7 Tips to Successfully Onboard Remote Software Developers

The remote work culture is thriving across the world.

Be it sales, marketing, or writing professionals – everyone including software developers is working from home.

Software developers need to work in synchronization with the business. As businesses level up, they need to upgrade the technology.

Their primary responsibility is to offer avant-garde technical solutions to the clients.

So, companies take extra care while hiring developers.

Right from creating online test papers to arranging tools for personalized interview sessions, employers leave no stone unturned to hire the right resources. Besides, they organize fun activities that can serve as stress busters after a long hectic day of coding.

In between, though, the companies may be skipping or unintentionally missing a crucial step – onboarding remote software developers.

If you are one of them, let us specify why the onboarding process matters.

Why Is the Onboarding Process Important?

An onboarding process refers to the starting point of a new employee’s journey in an organization. Companies count the initial few days or weeks as a part of onboarding.

Organizations ignoring the onboarding process are twice as likely to lose new hires than those who invest in it. On the other hand, an effective employee onboarding process increases the employee retention rate by 82 percent.

So, as a business owner, it’s time for you to plan out and implement an organized onboarding process. 

With a fitting remote onboarding process for software developers, you can reap the following results.

• Achieve a higher employee retention rate.
• Improve employee engagement.
• Reduce their stress and anxiety.
• Improve the morale of new developers.
• Enhance their familiarity with the job role.
• Build a long-term relationship.

7 Tips to Conduct the Remote Software Developer Onboarding

Ready to give a warm welcome to your new software developers? Here are seven efficient tips that can ease your onboarding hassles. 

• Provide the Developers with Suitable Tools

Software developers need to use a vast range of tools for coding and development. 

During the pre-onboarding phase, having the right tools in order is crucial. It will help you streamline the entire introductory phase and ensure they have everything to begin the office work. 

As a business owner, take care that your HR team performs the following duties in advance.

• Offer them a system or laptop for working. 
• Give access to your internal communication tool. Create and share credentials with them.
• Share credentials of your project management system.
• Share technical documents and manuals of work guidelines.
• Give access to API keys and test environment.
• Share contact details of the IT support team for any help.

Delaying these responsibilities may create a poor impression of your company. Besides, they will be clueless during the first couple of days. 

Stay professional to earn their goodwill and cultivate a positive work culture.

• Emphasize Confidentiality and Data Protection

Confidentiality and data protection matters a lot.

They not only foster a legal and organized work culture but also keep your reputation intact. 

Educate your software developers about maintaining the confidentiality and protecting your organization’s sensitive data.

By confidentiality, we mean your company’s information should stay secure.

Your developers will have access to various crucial internal aspects. They should ensure not to disclose the information no matter what. 

You can create security protocols that follow your ethical guidelines. Here are some more handy tips to simplify your task.

• Filter out the confidential information. 
• Keep your sensitive digital files secure with a password-protection. 
• Keep the hard copies of financial documents in a locker.
• Do not disclose sensitive data to everyone.

Be careful, though. You do not want to confuse or overwhelm your new hires on their first day.

• Assign a Mentor

Imagine an employee joining a company and having to deal with unfamiliar people and a new work environment. Now, imagine this in a remote environment.

Tough, isn’t it?

This could be one of the most challenging aspects of the new job role, leading to poor engagement. 

When it comes to software development work, there are a hundred things that newcomers would like to know. Working from home may create barriers in the process. 

Assigning a dedicated mentor will help them blend in with your work culture.

Mentors can help, orient, and guide them and ignite a sense of trust.

With their guidance and support, your software developers will be able to establish better working relationships.

The strong mentor-junior collaboration will lead to better work productivity in your team. 

• Set Clear Expectations and Goals

Communicate your expectations and goals clearly.

While many software developers like to work independently, some may need guidance to perform their best. 

Regardless of their approach, delivering projects on time is essential. Setting clear expectations will help them understand your vision and goals. 

Discuss the main functions, work norms, and expected deliverables beforehand.

For instance, if you need them to work on two projects per week, add the deliverables with expected dates on the project management system. Such practice will keep them alert and motivated as they work from home.

You may also share a document of their monthly work plan to foster an efficient work process. 

• Organize Video Meetings with Teammates

According to a recent report, 20 percent of remote employees struggle with a sense of loneliness. Such depressing feelings may be more prevalent for the teammates new to the work environment.

Organizing video meetings with teammates is an effective method to provide them with a good start. 

Much like the face-to-face meetings, these video meetings will help the new hires to clear their work-related doubts and have quality time bonding with the team.

Besides, video conferencing will make them feel included and valued. 

You may choose from the most popular platforms, such as Slack, Zoom, or Google Hangouts. These video conferencing platforms are robust and tested to elevate the video calling experience.

• Conduct Frequent Training Sessions

Providing training to new software developers is vital. 

Their profile is not limited to coding. Focus on familiarizing them with your mission and vision, and working pattern.

With frequent training sessions, the developers will get a chance to –

• Learn using new tools and technology frameworks.
• Understand the work process.
• Boost their knowledge about the latest languages.
• Enhance their skills and improve morale.

The training sessions enable them to understand their responsibilities. Such practices lead to quality performance. 

You will save a lot of money and resources if your developers get trained during the onboarding. 

A well-trained employee will be an asset to your organization.

• Have a Strong Feedback System in Place

Good or bad – feedback is imperative.

A constructive feedback system can help your new teammates understand what they are doing right and what they need to improve.

It is the most powerful way to create valuable assets for your organization, yet it costs nothing!

You can conduct weekly or monthly feedback sessions for the developers over video conferencing. Offer them insights on their performance. Appreciate their achievements and point out their weaknesses with a polite attitude.

Such a feedback culture will aid the new team members with powerful tips to improve their performance. 

Furthermore, you may also ask for their feedback on the work culture. This tradition will help your organization grow by creating a healthy environment. Thus, a feedback system brings mutual benefits, both for the employees and the business. 

To Sum Up 

Software developers identify the pain points of clients and companies and design an efficient software system to overcome them.

They play a vital role in contributing to the company’s success. 

So, it makes sense for organizations like you to put a great deal of effort into standardizing their onboarding experience. Try the above-mentioned easy-to-implement onboarding tips for empowering your new remote software developers.

Let us know your thoughts on these tips, and stay tuned to Technobugg for more growth hacking topics and discussions. 

Author Bio

Aanya Rachel is the Content Manager at The Address coworking space in Vadodara, Gujarat. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge, experience, and extensive research in this field. She writes on a wide range of topics related to coworking, growth of remote workers, startups and real estate.