4Must-HaveComponentsofaRemoteOnboardingProgram.pdf

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4 Must-Have
Components of a
Remote Onboarding
Program That Builds
Company Culture

SHARED EXPERIENCES CREATE POWERFUL BONDS.
That’s the essential truth behind the power of employee
onboarding, which has been shown to influence important human
resources metrics, such as employee engagement and retention.1
Despite the fact that effective onboarding can dramatically affect
whether or not new employees feel connected to their workplace,2
researchers from Gallup found that only 1 in 10 employees
strongly agree that their companies are great at onboarding.3
In a post-pandemic hiring landscape where many companies
are transitioning to permanently remote or hybrid workplaces,
onboarding has become an even more critical touch point for
establishing and inviting new employees to participate in the
company culture. Increasingly, it’s taking place remotely.4
“In a remote workplace, we can’t default to traditional sources of
company culture like the energy in the room or small talk over
coffee and cookies,” said Crystal Luukkonen, senior training and
organizational development manager at Ergotron. “Right at the
start, from setting up a new employee with the technology they
need to log in for their first day of work, we’ve had to reinvent our
onboarding process and challenge ourselves to find creative ways
to expose people to the culture of our organization.” Only 1 in 10 employees
strongly agree that their companies
are great at onboarding.
2
“When people think about onboarding, on a day-to-day
basis they’re thinking about HR, employee handbooks
or compliance or new-employee orientation. But
onboarding is so much more than that … it’s actually
more like a journey than an event.”
DANNY LEE
Global Leadership Coach and Senior Learning Consultant,
Gallup

With the location of work no longer standard, organizations must create systems and
processes that allow connection and culture to flourish between people anywhere — and the
best opportunity is during the onboarding experience. Here are four cornerstones of a
successful remote onboarding program:
FOUR CORNERSTONES OF REMOTE ONBOARDING THAT BUILDS CULTURE
Connection for strong relationships
Choice and personalization Measurable success
Company values, not company culture
3

One of the biggest mistakes companies can make when transitioning
to remote onboarding is to assume that the traditional approach will
translate perfectly into a digital format. While much of the educational
content, such as compliance information, may transition just fine, a lot of
the interactions that previously built company culture will be lost.
To make up for this gap, organizations must build a program that takes
intangible elements of company culture and makes them tangible in the
new format. That process comes not from trying to re-create the culture
in a remote format but by revisiting company values and identifying
ways to bring them to life online.
“We all know how an office works, even if it’s just from watching a
thousand sitcoms where employees connect at the watercooler,” said
Valentina Thörner, a remote leadership consultant and head of product
and director of remote at Klaus, a conversation-review and quality-
assurance platform for support teams. “But there’s no one-size-fits-all
playbook for remote work. Many companies tried to move that in-office
culture to a digital format and ended up on Zoom for eight hours a day.
People quickly burned out, wondering why it’s not the same as it was in
the office.”
SUCCESSFUL REMOTE ONBOARDING …
Is built around company
values, not company culture
4

Thörner explained that organizations can’t just copy in-person
connections to virtual settings and expect it to work seamlessly.
Remote onboarding that effectively builds company culture starts with
a renewed focus on company values, which can then be translated
into the remote culture. Organizations need to take that opportunity
to step back and think about what is actually required for employees
to be productive at work, then extrapolate that to the overall remote
work situation.
“You don’t need to defend your company culture when you are
remote,” Thörner said. “You need to defend your company values,
which are the foundation of culture.”
5
“The shift to fully remote work took a lot of companies by
surprise and many were not ready to move their
in-person processes online. The biggest change has been
in how companies are approaching onboarding; rather
than simply adjusting to the medium, many companies
have revamped these processes altogether.”
ALEKSANDRA SULIMKO
Human Resources Director, The Soul Publishing5

Connection is not a nice-to-have. It’s critical to nurturing belonging
and helping employees feel as if they’re part of something bigger than
themselves. Research from Harvard Business Review found that high
rates of belonging are linked to bottom-line benefits: a 56% increase in
job performance, a 50% drop in the risk of turnover and a 75% reduction
in sick days, loosely translated to an annual savings of $52 million for a
10,000-person company.6
Connection is a common theme throughout any onboarding
experience, but it’s especially important during remote onboarding
because there’s no baseline interaction to fall back on. When an
employee begins their first remote workday, they’re alone in their
workspace with a laptop. Connection and relationship must be
planned and facilitated or they may not happen.
Overcoming obstacles was the first step for Luukkonen.
For example, Luukkonen and her team would normally try to
keep new employees away from technology during their first two
days to encourage focus on the experience of this new milestone,
to network throughout the organization and to begin to establish
a solid sense of community. But that’s not practical for the first
day of a remote role. For these employees, they need a computer,
equipment, and security and login information so they can even
participate in their first day of work.
Builds connection for strong relationships
6

LUUKKONEN AND HER TEAM BRAINSTORMED OTHER
WAYS TO BUILD COMMUNITY, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING:
Virtual building tours: Provide video and photo tours of the
building for employees who have not yet set foot inside the
physical workplace.
Warm handoff between recruiter and onboarding team:
The new-employee welcome process should include a clear
transition from recruiter to onboarding team, demonstrating a
culture of sharing and support.
Executive guest speakers on the first day: Connect new
hires with executive leaders, including director level and above
and the CEO, who can introduce and share their connections
to cultural values and show their interest in all employees, no
matter their role or level of seniority.
Cohorts to create community: Organize new hires into
cohorts to emphasize the shared experience of going through
onboarding at the same time.
Customer testimonials to show company culture in action:
Ask customers to share their experiences with the company so
employees can see how culture plays out in the end product.
“In years past, a new hire’s first week was just that: the first week at
work,” Luukkonen said. “We recently evolved our onboarding to support
a first week that makes a much bigger impression and sets the tone for
how work will take place. This also takes the pressure off of the new
hire’s immediate team to share general information about company
policies and culture because that information has already been shared
during the onboarding process. We were fortunate to already have the
wheels in motion for this type of experience when we were faced with
the need for remote onboarding.”
“To promote connection in a hybrid workforce, look for
ways to level the playing field between those who are
in the office and those who are not. For us, that took the
form of a digital-first approach to meetings. Even if some
people are in the office, everyone logs in separately to
attend meetings so that we’re all in the same situation.”
VALENTINA THÖRNE
Remote Leadership Consultant and
Head of Product and Director of Remote, Klaus
7

In the transition to remote onboarding, some companies try to
develop a one-size-fits-all structure that works for everyone.
However, this is rarely effective and undermines one of the biggest
advantages of remote work: Employees can set up their workday to
maximize their productivity.
Making remote onboarding employee-centric is an investment
in your employees. It shows you care and makes employees
feel empowered about their career with your organization. Small
touches, such as the ability to personalize your workspace and
furniture, can have a big effect on how welcome and connected an
employee feels to the company at large.
“For us, the ergonomics of work is very important and naturally
makes its way into our onboarding process. It’s important to find
ways to provide choice and personalization for new employees as
they begin to engage with your company culture,” Luukkonen said.
“We want to create spaces where employees can be their most
productive and effective selves.”
Highlights choices and
personalization for new employees
“A vital part of the Ergotron brand — sitting less and
moving more — is something that new employees can
see and pick up on even in virtual settings. Standing
desks and monitor arms give our team the ability to work
in a way that’s most comfortable and productive for them.
We value well-being, flexibility and choice, and we want our
newest employees to understand that, too.”
CRYSTAL LUUKKONEN
Senior Training and Organizational Development Manager,
Ergotron
8

It helps to capture baseline metrics and measure progress over time
when navigating any change, and it’s especially important when shifting
from traditional onboarding to remote onboarding. The intersection of
remote onboarding, company culture, and employee engagement and
retention is uniquely complex.
Here are a few sources of culture-related metrics companies can
collect to get a clear picture of progress:
Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
Time to effectiveness as measured by hiring managers
Performance evaluations
New-hire interviews about onboarding
First- and second-year retention rates
The more data an organization can collect about its company’s health,
the better, and the more clearly the company can see positive changes.
For example, by keeping track of simple metrics, such as eNPS,
Luukkonen could identify a marked improvement in company culture
over the period of time her company adjusted to the pandemic and
shifted into remote operations.
It’s also worth getting creative with the metrics you use to define
success. Writing for Inc.com, Maria Haggerty, CEO of Dotcom
Distribution, said that companies might need to start paying more
attention to figures that might have previously been more peripheral.
“Instead of blindly measuring against pre-COVID-19 [key performance
indicators], where the monetary results of tactics may have previously
taken center stage, focus on the metrics that factor into steady growth
and recovery,”7
she wrote.
Creative metrics for company culture might include measures like
attendance at team-building events, employee referrals, internal
transfers or even customer feedback.
Makes success measurable
9

The where, how and why might change, but onboarding will
continue to play a crucial role in maintaining organizational health,
building company culture, and engaging and retaining employees.
Organizations that rely on these four cornerstones will have an
advantage in creating a healthy, flexible and unique company culture,
no matter where employees work.
Remote or On-Site, Organizational
Health Starts With Onboarding
10

Sources
1. “Understanding Employee Onboarding,” Society for Human Resources
Management, https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/
toolkits/pages/understanding-employee-onboarding.aspx
2. “The Incredible Impact of Effective Onboarding [Infographic],” BambooHR,
https://www.bamboohr.com/blog/effective-onboarding-infographic/
3. “Essential Ingredients for an Effective Onboarding Program,” Gallup, https://
www.gallup.com/workplace/246242/essential-ingredients-effective-
onboarding-program.aspx
4. “These are the hidden challenges of onboarding in a remote environment,”
Fast Company, https://www.fastcompany.com/90609859/the-hidden-
challenges-of-onboarding-in-a-remote-environment
5. “Remote onboarding: Keys to getting your culture to shine through,” HR
Morning, https://www.hrmorning.com/articles/remote-onboard-culture/
6. “The Value of Belonging at Work,” Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.
org/2019/12/the-value-of-belonging-at-work
7. “Rethinking Success Metrics in the Time of Coronavirus: Covid-19 has changed
business. How you measure success must change too,” Inc., https://www.inc.
com/maria-haggerty/rethinking-success-metrics-in-time-of-coronavirus.html
11

Ergotron, Inc. is a global company focused on improving how people
work, learn, play and care for others. Using human-centered design
principles and the technology of movement, Ergotron builds solutions
that help people thrive in healthcare, education, contract furniture
and general office environments. Its custom solutions group develops
innovative products for leading global companies in a variety of
industries.
Over nearly four decades, the company has earned more than
200 patents and established a growing portfolio of award-winning
brands including WorkFit®, CareFit™, LearnFit® and JŪV™. Ergotron is
headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, with a global sales and marketing
presence in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. All products are
designed in the United States and produced in Ergotron’s facilities in St.
Paul and China.
LEARN MORE

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4Must-HaveComponentsofaRemoteOnboardingProgram.pdf

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4Must-HaveComponentsofaRemoteOnboardingProgram.pdf