29 Apr Remote Onboarding Across Cultures

In today’s hyper-globalized talent landscape, remote onboarding has moved from being a pandemic workaround to a strategic necessity—especially for organizations operating across cultures. But despite investments in digital tools and virtual welcome kits, one thing remains stubbornly elusive: true engagement.

Multicultural remote teams bring with them rich perspectives—but also layers of complexity. Onboarding in this context is no longer about checklists. It’s about crafting early experiences that foster belonging, build cultural bridges, and create psychological safety across invisible boundaries.

So, what does it take to move from “good onboarding” to globally intelligent onboarding? Can we move from Best Practices to Real Engagement?

Here are 3 interesting recommendations that can make a difference:

1. Standardization vs Equality

Many global companies default to centralized, standardized onboarding content—often developed at headquarters, in English, and with culturally specific assumptions baked in. The result? What seems efficient from a systems perspective can feel alienating for someone joining from other countries or even continents.

Recommendation: Instead of full localization (which is resource-heavy), aim for cultural adaptation. This could include regionalized onboarding tracks, translated materials, or cultural briefings from local HR.

2. Buddy System vs Cultural Expert

The buddy system is a standard onboarding tool—but it rarely addresses cultural onboarding. A buddy might explain tools, workflows, and acronyms. But who explains why meetings feel so hierarchical in one team and so informal in another? In fact, according to a 2024 report by Global People Institute, 64% of remote hires in multicultural teams cited “unspoken team dynamics” as their biggest onboarding hurdle—more than process clarity or tool overload.

Recommendation: Assign a cultural expert – a peer o mentor with cross-cultural awareness who can help new hires navigate implicit norms. This is especially critical in companies where dominant cultural norms (often Western) aren’t always made explicit.

3. Cultural Appreciation vs Strategic Inclusion

Early-stage inclusion efforts often stop at symbolic gestures—like “culture days” or recipe-sharing online events. These are not unimportant, but for onboarding, the real question is: how does someone know their voice will be heard, even if it sounds different?

Recommendation: Don’t present cultural differences as a “soft” topic. Link it to team performance and innovation.

In the first two weeks, for example, host an online “Work Culture Deep Dive” where team members compare and contrast their preferred ways of giving feedback, handling conflict, and making decisions. These differences aren’t distractions—they’re strategic assets when surfaced intentionally.

Remote onboarding across cultures is not a “nice-to-have” innovation—it’s now a core competency for global organizations. The companies that get it right won’t just retain more talent; they’ll unleash the potential of global diversity from day one.

And here’s the paradox: building high-touch, culturally aware onboarding in a digital world doesn’t require more tech. It requires more human design thinking.

Does your organization have any other recommendations to share? Which actions do you put in to practice to increase your human design thinking?

Gaia Urati