Julian Eccles is an experienced Communications and Corporate Affairs Director who has led these functions at Sky, Ofcom and The FA as well as international companies Millicom and Travelport. He has also been a government Special Adviser and started his PR career at Hill & Knowlton.

Whilst most of us regard the household onboarding of essential goods as our number one priority at the moment, many communicators are now grappling with the challenge of onboarding new colleagues remotely now that the government's Covid-19 isolation guidance urging homeworking is in full effect.

What is the best way to do this?

I have very happily recruited and onboarded team members in every continent having only met them through a screen. Doing this with a colleague in Bogota or Singapore should be the same as for one in Bolton or Swindon. Wherever they are, new teammates deserve a first-class induction process like anyone else.

Setting the tone in the first week is critical. As in other walks of life, first impressions matter both for the new recruit and the employer. Creating a warm, welcoming and professional environment for the employee is vital and lays the foundations for a successful career with the organisation.

The onboarding checklist should be no different to the one you would deploy if you were doing it directly at your own offices. As professional