As employees at many organizations return to their offices, it’s clear that hybrid and remote working are also here to stay. As HR leaders have learned recently, remote onboarding is a unique challenge.

In this Workflow roundtable, we asked five HR experts to identify top pitfalls to avoid when onboarding remote employees. One consistent insight: Make the effort to ensure that new hires build a relationship with your company.

Their remarks have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Create a connection—early

Darleen DeRosa

You can’t leave the burden of building relationships to the new employee or that person’s manager, and you can’t wait until the start date to start creating a connection to the culture. Y​​ou need to make new employees feel like a part of the family. New employees are often at the peak of emotional openness and feeling of positivity to the company right before they start, so use the opportunity to cement the connection.

It is particularly important in a remote environment to find ways to increase informal interaction for new hires in their first year. You can start by creating a list of key relationships each new hire will need to build, and then scheduling one-on-one coffee or lunch meetings by video.

— Darleen DeRosa, consultant at Spencer Stuart and co-author of “Leading at a Distance: Practical Lessons for Virtual Success”

Anticipate people’s needs

Jacqui Canney

The meaning of work has changed, and we need to meet people where they are with flexibility, empathy, and opportunity.

Onboarding remote employees is not just about how they get a laptop or get paid but also what people need to thrive, along with their new manager and team. We want to make sure the transition is seamless and that new employees can find everything they need in one place. When we do this well, a new hire feels a strong sense of belonging right from the start, no matter where they get their work done.

—Jacqui Canney, chief people officer, ServiceNow

Outfit their office on day 1

Stephanie Naznitsky

In a remote-first world, you have to make a new hire feel at home. You also have to make sure they have the right technology, that they’re comfortable with it, that they’ve got a good work environment. It’s so important to have the right home-office setup—office supplies, Wi-Fi, ergonomic furniture. Making sure that new hires have everything at home that your admin team would normally set up in the office is really important to getting off on the right foot.