Integrating new employees into the company is always a challenge. But never has it been greater than now: Many HR managers are wondering whether remote onboarding can even succeed. – Yes, it is possible! In the article, two blink.it colleagues share how their onboarding worked in the home office.

The first phase in a new company is enormously important: The new employee should feel comfortable right away. They should get to know all their colleagues. They should feel connected to the company. And, above all, they should be able to work efficiently as quickly as possible. These are typical goals that HR managers set for onboarding. But how does that succeed in times of social distancing and home office?

To answer this question, I would like to share some insights today and show how onboarding at blink.it is carried out. Because it is clear: As a provider of a learning platform, we also work a lot digitally internally. And we are growing! For this article, I therefore interviewed two new colleagues and openly asked them how they experienced their onboarding during the pandemic.

Background: The Blended Onboarding Concept

Blended Learning is the best learning concept; we are convinced of that. Therefore, our onboarding is also a mix of live sessions and online courses: "Blended Onboarding," indeed. The live sessions work as small video conferences; otherwise, not much changes in the process itself due to the home office.

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Guide: Blended Onboarding for Companies

Create your first Blended Onboarding in 3 weeks – a mix of live session + online course! How that works, we have summarized in the guide:

💡 You can already find a lot about Blended Onboarding on our blog. If you want to learn more about the concept itself, I recommend this article: Digital Onboarding – Integrating New Employees in the Home Office.

Interview No. 1: Designer Merve

About the person:
Since February 2021, Merve has been working as a designer for blink.it. During her onboarding, she was mostly in the home office.

Hello Merve! You were predominantly integrated digitally. Please describe your thoughts and feelings during the first days of your onboarding.

I felt really good when I saw my onboarding plan. I thought immediately: Everything is under control! About 15 meetings with different colleagues were planned. I found it great to get information from different departments and to get to know everyone. However, I also had some panic about the onboarding videos I was supposed to shoot. For colleagues I don’t even know yet! After 2-3 videos, the panic was gone. And it was very nice to see how colleagues left comments under my videos.

How was your onboarding structured?

On the first day, I was still in the office; only [Managing Director] Michael was there. He gave me the laptop and all the equipment. With [Recruiter] Roxy, I also had a meeting on the first day, but it was virtual. I liked being in the office at the beginning but was also ready for the home office afterward. My laptop was already well set up, so I could start working effectively right away.

What did you like about your onboarding?

I liked that everything was so structured and that I could meet many colleagues – even if only virtually. I had a meeting with my mentor Michael every day, where I could ask all my questions. Without this meeting, I would probably have felt "lost" quickly. In the office, you can just ask a colleague, but that’s harder in the home office. What I also liked:

• A session on "Values at blink.it." I saw that these values are also lived; I found that very nice.

• I received a goal document for the first 6 months printed out. I found that cool because it always kept my focus in mind.

• We have many good formats like Coffee Dates, the discussion marketplace, or Weeklys. That way, I feel well connected even though I can't meet colleagues in the office.

  What did you not like about your onboarding?

On the first day, I received a lot of information, which was a bit overwhelming. However, the information was well structured, so it wasn’t too bad in the end.

How did you find the onboarding especially during COVID times?

It was almost all virtual, but the good organization helped. What was still missing was getting to know colleagues personally: How old are they, what hobbies do they have, what do they like to eat for lunch… You don’t talk about such things in video calls.

Interview No. 2: Product Manager David

About the person:
Since March 2021, David has been working as a product manager for blink.it. During his onboarding, he was mostly in the office, but only with a few colleagues.

Hello David! You were also predominantly integrated digitally. Please describe your thoughts and feelings during the first days of your onboarding.

My experience before onboarding was that remote work can function well if the parties involved do not resist. So, I was not put off by the sight of the full calendar at the beginning. On the contrary – I thought it was pretty great initially because it showed a clear structure for the onboarding. However, when I was exposed to the flood of information in the (digital) meetings, it was a bit too much for me. The more differentiated the information, the more exhausting the meeting becomes, especially when you don’t fully experience it through the video call, but rather only virtually.

How was your onboarding structured?

I was in the office a lot because I couldn't work well from home. I was mostly alone there and had the majority of my meetings digitally, so it was similar to being in the home office. The process was very structured. I had "encounters" with almost all colleagues from all departments. The structure helped to understand what to expect. Above all, it ensured that onboarding actually succeeds.

What did you like about your onboarding?

Structure, helpfulness, work ethic, openness. I felt very welcome. Whether someone was present or remote – I always received support. Very helpful were regular and time-constrained Q&A [Question & Answer] sessions and Dailys. Slack and targeted agreements also helped me.

What did you not like about your onboarding?

The only downside was the significant effort needed to manage the large input. This led to a high workload right at the beginning, despite an appropriate time frame. In hindsight, however, I wouldn’t know how it could have been better paced because moving entire sessions would have also been excessive.

How did you find the onboarding specifically during COVID times?

It worked well. I actually found it somewhat pleasant to spend a lot of time alone outside of meetings. This way, I could sort through the input in peace.

Conclusion: Tips for HR Managers for Onboarding in the Home Office

• Take your time to plan the onboarding. A good structure is extremely helpful.

• Involve many colleagues in onboarding so that they get to know each other.

• Offer a daily meeting that allows for questions.

• Ensure that the information overload is not too great in the first days.

• Work with mentors who support the new colleagues from the very beginning.

• Make the goals of onboarding transparent.

• Be open to feedback and change if something isn’t going smoothly.

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Do you have questions about blink.it or this article?

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