How to Make Sure You Successfully Induct a New Employee Who Is Working from Home

Finding the perfect employee is no easy task. When it comes to hiring, there are always boxes to tick and procedures to follow. Once you do find the right person for the job, it’s important to set them up for success. An exciting new trend in small business is the virtual assistant or remote worker. Depending your business, having an employee work remotely may fit your needs better than hiring someone to work in-house. Having an at home employee is a great way to expand a virtual office, but it can come with its own challenges. Here’s how you can make sure that your new virtual employee will feel at home and become a productive member of your team.

Set Clear Expectations and Make Sure They Understand the Position

It’s important to give all new employees a very clear idea of your business’ identity – that is, who you are, what you do, and why you do it. A good outline of the job requirements and responsibilities will help an employee to understand the scope and scale of a position. A solid grasp on the workload will help your employee understand clearly what is expected every day, and allow them to schedule their time accordingly. After you have the right candidate for the job, there are ways to help the employee transition smoothly into their new position. Outline the work you want to delegate now, but include duties that may be required in the next six months. Anticipating upcoming opportunities can get an employee excited about a job, and this will reflect positively in their work.

Establish a Connection and Outline Procedures

Whether you are hiring locally or outsourcing work, make sure that you establish a good connection with your new employee. A good briefing and one-on one question and answer period is a great way to build a working relationship. This will also ensure that the employee understands how to perform their assigned tasks. Productivity tips and insights into the business will help an employee function effectively and confidently in the new position. Outlining clearly procedures and tasks can save you from walking through them later on.

Troubleshooting and Problem Solving With Your At Home Employee

Once your employee is ready to dig in, providing them with troubleshooting resources and/or procedure materials can save you both valuable time. When the employee is faced with a challenge or a technical issue, they may be able to resolve the issue without your direct assistance. This will help your employee continue on at a productive pace, and leave you free to handle your other obligations. There is a steeper learning curve when there is no one in the office to help problem-solve, and is important to remember this when training a new at home employee.

Maintain Regular Communications With Your Remote Workforce

Constant communications can become daunting, and may cause both you and your new remote employee to lose confidence, but it is important to be reachable when an employee needs to get in touch. Whether it is through email or via telephone, being able to quickly resolve an employee's issues will help to keep them on track. Make sure you keep the lines of communication open, and stay in contact on a regular basis.

Training new employees is a challenging task, even when they work in house. When bringing new remote staff into your organization, it’s vital that you make careful plans for how you will introduce them to the business. This will give your new employee the confidence and sense of excitement necessary to succeed. You should be excited too - hiring work-at-home employees is a definite sign of business growth. Trust your instincts and your planning and see how well your virtual employees can perform when you successfully bring them into the fold. CityOffice can provide you with amenities that will help you to induct new virtual employees. For more information on virtual office solutions, contact us today at www.yourcityoffice.com and see how we help virtual employees reach peak performance.