Guide to Onboarding New Employees 

In terms of recruitment, onboarding new employees means introducing new hires to the policies and culture of an organization, setting expectations, and establishing strong relationship foundations between the employer and the new hires. This transition plays a vital role to the success of a recruitment team. If the onboarding process is organized and effective, it can help prevent new hires from quitting the company during their first few months, and it can also boost their work performance. Here’s your ultimate guide to establishing an effective onboarding process.

Formalize your onboarding process.

There are two types of onboarding: formal and informal. Formal onboarding follows an organized step-by-step format – from the orientation day to introducing the actual work to the new employees – with assistance from the HR staff. Informal onboarding, on the other hand, is basically giving the new hires their start date and deploying them directly to their bosses or teammates. Since the former is more organized, it is also more effective both for start-ups and established corporations.

Prepare their workspaces ahead of time.

No one would want to work in an incomplete and untidy desk. Make sure to clean and prepare the new hires’ workspaces before deploying them to their area. Set up their emails, gate passes, and access to crucial software. They say that first impressions last, so don’t put your company under a bad light just because of a faulty computer, phone line, or other equipment relevant to their job. This will also help prevent delays on the new hires’ training.

Welcome the new hires before their first day.

Welcome the new employees as soon as they have signed the job offer and contract.  After this, follow-up with a congratulatory note via email, via SMS or via snail mail, along with an onboarding package or new hire kit containing their orientation day(s) and start date, company policies, and other must-know details about the organization. This can give them a glimpse of the company’s culture, and also prepare themselves with what, and what not to expect.

Schedule orientation and discuss relevant details about the company.

It’s best to schedule the paid orientation day(s) on their first day(s) at work. Expound on the company policies written in their new hire kits; tell a few things about the company’s culture; set their expectations about salary, rewards and other benefits; disclose the sanctions for violations; and entertain queries about those regulations. You may also tour the new employees around the office to familiarize them with their new home. Add fun games and other team building activities, especially if the new hires will work on the same team.

Coordinate with their new teammates and bosses.

Before handing over the new hires to their colleagues and bosses, orient the old employees to prepare for the new hires’ training, probation and evaluation. Remind them to take it easy on the new employees, without compromising the company’s work standards and ethics. Also, remind the old employees to be welcoming and to neither intimidate nor provoke the new hires to resign easily.

Properly introduce the new hires to their new colleagues.

After the orientation, the HR staff must formally introduce the new hires to their new teammates and bosses to avoid awkward moments. It’s best if the HR staff could also facilitate a game or a fun activity to serve as an ice breaker for the entire team.                                                                                                                     

Allow them to shadow other colleagues.

Avoid overloading the new hires with work and information. Give them time to “shadow” other teammates to observe and learn more about the job without pressure. Let them raise queries while shadowing to clarify things. After a few days of shadowing, give the new hires enough time to practice what they’ve learned before passing on the actual workload.

Make a career path for them.

One of the reasons why good employees quit their job is promotion-related issue(s). To prevent this, you must prepare and discuss a career path for the employees so they would have something to looking forward to every year. This strategy can help keep employees for a long period of time, inspiring them to work hard for equal opportunities for promotions and higher positions.

 

We hope this short guide has helped you formulate an effective onboarding process for your company. If your Human Resource Information System does not have an onboarding module, maybe it’s time to make the switch to one that does, such as Everything at Work.

Always remember that new employees are future assets of a company, so a little preparation will go a long way.