Onboarding Remote Developers: How to Boost Morale for Newly-Hired Developers

When hiring new developers remotely, there is no perfect strategy that you can put in place. Still, it is best to set a few guidelines to help your new employee cope with your company. These practices will not only make your newly hired developers feel included but also boost their morale and performance. 

What Do Remote Developers Do?

Before drafting a recruitment plan, it is essential to understand what you want to achieve fully. A remote developer is a creative mastermind behind all sorts of computer programs. 

When working remotely, they can work anywhere they want as long as they can deliver the workloads required. Thus, you need to know the role of remote developers and what they do. Some of their tasks may include:

• • Design software for your business
  • Design mobile applications
  • Test and develop computer program solutions for your business
  • Upgrade and enhance software
  • Write code and instruct programmers how to do it

It is also important to note that remote developers may likewise work as systems software developers. With that, their focus is to work with network distribution software. This generally applies to enterprise companies.

 

Why Do You Need A Systematic Training Program For Newly Hired Remote Developers?

Having no formal training for newly hired remote developers is a common mistake. Some companies believe that employees, in general, learn their way as they go on with their job. However, training employees does not only improve work performance but also improves employee satisfaction and morale. Thus, knowing how to train your employees effectively adequately equates to happier employees and better retention rates.

 

How To Train Newly Hired Remote Developers Effectively?

1. Start Before Day One

Newly hired remote developers also get anxious on their first day of work. Even if they are working from home, this does not exempt them from feeling nervous. The goal is to help them face this with ease and comfort. You can achieve this by sending a simple welcome email or message before their first day of work. You can also brief them on what to expect from their work. Here are some of the things you can tell the new hires to prepare their first day better:

• • Their tasks for the first day or first week at work
  • Their normal working schedule
  • Details about their Team
  • Your coding standards
  • Your expectations
  • The communication and collaboration tools you will be using

2. Introduce The Company Culture

The company culture defines the company’s personality. It is all about your shared values, goals, attitudes, and practices. Introducing your company culture to your newly hired remote worker helps them better understand your company. To better help them come to a deeper understanding of your company culture, here are some tips:

• • Provide employee handbook
  • Give a presentation on company values, mission, and vision
  • Send out videos from all-hands meetings

3. Give Them Access To Tools and Software

It is better to clarify everything to your newly hired remote developers. This includes the tools and software you are using. You can do this by sending them login details and invitations to access the company’s PMS, chats, and other systems.

 

5 Ways On How To Boost Your Newly Hired Remote Developers’ Performance

1. Start Small

You can start by assigning small, non-critical tasks such as bug fixing to your newly hired remote developers. Bug fixing alone can be a tedious task for some. Still, this task can be an excellent way for them to learn about the code.

You may also want to give them a mix by providing them some features and observe how they perform this task. This will allow them to experience the process of improving at your company.

2. Set up Knowledge Sharing

To efficiently provide the newly hired with the needed information, you should set up knowledge sharing. One great example of this is wikis. This should contain all information necessary for the newly hired remote employee to cope with the Team. It should also collect important information such as:

• • Tools and guides to software tutorials and common bugs
  • Step-by-step instructions designed for newly hired remote developers
  • Short versions of employee orientations

3. Assign A Buddy

A smart move that always works is to pair a newly hired developer with your junior developer. Another idea is to ask for volunteers. It is a wiser step to see who is willing to partner with the newly hired employee. This also prevents junior or senior developers from the constraints of accommodating the new developers.

Pair programming is an excellent way to onboard them into the code. You can also have them assist with senior developers as they develop their first features. This is not only an opportunity for newly hired remote developers to learn faster. It is also another way to prepare your junior developers for becoming senior staff.

4. Let Them Handle Technical Debt

Newly hired remote developers are the best ones to see technical debt. Since they are new, they can bring fresh insights and tackle them with their leads. It helps them better understand the priorities of the project and figure ways to address them. Through this experience, they will feel heard and be committed to bringing the project to its success.

5. Encourage Open Communication

Being open about feedback to or from your remote developers is essential. This can either boost or deteriorate their level of performance. It would help if you always encouraged feedback to know whether they felt confused or frustrated with the process. This gives managers a fair opportunity to better manage the Remote Development Team.

 

Benefits of having a Happy Remote Developer

1. Increased Teamwork

Teamwork can be more complex in a remote team since they can only communicate online. Without the office setting, it’s nearly impossible to talk except via chatting applications or virtual meetings.

However, having high morale within the have shown that employee is more inclined to collaborate with co-workers. The remote Team often reaches out to other employees to ask for their feedback and comments. Members feel more prosperous and secure in creating a better relationship with the management and colleagues.

In addition, employees would also want your company to thrive. Having the same vision with the Team is the best way to ensure the company’s long-term success. Thus, realignment can happen more often between remote employees.

2. Better Retention Rates

Absence without leave (AWOL) or notice often happens with Remote Team. Having a Remote Developer go AWOL can negatively affect a project, especially if this employee’s skill is necessary for the software being developed. Keeping your employees happy and satisfied will prevent them from leaving your company. Happy employees would want to remain at your company.

Therefore, companies with a high level of morale find their retention levels great, even when working remotely.

The cost of high turnover can be devastating for small businesses, especially when replaying an employee with desirable skills sets that is necessary for the company.

Employee contentment and retention rates are key performance indicators for business success. So, businesses need to prioritize employee morale and keep hold of valued members of their Team.

3. Good Office Relationships

Good relationships between remote developers can be more challenging to maintain. Miscommunication can often happen, and employees tend to exhibit negative behaviors toward one another, leading to workplace stress.

Revitalizing employee morale improves the relationship between managers and staff, keeping them confident to communicate goals and organizational objectives. These engagements can enhance performances and productivity and help the company in the long run.

4. Increased Productivity

Keeping remote employee productivity can be a challenge to the management. Work ethics can be affected by the relaxed home environment.  Keeping the morale high within the Team can affect their work ethics positively.

According to the 2014 University of Warwick study, productivity spikes when people experience fun activities. In 2004, researchers Rath and Clifton also found out that employees are more productive when they experience positivity than negativity at work.

5. Less Tardiness

Tardiness can be an issue for remote developers. Sometimes, employees tend to take a mental health day or call in sick because they don’t have the motivation to report to work. According to the 2008 Gallup Report, on average, the employee takes 15 extra sick leaves per year due to low morale.

Lack of enthusiasm to work can be an issue for both employees and employers in the long run. Businesses are affected by absenteeism negatively on their resources and worker turnover. However, elevating levels of morale can solve this problem quickly. Employees are eager to turn up to work each day if they are happy and excited about what they do.

Learn More About It

Training newly hired remote developers to achieve your company objectives better is never an easy process. Even though the process is never easy, it is a continuously improving process. Learning and committing to improving the process can make this an enjoyable journey too. 

Not only for the newly hired but even for the managers that assist them along the way. Learn how to better manage your remote development team.