Remote onboarding: The manager experience at PageGroup

In recent weeks more companies have started to hire and onboard new employees remotely. PageGroup is no exception.

We asked one of our managers for his thoughts about the virtual onboarding process he recently conducted with his newest team member, Sophie Dornbach.

In a conventional onboarding set-up Sophie would share her day with the consultants around her, joining interviews face-to-face and learning a lot by observing our daily activities in the open space we have. Her manager would see how she is doing and be available for any questions.

In remote onboarding, however, being very organized and planning everything beforehand is key. Sophie is still joining interviews, but virtually. The other teams were encouraged to invite her to their appointments. 

For the social aspect of meeting and becoming part of the team we arranged virtual coffees and included Sophie in our groups (WhatsApp, Yammer, Teams, etc.) on the first couple of days. She received welcome calls from me, HR and her Buddy. Sophie on the other hand sent everyone a nice e-mail introducing herself. 

Regarding the technical set-up we use the same tools in the remote onboarding as in the conventional process, which is mainly Teams. In the first step Sophie received the theoretical training from HR and our Boost platform, after which she continued with shadowing lessons in calls with clients and candidates from other consultants. 

Then she moved on to conducting her own calls. The onboarding was finalized with a debriefing after her first call.

Even though we implement these levels and are communicating continuously, as a manager I’m less in control in the remote onboarding. I need to trust a new consultant much more. 

The short answer is: Yes. 

HR did an outstanding job to prepare Sophie for her role. She was in constant contact with her team and the other employees from her office and has become part of the team very quickly. 

I like to see my team back in the office, but we will start step by step and on a voluntary basis. Remote working is here to stay, but I can see my team working partially from home and partially in the office. 

With the experience of the last months we also know now that we can conduct many interviews virtually. Face-to-face meetings are not as critical anymore as before.

Usually I like to organize my day with a high degree of flexibility. This is not possible in a virtual process. You need to be very strict with your agenda and the agenda of the new consultant. For this reason, we didn’t have a clear structure in the beginning, which was confusing for Sophie. 

Too many coffee and interview invitations from other team members where overwhelming, as well.

We came up with a clear plan with what is expected from Sophie during the first months and I went through her calendar with her to prioritize meetings and appointments. Sophie’s Buddy also had an important role by helping her with questions or doubts and supporting her in bonding with the team. 

I think working from the office is still going to be important, because we have a great team spirit and you can feel the energy in the room.

On the other hand, I see remote onboarding as a fantastic alternative to the conventional process. Virtual trainings are shorter and more interactive, which helped Sophie to learn quicker. The internal communication during the onboarding was great, too. 

Sophie could read news from our CEO on Yammer, hear interesting insights from other countries and get tips on how to work.