Building relationships is especially critical at a time when new employees can’t develop a rapport with coworkers at the coffee machine or as they pass each other in the hall.

My experience as the HR Director at Relay Network is unique: not only was I hired and onboarded in the middle of the pandemic, but one of the first tasks I undertook in my new role was to create an onboarding process adapted to the needs of a fully remote workplace.

Relay needed an onboarding process built from the ground up, and we needed it quickly, as we had an aggressive hiring plan in place for the coming 12-18 months. We didn’t plan to return to full capacity at our physical office outside Philadelphia, so building relationships was especially critical at a time when new employees couldn’t develop a rapport with coworkers at the coffee machine or as they passed each other in the hall.

With the entire team working remotely, I made it my mission to introduce and maintain culture across the distance. Here’s how I built an onboarding process for our remote workforce that ensured that every new hire felt the love from day one and every day thereafter.

Get creative with virtual onboarding tools

We knew we needed to recreate some of the key onboarding moments as virtual experiences. Getting creative with the technology and tools available to us helped us see success.  Here are two examples.

I thought about the best way to introduce new employees to the broader Relay team—people who wouldn’t necessarily work with them directly. We decided to invite the new employees to create short, 30-second videos to share a bit of their background and something little-known or unusual about themselves. Prior to the start date, we sent these videos to existing employees and posted them to our all-team Slack channel. The effect exceeded our expectations: the videos were a hit and gave people fun talking points and an excuse to reach out and introduce themselves to the new hires.

We also created a Trello board for welcoming new hires, some of whom were fresh out of school or in the early part of their careers. Whereas it can be difficult to go back and find things in an ever-growing email inbox or shared drive, the Trello board provided a helpful, easy-to-navigate source for them to refer back to for guidance and information as they navigated their new roles. The board included their welcome video, schedule, key contacts, employee handbook and an interactive checklist of everything they needed to complete within their first 30 days. We even included tips and tricks for working remotely to ease the transition.

In an uncertain market, candidates’ plans can change quickly. While important to make thoughtful hiring decisions, it’s also crucial to move quickly and decisively.

Establish frequent pre- and post-start checkpoints

In an uncertain job market, candidates’ plans can change quickly. While it’s important to make thoughtful hiring decisions, it’s also crucial to move quickly and decisively. To maintain the momentum and excitement, we established multiple checkpoints by email and phone to stay in close touch with candidates from the first outreach until their first day on the job. (Read more about our experience hiring for seven critical roles in a 100% remote environment in my colleague’s GrowthBit, The 4 Rules of Engagement for Hiring During the Pandemic.)

Just as important, we kept that communication cadence going after they started. In a remote environment, the workday can get blurred, the end-of-day can feel anticlimactic and new hires can get overlooked. We schedule daily Zoom check-ins to replace that “see ya tomorrow” feeling that tends to happen naturally when everyone’s working in the same office. Colleagues who work in the same department conduct 15-minute catch ups on Zoom at the end of the day to find out what the employee learned and what technical questions they had. HR also schedules a short end-of-day call to take the employee’s emotional temperature, field any concerns, and share a laugh or a positive experience. These remote debriefs really helped to end the day on an upbeat and keep people excited about “coming back” in the morning.

Starting people on a Wednesday helped them get to the week’s end still feeling fresh and excited for more, rather than burned out from a full first week.

Align start dates to create cohorts for remote onboarding

We scheduled groups of people to start on the same day so that we could create a shared experience and built-in support network for new employees. Every day, I would meet with the entire cohort so that we could talk about the onboarding and training experience. Being together with other new hires empowers everyone to ask questions and share their knowledge, experience and tips with the group. And because the cohort includes people on different teams, it helps to build relationships across departments.

We also started each cohort mid-week instead of on Monday, which made a big difference to their energy levels. While video conferencing has become an essential part of our workplace communications, it can be fatiguing, especially during that first week. Starting people on a Wednesday helped them get to the week’s end still feeling fresh and excited for more, rather than burned out from a full first week.

More than ever, company culture is a differentiator, and candidates are paying attention to how you’re handling and maintaining it during this time.

Showcase your commitment to maintaining a strong culture while working remote or hybrid.

More than ever, company culture is a differentiator, and candidates are paying attention to how you’re handling and maintaining it during this time. Every candidate we interviewed asked us, “What are you doing differently due to COVID?” They wanted to know how we were recreating the same environment, remotely, that we maintained in the office.

Fortunately, we had a great story to tell. Over the past months, we’ve came up with new ways to connect and have fun together. For example, the sales team hosted a remote happy hour recently and used Kahoot to test everyone’s knowledge about the people they work with. We’re planning a series of trivia nights and our leadership team has been informally meeting with employees one-on-one to simply “catch up” and engage. In addition to this, our CEO has been holding small cross-department meetings to check in with the employees as well.

Here’s the bottom line.

Despite the significant changes to the way we work, the newest members of Relay’s team feel as welcomed and supported as those who joined the company when we all worked under one roof every day.

By using digital tools creatively, checking in early and often, creating supportive cohorts for new hires and finding new ways to build culture, we know we can attract, engage, onboard and retain the talent we need—no matter what our workplace looks like in the future.