For a long time, developers have wished to work remotely, and they are not alone: 99 percent of individuals would want to work remotely, at least part-time, for the remainder of their lives. While there are several apparent advantages to working remotely (improved productivity, no commute, access to global talent, cost savings on office overheads, etc.) for both employers and employees, properly onboarding remote developers may be a difficult process.
You need a clear remote onboarding procedure, and by doing so, you’ll not only be putting your organization up for future success, but you’ll also be correcting a potentially problematic process (a mere 12 percent of respondents in a Gallup survey stated that their company does a great job with onboarding).
A good onboarding process for remote engineers is critical for lowering attrition (which may happen in as little as a few months after hire) and increasing productivity.
Here’s a five-point checklist (in no particular order) to remember when creating a comprehensive remote developer onboarding process for your business.
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Assign a mentor
Regardless of your new developer’s degree of expertise, transitioning to a new working culture and environment may be difficult, particularly when working remotely. You must designate a mentor who can give suitable instruction to the new recruit to reduce stress.
It is your responsibility to ensure that new team members have someone to whom they can turn without reluctance, ideally a peer rather than a supervisor. Assigning a mentor who is an equal team member, on the other hand, is much more effective in terms of open communication and speedy learning.
Assigning novices to somewhat more experienced developers is often the best option since the mentor will have the opportunity to try out a leadership role, while the mentee will get individualized attention and a better understanding of the company’s operations.
Develop a Training Plan
A well-trained workforce, by definition, is a more productive workforce with higher job satisfaction. For the employer, this equates to higher staff retention, a higher return on investment, and improved company production.
Employee training has both short- and long-term advantages, according to research. Immediate benefits include improved information absorption, skill improvement, and a positive attitude toward work.
Then, over the course of a few months, training continues to have a favorable impact on the employee’s work performance, lowering turnover.
Allow pair programming for projects that are just getting started
Pair programming is a typical software development approach in which two programmers collaborate at the same time at a single workstation. One person writes the code, while the other double-checks each line as it is written. This method usually results in fewer coding errors or problems, as well as more efficient code.
As you would expect, this is especially valuable during the onboarding process of new engineers, allowing them to rapidly get used to your company’s software development process.
As a result, having a couple of engineers work on the same code in real-time (for example, during a video chat with screen sharing) allows team members to debate choices and provide comments.
Send a list of useful remote working resources
Finally, it’s a good idea to encourage your new hire to create a dedicated, distraction-free remote workstation for himself. Encourage them to take frequent breaks from their desks, exercise regularly, and get adequate sleep. This not only helps them be more productive, but it also demonstrates that you care about your remote workforce as a whole, not simply the company profits they bring in.
Conclusion
As easy as it would have been, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to onboarding remote engineers – each firm has its own set of needs, tools, procedures, and culture, so your remote onboarding process must be tailored appropriately.
All of the advised best practices above will still apply, whether you’re working remotely or not. Apart from that, make sure you establish clear expectations, highlight the need for open communication, and provide new recruits with plenty of opportunities to bond with their new coworkers. You’ll have a very successful remote onboarding procedure to brag about.
