8 Virtual Onboarding Best Practices for IT Teams

What is Virtual Onboarding?

Virtual or online onboarding integrates new employees into an organization using digital tools and technologies, particularly when remote work or distributed teams are involved.

Remote onboarding transforms the traditional in-person process into a virtual operation. While HR takes the lead, IT must integrate the technical elements to prepare a seamless start for new hires. Here’s what’s in it for you:

• The process typically begins well before the new hire's first day. You must prepare and ship out hardware like laptops, phones, or other necessary devices.

• You must ensure these devices are preconfigured with the right software, security measures, and access permissions. It's a bit like preparing a 'plug-and-play' workstation. But it won't work flawlessly out of the box, right? That’s like expecting your IKEA furniture to assemble itself–impossible!

• You must also set up user accounts, email addresses, and access to the company's various software and online platforms. You might create instructional documents or videos to guide new hires through any necessary setup steps.

• Throughout the process, you must be on standby to troubleshoot any issues. This could range from helping with login problems to guiding employees through software installations.

Your goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible. You want new hires to feel supported and equipped from day one, even if they're miles away from the physical office.

8 Virtual Onboarding Best Practices For IT Teams

Here are eight effective onboarding strategies to give new joiners a hassle-free and engaging experience while lifting the heavy load off your shoulders. 

Enable seamless sync-up with HR

Most organizations have a hard rule that all onboarding must begin with HR so that only officially hired employees or verified contractors are onboarded. 

HR must gather essential information from remote hires, including legal and preferred names, contact details, and addresses for hardware delivery before they're sent to the IT department (usually after long delays).

What if you could integrate onboarding initiation with HR? 

To do that, use an externally accessible form to collect new employee data, which Talent Acquisition will provide to candidates after they accept their offer.

Then implement a workflow that triggers when the onboarding form is submitted. ⚡

This workflow should:

• Create a record in an editable list accessible by HR and IT

• Allow HR to complete onboarding in the people system and indicate readiness for IT handover by selecting "Send to ticket system"

Next, integrate with Identity Provider (IdP) Systems to automatically create user profiles in the IdP once onboarding is completed in the people system. Use group rules to assign memberships based on employee type, department, division, and region, provisioning necessary applications and system access.

We recommend using Workwize to automate your employee onboarding process. Workwize is a zero-touch hardware management platform that automates the entire IT asset lifecycle. It helps procure, deploy, manage, retrieve, and dispose of IT assets in over 100 countries.

Designed for hybrid teams, Workwize makes your virtual onboarding process hassle-free. 

With Workwize, you as an IT team can:

• Enjoy seamless integration with your HR or people management platform to streamline IT management for new hires

• Request maintenance and repairs for equipment with our global IT teams, ensuring there’s minimal loss of work hours and productivity 

• Have a centralized dashboard to manage all your device assignments without any scattered or siloed data

• Enhance compliance with our Single Sign-On support that improves security and access controls 

• Automate the entire lifecycle for each piece of equipment your employees will ever need—from procurement to disposal 

Order the right equipment via requests from a self-service portal

We previously discussed automating workflows and enabling seamless HR sync from day 1. Once that’s checked off, it’s time to prepare for the next big thing: getting employee devices ready.

Most organizations use IT hardware request forms to understand employee equipment needs. While you can add a form element to let the new joiner/manager list necessary equipment in the previously discussed employee information form, a better approach is to use an IT self-service portal.

A self-service portal allows your new hire to:

• quickly order new hardware from a range of available devices

• track status updates from the same link, 

• and also request repairs/assistance in future 

It eliminates needless paperwork from equipment designations, is highly customizable and avoids issues of duplicate orders.

You must partner with an IT hardware management service provider to implement such a portal. Workwize offers end-to-end device lifecycle management solutions that can onboard new hires with minimal friction. 

It features a self-service portal to:

• Simplify new hires' onboarding journey by letting them select their preferred tools through a branded self-service portal

• Access a comprehensive catalog of IT equipment, peripherals, office furniture, and branded onboarding boxes

• Choose from buy, rent, or lease options for all devices in any geography

• Gain a consolidated view of all purchased assets for streamlined administration

• Automatically enroll all purchased devices into your MDM system (Apple Business Manager, Windows Autopilot)

Nail your hardware procurement and deployment process

Procurement and deployment are two critical processes in virtual onboarding. 

You'll want to put in place:

• Automated ordering systems that trigger hardware requests as soon as a new hire is confirmed in the HR system

• Inventory management software that automatically alerts when stock levels are low

• Tracking systems that provide real-time updates on shipment status

But IT managers will admit that procuring hardware can be extremely challenging, especially for remote employees. Suppliers can act rouge and default on the right dates, and what if there’s an urgent new hire in a remote location?

Then there’s the deployment part. Deploying hardware for a remote onboarding process typically involves coordinating several moving parts–procurement, configuration, shipping, and setup.

The solution is to outsource and automate your entire IT asset lifecycle so you can purchase equipment on your terms. 

Workwize helps with:

IT Asset Procurement:

• Purchase or rent a wide range of products from our global vendors directly within the Workwize platform, ensuring maximum stock availability. 

• Receive global delivery of IT equipment and peripherals within 5-7 business days to any location—remote employees’ homes, your HQ, remote offices, or one of our global warehouses.

• Procure starter kits or welcome packages with your company logo, or allow employees to choose from a wide range of gear, with IT equipment being just one of many options.

• Stay informed about your assets with accurate and timely location updates via a track-and-trace link, ensuring 100% visibility.

• Customize hardware by selecting CTO models with additional storage or RAM, or choose local keyboard options when placing orders

IT Equipment Deployment: Workwize lets you deploy all the hardware you procure easily. Send work-ready, MDM-enrolled equipment to employees with just the settings and permissions you like. You also get a centralized view of all equipment assignments and can easily replace faulty or broken equipment. 

IT Equipment Management

Once your equipment is all set up and running, use Workwize to manage your assets throughout their lifecycle.

• Know all about your asset, like who has what and its current and depreciating value (as well as whether it is second-hand or brand new) 

• Provide a self-service portal for your employees to request items, repairs, and maintenance, as well as a chatbot for quick assistance

• Integrate with your HR or directory system to streamline employee transitions. We automatically lock accounts upon employee departure, organize a pickup, and wipe the device upon departure

Zero-touch IT Equipment Retrieval

Enjoy friction-free, smooth retrievals from your global workforce without worrying about the complexities that come with it.

Workwize handles all employee communication, logistics, and packaging to ensure your assets reach you safely and securely. Once employees leave or the assets end their useful lives, you can request retrievals with a single click. 

IT Equipment Disposal

Workwize helps you dispose of or donate end-of-life assets in an eco-friendly manner per the country’s laws. Get a certificate of data destruction to ensure compliance. 

Workwize also supports integration with communication apps like Slack or your current HRIS software. 

Onboard employees on a Trust Management Platform

Onboarding employees on compliance and security tracking or a trust management platform is next on our list. 

When onboarding employees to a trust management platform, you ensure they understand security protocols from day one. Plus, it helps maintain compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, or SOC 2 regulations. 

You’re also reducing the risk of security breaches due to human error and contributing to a security-first culture throughout the organization.

Here’s how to implement it:

• Include Vanta (or a similar tool) training in your onboarding checklist

• Create a step-by-step guide for new hires to set up their accounts

• Have a virtual training session to walk through the tool's features

• Assign a "security buddy" to help with questions during the first few weeks

Aim to make this process as smooth and friendly as possible. Security doesn't have to be scary or boring – with the right approach, it can be an engaging part of your company culture.

Set up corporate accounts and access permissions in advance 

Put yourself in the shoes of a new hire for a moment: It's your first day at a new job. You're excited, but instead of jumping into your work, you're waiting for IT to set up your email or give you access to the company's project management software.

To avoid situations like this, set up corporate accounts and access permissions in advance so new hires can log in seamlessly. 

Say you're onboarding a new marketing manager. Before their start date, you'd set up their company email account, give them access to the marketing team's shared drive, add them to relevant Slack channels, and ensure they can log into the company portal. 

This approach noticeably reduces downtime. New hires can be productive from day one, but it also takes a load off the IT team's shoulders. 

There's also a security angle to consider. When you set up accounts in advance, each new hire gets only the access they need for their role. This helps maintain the principle of least privilege, a key aspect of cybersecurity. 

Create a standardized digital welcome package

Develop a comprehensive guide or portal with login information, setup instructions, and FAQs in a digital document, employee handbook, or an interactive webpage.

When a new employee opens up their company-issued laptop for the first time, what if, instead of a blank screen and a sense of dread, they are greeted by a sleek, interactive webpage that invites them to explore various organizational aspects? 

That’s what a well-made digital welcome package does.

Of course, you’ll need to customize this package for different roles and responsibilities. For a software developer, this package might include:

• A "How to code like a boss" guide with links to your version control system

• Login details for dev environments 

• A map of your microservices architecture

• FAQs like "Help! I broke the building. What now?"

For a sales rep, you might add stuff like:

• CRM login info and a "Closing deals from your couch" best practices doc

• Quick links to pitch decks and case studies 

• A virtual tour of your product lineup (no more awkward silences on sales calls)

When you roll out such a digital welcome package, you ensure that every new hire gets more or less the same positive experience, whether in New York or New Delhi. IT teams also save time with this; instead of answering "How do I log in?" for the 100th time, you’re freed up to do more meaningful work.

The best thing about these packages is the flexibility. It's a living document. As new questions pop up or systems change, you can update it faster than you can say, "You're on mute!"

And guess what? A Redditor has already thought of implementing something along the same lines:

Make new hires familiar with your company’s IT policy

As part of your hybrid onboarding plan, create an engaging, easy-to-digest "IT Policy Crash Course" that walks new employees through the organizational IT and cybersecurity policy. 

Here's how some of its sections might look:

• Interactive Policy Guide:

Instead of a dry, 50-page document, create an interactive guide with bite-sized sections. Use infographics, short videos, and even quizzes to keep it interesting. You could call it "The Digital Dos and Don'ts: Your Guide to Not Accidentally Becoming a Cyber Villain" or something along those lines. However, feel free to experiment.

• Company Device Etiquette:

Outline rules for company-issued devices. Don’t make it sound overly professional and formal. Keep things easy to understand. For example:

1. Do: Keep your software updated because nothing says "Welcome, hackers!" like outdated software
2. Don't: Use your work laptop as a coaster (coffee rings are not a valid form of data encryption)
3. Do: Use strong, unique passwords; your pet's name followed by '123' isn't fooling anyone
4. Don't: Leave your device unattended in public unless you want to star in the following big data breach headline

• Data Protection Guide:

In this section, you'll explain the importance of data security. Emphasize the use of a VPN when working remotely. Highlight how sharing sensitive info on public Wi-Fi can prove to be a very costly mistake. Urge newbies to be cautious with email attachments (if it looks fishy, it probably is).

You could use this opportunity to discuss your organization’s social media policy.

This approach reduces security incidents, creates a security-aware culture, and, most importantly, increases policy adherence (because they’ll understand it).

Conduct virtual training sessions

Well, you created a standardized system to onboard employees. Good. But you know what tops it? Making sure new hires understand the system and the more extensive organizational processes.

Lack of proper training is a major challenge for both in-office and remote teams. However, proper training sessions right at the onset can counter this.

First, let one of your IT execs hold a virtual training session to review the most critical policies and clear any doubts the newbies might have.

An IT manager in a Reddit thread explains the importance of training new hires: 

A great virtual training program starts with careful planning. ✏️

You want to break down the information into digestible chunks–nobody wants to sit through an 8-hour Zoom marathon, right? Instead, consider spreading the training over a few days with shorter, focused sessions. This helps maintain attention and allows for better information retention.

One excellent approach is to use a mix of live sessions and self-paced learning. For example, you might kick off with a live welcome session, during which new hires meet key team members and get an overview of the company culture. 

Then, you could offer pre-recorded videos or interactive modules covering topics like company policies, basic software tutorials, or cybersecurity best practices. Employees learn the best when they do it at their own pace. 

Make Virtual Onboarding Fuss-Free With Workwize

First impressions no longer come from firm handshakes; they depend on smooth logins and seamless setups. 

Start by picking one or two of these practices and implementing them in your next onboarding cycle. For example, you could create that excellent digital welcome package or set up that IT self-service portal. 

Switch to Workwize and create a memorable virtual onboarding experience. Book a Workwize Demo now!Virtual Onboarding Checklist For IT Teams To Seamlessly Onboard New Hires