Now more than ever, we find ourselves in the age of digital working. The pandemic has shifted our outlook, with many companies realizing that employees can complete their projects or duties from anywhere and, in some cases, at any time.
Remote work has taken the world by storm and 74% of professionals expect remote work to become a standard practice in the future, and 97% of employees don t want to return to the office full-time when the pandemic has ended. This huge shift has thrust HR managers into the world of remote working and online onboarding. You now need to think about how to welcome new employees both online and offline which, as you probably already know, is easier said than done. Gone are the days of huge paper binders for handbooks, as we say hello to digital resources that your staff can access whenever they want or need. What Does an Employee Handbook Say About a Company? Let s take a look at why moving your employee handbook online is a fantastic way to make your onboarding process easy!
Your employee handbook can be accessed from anywhere
When you move your employee handbook online, it isn t bound to the confinements of your office (or access to a printer, for that matter). Online employee handbooks built by AirMason can be accessed on any mobile, tablet or desktop device at any time, which means your handbook can cater to every department in the business. Whether an employee is sitting at a desk or working in a factory out in the sticks, they will all have the ability to quickly and easily access your handbook. This is great news for onboarding because it means your employees can refer back to the handbook for help whenever and wherever they need to.
Editing and updating couldn t be easier with an online handbook
Does it fill you with dread when someone asks you to update that huge paper document? You ve got to find the file online, make the update, reprint the whole guide and then distribute it out to everyone again. A veritable nightmare! When you move your employee handbook online you can easily make edits and updates, then push them out in real-time. This means that even small tweaks, corrections or changes to your policies and procedures can be made in seconds, ensuring that your handbook is always up to date and relevant. Creating an employee handbook can be made easy with online tools. It also means you can easily tailor different handbooks to onboarding different job roles or levels of employees. For instance, you might like to have two different onboarding docs – one for remote onboarding and one for face-to-face. You can quickly edit the copy to meet the needs of the different circumstances, using minimal extra effort. 
Balance the informative with the fun
Because your online handbook is so easy to edit, it means you can start making it super engaging for your new hires. Start balancing the informative policies and procedures with the fun parts of the handbook; perks, benefits, bonuses etc. Get creative with your layout and design to ensure your handbook is a joy to read for anyone who joins your company. Not only will this boost your readership rates, but it s also likely to decrease your employee turnover rates. With 16.45% of employees leaving in the first week and 17.42% of employees leaving in the first month, it s essential that you pay close attention to your onboarding process – and dull legalese does no favours for anybody. Creating an employee handbook is crucial for making onboarding easy. Learn about creating an employee handbook: where to start for your company.
Let your new hires start the onboarding process in their own time
There s nothing worse than starting your first day of work with the task of reading through pages and pages of paper documents. With a digital handbook, your new starters can get reading in their own time. This could even help them hit the ground running on day one by covering some solid basics before their first day of work, and help them familiarize themselves before they ve even started. AirMason s digital handbooks allow you to track and follow reader activity so you can see who s reading and who s not during the onboarding process. This means you can send a gentle nudge to those who have yet to read your handbook and a positive recognition message to those who are already full steam ahead.
Promote your culture from day one
Onboarding your staff remotely comes with a unique set of challenges, one of which is trying to communicate your company culture. This is a task which is overlooked by many, but a strong company culture is invaluable to your business s success. In fact, 46% of job seekers cite company culture as very important when choosing to apply to a company, while 15% of job seekers turned down a job offer because the culture wasn t right for them. Moving your handbook online means you can start promoting your culture from day one. Your remote employees don t need to wait for a file through the mail and your face-to-face employees don t need to trawl through that huge binder. Everyone can gain access to your handbook immediately and open their eyes to your awesome culture as soon as they start.
Reiterate your values and keep them at the forefront of your new hires minds
Alongside company culture, your company values are crucial to your business s success. They tell the world who you are, what you believe in and where your priorities lie. Sharing these with your employees not only inspires and motivates them, but can also improve their overall performance. They ll have a crystal clear understanding of their own role within the company along with a good grasp on what your company is trying to achieve and how they can contribute. This is why it s vital to move your values, mission and vision to the beginning of your handbook – front and centre. Of course, doing so is easy when you ve digitized your handbook, and it means your values will stay at the forefront of your new hires minds. They can easily refer back to them simply by checking their mobile device, meaning they ll never be forgotten. 
Get your new hires excited about working with you
You should never underestimate the importance of a kick-ass onboarding strategy. Onboarding is the precious time to make a first impression and a period when your employee decides to be inspired or discouraged. Too many companies are still handing out dull onboarding documents which do nothing to motivate and excite their new starters. Moving your handbook online means you can easily spice up the layout and design of your handbook, making it fun and engaging. Editing copy becomes a breeze, which means you can add in all the amazing benefits and perks which your company has to offer and actually keep it up to date! Better yet, you can strategically place the things you know your new hires are going to love at the front of your handbook, so your new employees are immediately engaged as soon as they start reading. For the best employee handbook, follow these five tips for creating an effective onboarding process. Employee handbooks don t have to be boring and inaccessible – and they shouldn t be! Here at AirMason, we let you create exciting digital handbooks with our editor, and then host your employee handbooks online. Get in touch with one of our experts and we d more than happy to show you how it works.