LUUKKONEN AND HER TEAM BRAINSTORMED OTHER WAYS TO BUILD COMMUNITY, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING:

Virtual building tours: Provide video and photo tours of the building for employees who have not yet set foot inside the physical workplace.

Warm handoff between recruiter and onboarding team: The new-employee welcome process should include a clear transition from recruiter to onboarding team, demonstrating a culture of sharing and support.

Executive guest speakers on the first day: Connect new hires with executive leaders, including director level and above and the CEO, who can introduce and share their connections to cultural values and show their interest in all employees, no matter their role or level of seniority.

Cohorts to create community: Organize new hires into cohorts to emphasize the shared experience of going through onboarding at the same time.

Customer testimonials to show company culture in action: Ask customers to share their experiences with the company so employees can see how culture plays out in the end product.

“In years past, a new hire’s first week was just that: the first week at work,” Luukkonen said. “We recently evolved our onboarding to support a first week that makes a much bigger impression and sets the tone for how work will take place. This also takes the pressure off of the new hire’s immediate team to share general information about company policies and culture because that information has already been shared during the onboarding process. We were fortunate to already have the wheels in motion for this type of experience when we were faced with the need for remote onboarding”.