LONDON (Reuters) – Joining a new company is challenging under normal circumstances, with the pressure to impress bosses, learn new skills, and form relationships with colleagues. But when onboarding is done during a global pandemic, with millions working from home, these challenges are magnified. Instead of navigating office corridors, new hires are left to judge colleagues by their Zoom backgrounds, and interactions often feel impersonal, with corporate culture harder to discern.
The companies that handle remote onboarding well can end up with a grateful and motivated workforce. However, those that struggle to adapt to this new environment may find their employees disconnected and disoriented, lacking the team spirit and sense of belonging that can be critical to long-term success.
For many new hires, the experience has been frustrating and disorienting. A young trader who joined a major European bank during the British lockdown shared her difficulties with remote onboarding. “It’s not exactly easy for your new boss to explain the specifics of office politics to you without putting their foot in it,” she explained, speaking anonymously due to company policy. “It does feel like it’s taking longer to feel loyalty to my new employer than it might have otherwise. I feel loyal to the team, but not to the wider bank.”
Another employee, who joined a London-based bank in May, described a similar sense of disconnect. Despite being interviewed over video, he noticed his interviewers studying his bookshelves and photos during the process. Months later, he still hasn’t met his colleagues in person and doesn’t expect to do so until next year.
Navigating remote culture
Remote onboarding also shifts the dynamics of early workplace interactions. For Sam Thompson, who joined the money-saving and investment app MoneyBox during the lockdown, the lack of in-person contact initially made some exchanges feel purely transactional. “The absence of face-to-face interaction made it hard to break through the formalities at first,” he said. However, he praised the company for its efforts to make the process smoother.
“We’ve been getting Deliveroo vouchers, and we’ve sat around our computers while talking to one another and having lunch,” Thompson added. “It’s probably the best induction into a company that I’ve ever had.” As a Quality Assurance Engineer with six years of industry experience and several previous roles, Thompson’s praise underscores the importance of creative solutions during these unprecedented times.
MoneyBox, founded in 2016, onboarded 35 new hires during the lockdown, bringing their total workforce to 135. Initially, they hesitated to fill roles that required collaboration across multiple teams, such as developers. But according to Jack Johnstone, the company’s head of HR and talent, those concerns were eventually overcome as the company adapted to the virtual work environment.
Adapting to a new normal
This approach mirrors that of other major firms like Standard Chartered, Citi, and Deutsche Bank, all of which have rapidly redesigned their hiring and orientation processes to meet the demands of a remote workforce. Citi, for instance, hired around 3,840 new staff for its Institutional Clients Group Operations & Technology division between March and August.
These companies are making efforts to bridge the gap left by the absence of physical presence. They provide new hires with comprehensive onboarding manuals or welcome videos, as well as the necessary technology to get started. Regular virtual meetings, buddy systems pairing new employees with established staff, and online social events are all part of the strategy to recreate the casual interactions and networking that normally take place in the office.
Virtual socialization
Andy Halford, CFO of Standard Chartered, emphasized the importance of online social events in helping new hires integrate. “Some people find it easier to talk and connect when they are not ‘at work’,” Halford said. “We want to humanize this situation for everyone.” From virtual coffee chats to online drinks, these informal settings provide much-needed relief from the structured and often formal atmosphere of Zoom meetings.
More Read
Still, some experts warn that remote onboarding leaves new hires vulnerable to missing unspoken rules of office culture. Professor Nicholas Bloom from Stanford University noted that without the opportunity to observe colleagues in person, new hires might struggle with understanding things like the real working hours, appropriate break times, and even dress codes.
For graduates entering demanding fields like banking or law, this lack of clarity can lead to burnout. “At home, it generates a strong incentive for over-communication—sending unnecessary emails and Slack messages just to show you’re still there,” Bloom said.
The importance of networking
McKinsey Partner Alexander DiLeonardo echoed this sentiment, saying that remote onboarding requires new hires to be more proactive about networking. “When you aren’t sitting next to your new colleagues or outside your supervisor’s office, you have to be intentional about reaching out,” DiLeonardo advised.
While remote onboarding during the pandemic presents significant challenges, it has also driven companies to rethink their approaches, creating opportunities for innovation and new ways of fostering workplace camaraderie. With virtual events, buddy systems, and more structured communication, firms are finding ways to help new hires adjust to the ‘new normal’—even if office politics remain difficult to navigate from behind a screen.
