There is a wealth of scientific research that bears out the old maxim: first impressions matter. Research published in the Association for Psychological Science, for example, suggests that human beings recognize and make substantive judgements about a person within 100 milliseconds of seeing their face.
And while we should all endeavor to suspend some of the biases that can arise out of these snap judgements, presenting yourself positively can be a powerful way of engendering beneficence.
The same can be said of employers. From the first correspondence with a job candidate through the onboarding process, there are indispensable opportunities to establish rapport. And while many companies have done this well for decades, the shift to modern remote and hybrid work environments has necessitated a lot of ingenuity on the part of HR and people teams.
What does an onboarding process tailored to meet the needs of hybrid and remote employees look like? Built In Colorado spoke with two companies beating back challenges and optimizing their opportunities to make the onboarding process impactful.
A cloud-based data intelligence platform for the hospitality industry, OTA Insight provides its partners — including Accor, Best Western and Wyndham — with an inclusive suite of revenue and distribution management solutions.
What is OTA Insight’s approach to onboarding a new hybrid and remote employee?
OTA Insight has always taken an employee-centric approach to our organizational operations, including onboarding and training. Whether someone joins our team remotely or in-person, we take a strategic approach to ensure that our new employees are set up for a successful journey and can feel the presence of our culture and cultivation of the #bestteamever. Our onboarding and training team ensures that our new hybrid and remote employees are invited to join welcome sessions alongside their team members, and our HR team to learn about our company culture, goals and growth framework.
We take a strategic approach to ensure that our new employees are set up for a successful journey.’’
When onboarding a fully remote new hire, what steps do you take to make sure they feel included?
From day one, our new employees are partnered with a “buddy” who serves as their designated mentor and helps guide them through their training and beyond. Our new employees are also invited to join training and one-on-one sessions with internal stakeholders to foster shared learning and collaboration. We ensure that we offer the same sessions virtually to support our remote employees. Furthermore, our leadership and Care Bear team facilitate virtual and in-person team building events to foster a culture of team elevation and engagement.
What special items do you send in your welcome kit to new hybrid or remote employees to help them feel like a part of OTA Insight from day one?
Prior to day one, we ensure our new employees are set up with some stellar company swag and technology to support their personal and professional journey with OTA Insight. Among their tech stack, which includes the latest Apple products, our new hybrid and remote employees receive a welcome pack that includes branded items such as a laptop case, hoodie and reusable Camelbak cup!
GHX is a healthcare business and data automation company that offers cloud-based supply chain technology exchange solutions, analytics and services. The company’s platform services 4,100 healthcare providers and 600 manufacturers and distributors in North America and another 1,500 providers and 350 suppliers in Europe.
What is GHX’s approach to onboarding a new hybrid and remote employee?
New GHX employees experience their onboarding process virtually. With a large percentage of employees spread throughout the United States and not located at our Colorado headquarters, it can be challenging to learn about the company.
The onboarding specialist creates an interactive session that helps everyone feel welcomed and informed. It is their role to guide new hires and hiring managers through the onboarding process from start to finish. Although some new hire orientations have been hybrid, engagement has been most successful when everyone participates virtually. The ability to see and hear each other with minimal technical concerns creates a sense of inclusion from day one as new employees work to set up their technology, meet their colleagues and log into new hire orientation.
The talent acquisition team diligently works to stay in communication with new hires and hiring managers to provide insight on what to expect and to ease the anxiety of starting a new job. Even if employees are joining the call from the office, they receive the same engaging virtual onboarding experience as their remote colleague — while they get to meet some of their coworkers or hiring manager in person.
When onboarding a fully remote new hire, what steps do you take to make sure they feel included?
To foster a positive employee experience, GHX works to make sure each new hire feels included regardless of location.
The talent acquisition team communicates with the hiring manager and team members to ensure they know a new hire is starting. A robust onboarding toolkit provides a step-by-step customizable guide for hiring managers to better create a successful onboarding experience for new hires. It includes a virtual meet and greet with the team, notes on how to introduce your new hire and key facts to know about GHX. This guide serves as a jumping-off point for the hiring manager and the new hire to work together to create a beneficial onboarding experience.
On day one, the onboarding specialist is there to create a sense of belonging and help new hires learn about GHX. To enhance everyone’s engagement, online games and polls are used to foster learning and provide some fun. The onboarding specialist is available for new hires whenever they have questions or to point them in the right direction if they do not know the answer.
Finding commonality among coworkers helps create a sense of belonging among our GHXers.’’
What special items do you send in your welcome kit to new hybrid or remote employees to help them feel like a part of GHX from day one?
We provide new GHX employees with a GHX-branded backpack that is filled with various goodies such as wireless Bluetooth headphones and a portable charger. The backpack is great for carrying a laptop, especially since our employees will need to fly to corporate headquarters at some point in their GHX journey. GHX regularly receives overwhelming positive feedback from new hires when they use their backpacks for trips. The onboarding specialist enjoys informing new hires that they will receive swag in the mail and hearing that they have used their backpack during their travels.
Another way of welcoming our employees is the GHX “Wall of Fame.” Every employee fills out a one-page document with their picture and some fun facts. These fun facts are on rotating display on the office TV so that others can get to know our new remote employees and support their efforts to introduce themselves to their new GHX colleagues. Finding this commonality among coworkers helps create a sense of belonging among our GHXers.
