to your new role. Why not ship your new hire a welcome gift box, full of delicious treats and something personalized like a hand-written card to mimic that feeling of the first day on the job. 

Beyond sending a gift box, Chocolate Soup can help you with sending swag to your new remote employees. We offer swag warehousing for your remote team onboarding gifts as an add-on for your Employee Recognition plans. Keep your closets clean by letting us take care of storing and shipping your swag.

Check in regularly and get feedback 

Lastly, check-in with your new hires regularly in the first six months, to help establish long-term happiness, trust and improve retention. Don’t just let onboarding fizzle out; make sure they have all the right resources and tools required to find success in their role. Work-life balance, inclusiveness, and happiness should be mandatory for all employees, not just new hires, so your team brings their best selves to work every day. Ask for feedback either through a company-wide anonymous survey or through regular 1:1s with HR. Show your employees that your company cares about them as individuals, beyond the work they produce.