Many freshly onboarded workers in the office are known to take a long time to adapt themselves to the new company culture. They may fret over new rules and regulations and take time to readjust themselves to their new colleagues. Eventually, they will loosen up and enjoy working in the new organization.

This process, however, cannot be taken for granted.

Each organization has a unique onboarding program that enables this process. But these programs must be rejigged to aid new Remote Workers. Paying attention to this can boost your Employee retention.

Research shows that Remote workers are finding it harder to adapt to their new workplaces due to the social isolation of the work-from-home (WFH) situation. And that calls for business owners to brainstorm over different strategies to ease the path for them.

We will discuss 4 such strategies in this post:

#1 Have Flexible Rules and Regulations for the New Normal

WFH aids productivity but reduces communication between workers and the company. WFH situations also can cause overworking if not supervised properly.

To ensure that employee retention does not suffer due to this, you will need to accommodate your new remote workers:

• Relax the itinerary for the initial phase: Do not overload your employees when they are just starting out. Make the transition as comfortable as possible. A relaxed employee is an energetic one.
• Allow for more unstructured time: Between work sessions, you could prompt your employees to spend time with their family, walk the dog, dabble in live sporting events, or catch up on their to-read bookshelf. This is a necessity, given spending long hours sitting in front of a screen is bad for their health.
• Schedule remote team bonding sessions: In an office, unscheduled “chance meetings” occur frequently, allowing employees small talk, banter, and icebreakers among each other. Virtually, this is not possible, so you will have to facilitate team morale by scheduling online sessions of the same.

#2 Foster Communication & Transparency

Do not leave everything to human resources.

Give new remote employees your precious time. Make sure you understand how each of them differs because they won’t all respond the same way. Learning their preferences can help you aid them in the onboarding process. Add a personal touch and go out of your way to look out for them:

• Remote mentoring: Managers and team leaders should schedule as many one-on-one remote mentoring sessions. It’s easier to teach in person, and it exudes an encouraging level of thoughtfulness to the new employee.
• Facilitate one-on-one video calls: Managers should encourage their established team members to have one-on-one introductions with the new employee. Introductions in a group meeting can be daunting, so it is better if the medium of communication is more private at first.
• Use the buddy system: Assign them a “buddy” to advise and assist them through everyday tasks in the initial phase. Once familiar, the employee can then take part in group video chat sessions and the like.

#3 Set up Informal Video Meets

We are social animals and will always need an outlet to decompress with colleagues.

It is great when employees can informally socialize online from the comforts of their home, getting to know how they function outside work contexts. Team morale is always aided by informal settings that allow them to loosen up. Suggest and organize video meets with a game, icebreaker, or contest as a theme.

You could also enable informal cross-training sessions, where an employee is given an hour to casually explain their skills to the rest of the team. This imparts a sense of worth to the new employee, as well as improves the team’s coherence.

#4 Gift Them “Company Swag” Promotional Products

“Company Swag” refers to a set of promotional products that the company often gives away, riffing off a current trend. Since the current pandemic-influenced trend seems to be of promoting medical safety and healthy living, you could pick a few from the following popular employee giveaways: yoga fitness totes, sports duffel bags, safety shoe lights, hiker bottles, and antibacterial satin pens.

Promotional products help remote workers connect to their new employers. They inculcate company culture and bring out a sense of welcomeness to the newcomers. They help soften the formal atmosphere and will make your employees feel at home, which is what you eventually want!

Feel free to get in touch with us if you are looking for high-quality promo products or smart tips for your next employee engagement campaign. We look forward to hearing from you!

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