New hires onboarded remotely still need to feel valued, engaged and connected. They need to know what’s expected of them and what they can expect from the organization. New employees must be equipped with the right resources, introduced to the right people and ushered into the company culture as seamlessly as possible.

“The human need to be oriented and build confidence is the underlying objective of onboarding, and that’s the same no matter how you are onboarded,” says Niki Ramirez, SHRM-CP, founder of Phoenix-based HR Answers, an HR consultancy for small businesses. “What’s very different for a remote workforce is the delivery of how those needs are met.”

The four C’s of traditional onboarding—clarification, compliance, connection and culture—were first presented in 2010 by Talya Bauer and the SHRM Foundation. They still apply to virtual onboarding. Human resource professionals need to pay particular attention to connection and culture, which are most at risk in a virtual environment.

“Employees today are experiencing a crisis of connection, and HR leaders report that the biggest challenge with expanding remote work is maintaining the organization’s culture,” says Jamie Kohn, research director for the HR practice at consulting firm Gartner. “Traditionally, new hires connected to organizational culture organically by living it in their day-to-day, in-person interactions. For many people working remotely, changing companies can feel like swapping out one laptop for another.”

Experts agree that virtual onboarding requires a more dedicated focus and more deliberate execution. That’s because there are many challenges to remote onboarding. Employees who onboarded prior to the pandemic reported significantly higher levels of favorability than those who have onboarded since, according to surveys of nearly 500,000 employees by Perceptyx, an employee sentiment analysis firm.

“Virtual onboarding is absolutely more challenging,” says Cassie Whitlock, director of HR at Lindon, Utah-based BambooHR, an HR management system software provider for small and midsize businesses. “The organizations that have had the most success with virtual onboarding have taken the time to step back and redefine their process. They’ve asked themselves, ‘How do you foster authentic connection in a virtual environment? How do you re-create culture virtually? How do you ensure that knowledge transfer is happening?’ ”

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