Joining a New Company Remotely During COVID-19: Onboarding Team
By: Rylan Iredale
Tags: Talent, Teamclio

The writers and editors contributing to this three-part series. #ThriveAsTeamClio

The situation surrounding COVID-19 is fast evolving. In mid-March, like many other companies, Clio made the decision to quickly pivot its entire 500-person global team to work remotely to protect employees, their families, and our communities.

As a technology company, Clio was well-positioned to quickly respond to this rapidly changing environment. While the transition hasn’t come without challenges, all Clions have stepped up and adapted remarkably well — particularly hiring managers, people managers, and the new team members whose onboarding experiences were suddenly 100% remote.

In this three part series, we share the perspectives, learnings, and surprises that arose throughout the remote onboarding process from new employees, their managers, and Clio’s people operations team. We hope this helps others navigate change during this time.

At Clio, onboarding new employees is a cross-functional collaboration between many teams, including our Talent Acquisition, IT and Employee Experience teams.

In Part 3, Onboarding Team, Sarah Ciaccia (Talent Acquisition Coordinator), Alexa Yiouroukis (IT Specialist) and Tracy Hu (Employee Experience Coordinator) provide their unique perspectives supporting and pivoting a highly collaborative onboarding process during COVID-19. Here are their stories:

Clio announced we were moving to a fully remote team at our weekly All Hands on Friday, March 13. We had new Clions starting on the next business day: Monday, March 16. Take us through the first steps after finding out?

Sarah: Once it was announced to the company, the onboarding team came together to determine and prioritize next steps. First off, we had to immediately contact each new hire and update them on the change. We worked with IT to collect their equipment (laptop, monitor, etc.) and rush mail it to them, to make sure they had everything they needed for their Monday start.

Next, we determined which onboarding sessions were most important to successfully onboard a remote cohort and altered our schedule to reflect this. We maintained regular communication with our new Clions to ensure they had received their equipment and to answer any questions they had.

Alexa: The IT Team works out of Burnaby and Toronto, so we’re no stranger to shipping hardware to new hires in different locations. It just usually ends up at one of our other offices! In preparation for the transition, we quickly connected with the onboarding team and our employee experience team to coordinate addresses and shipping options. We didn’t want to sacrifice the experience of their first day just because it wasn’t in our office. Following that, we tailored our IT Onboarding session to ensure everyone was set up for success at home. We’re used to having new employees join virtually, but the context has changed now that we’re all distributed.

In addition to supporting new Clions, we were working to support existing Clions transitioning to remote work. The IT Team at Clio mobilized in a matter of hours to transition to a full work from home environment. Our team executed a comprehensive policy and procedure to help Clions get setup at home with all the hardware and peripherals they’d need to thrive while leveraging our asset management tools.

Tracy: The Employee Experience Team (XTeam) is always quick to react — and often we don’t have a lot of turnaround time for last minute tasks that come up. After the initial shock and OMG moment, we quickly pivoted and connected with the IT team and Talent team to gather information to send out hardware and new hire kits to Clions who were starting on Monday. With everyone’s help we were able to send out Burnaby new hire equipment through local couriers that arrived in the afternoon! Aside from ensuring our newest Clions would have a seamless onboarding experience, XTeam also had to facilitate the closing of our offices to ensure the health and safety of all our Clions across the globe.

What’s been the biggest challenge of onboarding a fully remote team?

Sarah: I think the biggest challenge was determining what information and communications our new hires needed ahead of their start date without overloading them! What is the most important information they need right now to set them up for success and hit the ground running?

The onboarding period is such an integral part of an employee lifecycle (especially right now being fully remote), so we wanted to make it a memorable experience. It is important we determine how we can best support them early on and maintain that throughout their onboarding process.

Alexa: Transitioning into a work from home environment increases the amount of environmental factors that the IT Team can’t control or get ‘eyes on’. We’ve been working diligently to support all the teams and find solutions that will accommodate their living circumstances — whether it be longer ethernet cables, or recommendations for particular equipment to improve their setup.

Tracy: The biggest challenge supporting and onboarding a fully remote team for XTeam is definitely the loss of in-person interaction. When there are new hires in our Calgary office, they are greeted by a XTeam member in the Calgary office, but will onboard with the Burnaby team via Zoom (with the majority of hires being in Burnaby and in person). Because we are not able to provide the same excitement and atmosphere as we would in person, we are finding that we need to tweak our onboarding presentation to be more relevant and engaging.

What are some highlights in changes that have been made in our process, or in the new programs put forward?

Sarah: During this time we’ve been able to leverage certain tools like Zoom to conduct our face-to-face onboarding sessions, as well as interviews. For candidates going through our hiring process, we’ve created a Guide to Remote Interviews to ensure candidates are set up for success when interviewing remotely with us.

Specifically for new hires, we’ve leveraged Google Forms to make sure our onboarding team has all the information we need, as well as for our new Clions. We’ve also recently introduced a “Week 1 Onboarding Survey” to collect feedback on our process to further improve.

For candidates going through our hiring process, we’ve created a Guide to Remote Interviews to ensure candidates are set up for success when interviewing remotely with us.

Alexa: We have become very intentional about how our end user receives their hardware kit. During this transition to a distributed work environment, we want new hires to receive their hardware knowing the package has come into contact with as few individuals as possible. In most cases, the hardware will come directly from the manufacturer or vendor warehouse. We acknowledge the risks involved, and have adjusted our process to minimize any additional stressors for our new hires regarding hardware and deliveries.

During this transition to a distributed work environment, we want new hires to receive their hardware knowing the package has come into contact with as few individuals as possible.

Tracy: XTeam has had to reinvent our roles in terms how we now support Clions remotely. In office, XTeam is a friendly face at the front desk, greeting Clions, candidates, and visitors. We are also responsible for planning a variety of fun initiatives, such as monthly mixers, sports teams, volunteering, and health and wellness. With the shift of working remotely, we brainstormed quickly and were able to reintroduce our offerings into the virtual world! We spooled up a Virtual Front Desk to invite Clions to come visit us throughout the day, as if they were in the office! We implemented daily Zoom workouts and stretches, including a four week fitness challenge.

We’ve also been able to reimagine our Clio Gives program, like how to integrate new platforms and encourage virtual volunteer opportunities. Our giving initiatives are aligned with our core company beliefs and based on a 1:1:1 model, where we donate 1% of our profits to charities, 1% of our time to volunteer (each Clion is entitled to 2.5 paid working days to volunteer), and 1% of our product. XTeam is brainstorming to find new and exciting ways to engage #TeamClio during this time. Stay tuned as we explore new ways to support our local communities.

We spooled up a Virtual Front Desk to invite Clions to come visit us throughout the day, as if they were in the office! We implemented daily Zoom workouts and stretches, including a four week fitness challenge.

Looking back, what has been the biggest surprise?

Sarah: I think the biggest surprise has been realizing that this is our new normal! At the start, I think we were all just taking it week by week and making it work at the time… but once our mindset changed to ‘this is the new normal’, we were able to create standard procedures and a sense of normalcy around this new process.

… but once our mindset changed to ‘this is the new normal’, we were able to create standard procedures and a sense of normalcy around this new process.

Alexa: In reflecting on the past few weeks, we have seen our teams throughout North America and the EU utilize innovative ways to connect with the IT Team. We’ve been leveraging video conferencing to reinforce the ‘in person’ experience. Being able to leverage features like remote access has made troubleshooting a much more streamlined process in this new environment. Most importantly, it has revealed how our current suite of SaaS tools truly has made this transition so seamless — based on a company-wide survey satisfaction rating of 98%! We will continue to take advantage of this practice for offices without a physical IT team when we return to the office.

Tracy: I think the biggest surprise is how quickly teams have been able to streamline new processes in order to adapt. With every passing WFH week, we’ve been able to learn and find a slightly more efficient way to onboard effectively. Throughout the past few weeks, we’ve been able to work cross-functionally with other teams across the organization and develop new practices to implement. I’m amazed at everyone’s adaptability and willingness to share information during this time. Never have I seen this level of engagement to reach out and share information. Clio has truly created an amazing culture where everyone feels part of the family.

What are you most proud of? And what’s been the biggest learning?

Sarah: I’m most proud of how we came together as a cross-collaborative team. In a matter of minutes we had a plan in place and everyone was on board to execute. Onboarding involves many different internal stakeholders and teams — so being able to bring all those individuals together is no easy feat.

In Talent Acquisition, we focus on the ‘Candidate Experience’ but we now have to shift and think about the ‘New Hire Experience’ as well. We had to think through how these changes affect the overall onboarding experience. It is a high stress, uncertain time for everyone, but we’ve all been able to communicate and support each other to give our new hires the best virtual onboarding experience!

Alexa: We’re most proud of how organized and calm the company transitioned to a distributed workforce, while adhering to our procedures and policies. We played a role in this, but it took everyone company-wide working together to make it a reality — in a smooth and efficient manner, too.

Tracy: I am most proud of how the whole company has come together and really embraced our values during this time. We are all living a learning mindset as we manage this uncertain time, totally thriving as #TeamClio. Clio has not stopped in its tracks, and we are still at full speed.

I am proud to be part of Clio, and so excited for those who share our values and want to be along for the ride! In keeping with the #TeamClio spirit and keeping connected, our CEO Jack Newton wanted to share his favourite sourdough from Nelson the Seagull, a local bakery, by sending out 500 sourdough starter kits to Clions across the globe. His goal was to unite us by making dough and breaking bread, so we all can stay connected with much kneaded bread!

What’s still a work in progress?

Sarah: After each remote new hire cohort, we’ve been able to identify areas of improvement and make changes to our process. We’ve introduced a new ‘Virtual Coworking’ onboarding session that allows new hires to start going through their emails, get comfortable with Clio’s systems and tools, and ask questions with members of our onboarding team. This has helped create connections and bonds between our new hires and simulate hanging out in the Clio lounge, if they were in office!

Clio also recently introduced a $500 equipment subsidy, as well as an internet stipend. This has helped employees purchase furniture or accessories to better improve their work from home experience. Even more incredible, some Clions decided to pay this generosity forward and donate their WFH subsidy to charities of their choosing (including United Way, Vancouver’s DTES Women’s Shelter, Feed the Frontline campaign, and the Vancouver Aquarium).

Alexa: We’re working to streamline our hardware shipments from one location to cut down on the number of deliveries our new hires are exposed to. We also want to enable existing employees to receive replacement hardware and ship their old device in one simple transaction. The past few weeks has provided insight into how we can apply these strategies for the long term — both remotely and on site.

Tracy: We are still working on perfecting the first day experience for new Clions amidst this new work from home reality. We treasure and pride ourselves in a world class employee experience and want to make sure we are able to translate that into a virtual world. We are still ironing out some kinks, but we are quick to adapt to what we think will enhance the employee experience.

The past few weeks have given us a lot of insight and ideas on how to streamline this process to make it as efficient as possible. For example, we have centralized all of our Welcome to Clio Kits to deploy from our Burnaby office.

Overall, was it a success?

Sarah: Yes! I think overall we’ve been able to provide an awesome experience. The same level of care and detail is provided, and I think it really shows. We’ve received great feedback so far, and we are still making small tweaks and identifying new areas we can improve. We’ve truly lived our Clio values during this unprecedented time, and it is so impressive to see. #ThriveAsTeamClio

Alexa: We’ve received warm feedback from new hires that haven’t even started yet, upon receiving their hardware delivery. This bolsters our belief that we can thrive as #TeamClio no matter where we are and what’s happening in the world. Everyone involved behind the scenes is what makes the onboarding process special both in office and remote. The experience has evolved through this process for the better, and really pushed the teams to evaluate what do you (the new hire) need to thrive along with us!

Tracy: All teams have shifted and are now working at full velocity to thrive in this new environment. The essence of XTeam is to provide a world class employee experience in person and through interactions. However, our efforts in the past few weeks have demonstrated our ability as a team to really level up! We’ve received a lot of lovely feedback from new Clions prior to their first day, and it has all been positive and heartwarming. Hearing from Clions and knowing we are providing them with everything they need to be successful is what excites XTeam the most. We love what we do here at Clio — it is to enable Clions to do the best work of their lives. We’re here for you, global pandemic or not!

Did you enjoy the post? Read from the other perspectives, linked below:

Part 1: Joining a Company Remotely During COVID-19: New Clion Perspectives

Part 2: Joining a Company Remotely During COVID-19: Manager Perspectives

Part 3: Joining a Company Remotely During COVID-19: Onboarding Team

Author Thank You:

This three-part series was the collaborative effort of nine writers, three editors and one publishing author. Huge kudos, shout-out and thank you to everyone involved with the telling and sharing this story. #ThriveAsTeamClio