Onboarding Essentials 2023: Blending Virtual and on-site Onboarding to Welcome, Engage & Retain New Hires

Maximize New Hire Retention with Effective Virtual Onboarding

Are you eager to retain your new hires? The process of sifting through resumes, conducting interviews, and finding the ideal candidate who aligns with your organization's culture is time-consuming and costly for HR and Hiring Managers. Finally, you've identified the right person, extended an offer, and it was accepted!

However, your job is far from over once the new hire is ready to begin. It's crucial to focus your efforts on "recruiting" and supporting your new employee during their critical first few months, especially with the growing number of remote employees in today's workforce.

Onboarding, the period between offer acceptance and full integration into your organization, plays a vital role. You must establish an effective virtual onboarding program to help remote employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become productive members of the team. Beyond handling compliance and paperwork, virtual onboarding should make new remote employees feel valued within the organization. A warm welcome from teammates and a smooth introduction to role expectations can foster engagement and enhance retention from day one.

Move Beyond Traditional Orientation: Phased Approach for Remote Onboarding

Traditional orientation programs typically involve overwhelming new hires with a deluge of information (policies, procedures, benefits, safety, etc.) on their first or second day. However, this one-time data dump often leads to information overload for your new employee. Instead, adopting a phased approach allows new employees to build relationships with coworkers and those who will support them in their remote work journey, including managers, coaches, and mentors.

AREAS COVERED IN THE SESSION:

• “Onboarding” vs. “Orientation”
• Onsite onboarding vs. Virtual onboarding
• Onboarding new hires in virtual locations
• Why effective onboarding is so critical
• Benefits of an effective onboarding program
• Obtaining senior leadership buy-in when revising a current program or developing a new program
• A step-by-step approach to creating effective onboarding programs
• Developing and utilizing onboarding checklists
• Preparation work you MUST do before your new hires’ first day
• HR, Managers, IT, and others’ responsibilities throughout the process
• Developing a “Buddy” program
• Asking for feedback from new employees
• Evaluating your new program

Who Will Benefit:

• Human Resource Professionals
• Senior Leadership
• Recruiting professionals
• Managers and Supervisors

Speaker Bio: Diane L. Dee   

Diane L. Dee, President of Advantage HR Consulting, has over 25 years of experience in the Human Resources arena. Diane's background includes experience in HR consulting and administration in corporate, government, consulting and pro bono environments. Diane founded Advantage HR Consulting in early 2016. Under Diane's leadership, Advantage HR provides comprehensive, cost-effective Human Resources solutions for small to mid-sized firms in the greater Chicagoland area. Additionally, Diane conducts webinars on a wide-variety of HR topics for various training firms across the country.

Diane holds a Master Certificate in Human Resources from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and has attained SPHR, SHRM-SCP, sHRBP and HRPM® certification.

Diane is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners and the Society for Human Resource Management. Additionally, Diane performs pro bono work through the Taproot Foundation assisting non-profit clients by integrating their Human Resources goals with their corporate strategies.