Onboarding for startups in a remote-first world

Researched & written by Joanna Yeoh, Director of Consulting, ConnectOne

Start-ups with momentum are always on the lookout for talent.  Once funding is secured, the pace of hiring accelerates and it’s perfectly normal to see new employees joining the team on a weekly basis.  Onboarding becomes a key driver for a positive employee experience. Even more so as the world increasingly turns to remote or virtual work.

Onboarding programs should deliver two outcomes:

1. To provide new joiner with all the necessary information and tools to be productive as quickly as possible

2. To create ties and a bonding experience with the people and culture of the new company

Onboarding vs Orientation

Many of my peers who have designed successful remote-first programs for new employees agree that Onboarding is a journey that begins from the moment a candidate accepts an offer to the point they complete their probation; which is 90 days from the first day on the average.

Whilst the first 5 Days is typically known as the Orientation Program.

That’s why we need to ensure that the new employee's experience is consistently positive across all the touchpoints with the company from offer letter → prep for Day 1 → Orientation → Starting Work → end of 90 days

A common error is to focus all attention on the first 5 days; and leave the new employee to float or flounder for the rest of their probation period.  Not a good idea, trust me.

Orientation : The First 5 Days

1. Meet with 1 person from Ops / HR team 

• Welcome to the company

• Establish main contact point for any questions

• Give them onboarding checklist

• Encourage to reach out any time!

2. Meet with direct manager 

• Intro to team: why this team exists

• OKRs

• Ask them to draft Personal OKRs

• Establish when to do 1:1 → manager sends recurring invite

• Encourage to reach out any time!

3. Work time: let them work on onboarding checklist

Days 2-4: Work

1. Work as usual

2. Check-in from direct manager at least once 

   1. Ask if they need help with personal OKRs

3. Check-in from Ops / HR at least once 

   1. Do they have everything they need?

   2. Any questions?

   3. Can be via Slack/email

Day 5: Review

1. Meet with direct manager 

   1. Review personal OKRs 

   2. Any other matters

2. Meet with Ops / HR team 

   1. How was the first week?

   2. How can we improve the onboarding experience?

Beyond Orientation:  Best practices from some remote-first companies

Cohorts of New Joiners - batched by groups of 4-5 pax

• Meet the CEO/Leaders (online) - one session per month for New Joiners

• One Buddy for each cohort - "Your first friend" (a role model we can identify from current employees)

• Set up Slack Group

• Shared Learning Journeys & experiences across teams & time zones

• Lean on each other to discover information and build internal networks

• Ready community to onboard future cohorts

Culture Charter - A guide on what the company stands for and how to thrive in it.

Contents can include:-

• How it all began - Introduction to Founders & their journey

• Why we're here - Mission, Vision

• What matters to our customers

• Our values - how we act, behave and communicate

• Own your career journey - next steps for growth & development

This culture charter can be used as a foundation for:-

• Recruitment -to attract the candidates who buy into our mission & culture

• Performance Management - to measure behaviours that we want to see in our leaders/role models/ top performers who will lift the tide of culture for all employees. 

• Rewards & Recognition - to reward & recognize role models who have championed the culture in addition to contributing to OKRs & company growth

Physical or Tangible Elements 

• In-person meetings or offsites

• Swag box - get the company brand/logo into their physical locations to create a sense of belonging.  Examples could be T-shirts, caps, water bottles, stickers

• Allowances for in-person meetups for employees in the same location or city, or set up hubs if budget permits

• Conducive Work Environment 

  • One-time allowance to set up a productive home office e.g. bigtech is offering USD1000 while most remote first startups offering between USD500 - 700

  • Alternatively consider co-working membership for employees who prefer not to work at home

  • Allowance for VPN (compulsory in some startups)