Digital onboarding (part 1) -

Why digital onboarding is essential in the remote era

Although the coronavirus pandemic no longer plays a role in everyday life, it has left a lasting mark on the world of work: In many industries, the proportion of remote working has increased significantly. The acute shortage of skilled workers is also contributing to the need for companies to break new ground and offer more flexible working models. For many jobseekers, the ability to work from home is an important selection criterion for a potential new position.

A well-designed digital onboarding process is therefore essential to efficiently onboard new employees and quickly integrate them into existing teams, regardless of their physical location.

The 3 phases of a successful onboarding process

A typical onboarding process can be divided into three phases: Preboarding, Orientation and Integration. These phases are relevant for both analog and digital onboarding and should always be taken into account when designing an onboarding process.

Phase 1: Preboarding – the importance of first impressions

Preboarding is the first phase in the onboarding process and begins with the contract signing. This phase lasts until the first working day. The focus is on taking new employees by the hand and clarifying their questions. By providing relevant information before the official start of work, new team members can familiarize themselves with the company and make initial contact with future colleagues. By actively providing information such as company guidelines, organizational charts or introductory videos, you create a basis for trust and orientation. In this way, new employees feel well looked after and prepared from the outset.

Phase 2: Orientation – structured training during the first 3 months

Preboarding is seamlessly followed by the orientation phase, which lasts around three months and includes the first day at work. The first impression is crucial and should be remembered positively by the new employees. For this to succeed, software and hardware must be ready for use from day one - nothing is more frustrating than having to struggle with the technology for hours and not being able to get started. Equally important is a structured introduction to the tasks and processes of both the company and the respective department. In the first few weeks, concrete goals and expectations should also be defined to guide the new employees. What should not be underestimated: the personal component. It is ideal if the "newcomers" have the opportunity to get to know their new colleagues in the first few days. Various formats such as team meetings, introductory events or informal meetings, such as joint (virtual) coffee or lunch breaks, can help with this.

Phase 3: Integration – full integration into the team by month 6

From the orientation phase, we move directly into the integration phase. In the first six months, the focus is on optimal professional induction. The aim is for new employees not only to understand the processes and tasks, but also to be able to contribute their own ideas and implement them independently. A structured induction plan forms the basis for this. Regular feedback meetings are very important in this phase. They ensure that there are no misunderstandings regarding mutual expectations. The social aspect should not be neglected either. Team events and informal meetings offer a good opportunity to get to know the new colleagues better and build up a personal bond. At the end of the integration phase, the new employees should not only be fully trained professionally, but also fully integrated into the team. In this way, you create the basis for a long-term and successful collaboration

Digital onboarding - obstacle or opportunity?

In digital onboarding, the technical component can be excellently covered by an intelligent mix of different formats. E-learning, team web sessions, virtual workshops and individual video calls are particularly effective here. To ensure that all of this makes a good first impression during onboarding, is fun and the content is memorable, the content should be well done: up-to-date, understandable, interactive, entertaining and didactic.

If all these aspects are successfully implemented, the digitalization of onboarding can be a real opportunity for companies. Once content has been created, it can be used again and again in the form of e-learning modules, adapted with little effort and kept up to date. This significantly reduces the cost of face-to-face training.

By the way: In our AI Authoring Tool knowtion you will find an onboarding topic template already filled with content. You can use it as it is or adapt it according to your wishes.

Digital onboarding also offers numerous advantages for employees: they can access the content at any time and from any location, are not dependent on the availability of their colleagues and can learn at their own pace. They can also access the content again at any time and refresh their knowledge if necessary. However, the biggest challenge in digital onboarding remains the social component The usual lunch breaks together or conversations at the coffee machine in the office must be replaced by alternative formats so that the new employees also feel personally welcome and are quickly integrated into the team. The spatial distance can be a hurdle here, but it can be overcome with a little extra effort and creative ideas. A coffee break, for example, also works very well digitally - although the spontaneity is lost somewhat, you can still get to know each other better at a pre-planned appointment.

In second part this blog series, we give you seven specific tips on how to successfully (digitally) induct new employees.

Im zweiten Teil dieser Blogreihe geben wir Ihnen sieben konkrete Tipps, wie Sie neue Mitarbeitende erfolgreich (digital) einarbeiten.