When employees go through a structured onboarding process,they are 58% more likelyto stay in a company for over three years so it's a HR process worth investing in. In simple terms, onboarding or on boarding, is welcoming a person into your business and helping to settle them in as much as possible. During the onboarding process, the new employee should be educated on business attitudes, processes, skills, behaviour and expectations. After onboarding your new hire should feel comfortable within the company and informed on all systems necessary to perform their new job.
Before the new employee starts
It's a mistake to neglect the importance of a new employee's first day and how they are integrated within the company. Attention should be paid to big and small elements, both before the start date and after the employee begins.
New employee forms
Send new employee forms, handbook, contract and necessary legal forms, before their first day. This familiarises the new hire with the company and reduces the risk of them being overwhelmed once they begin.
New hire supplies
Organise necessary hardware and software. Implement your new hire on all necessary systems and configure your new hires laptop and company phone. Have your new hires work station ready and functioning with simple extras such as a notebook, pen and coffee cup. At Netflix, new employees are even offered a choice of laptop. These simple details will make the employee feel welcome.
Basic technicalities
Contact your new employee the week before they are due to start. Confirm their start date, start time, the office address and parking information. If your company has a specific dress code, you should include details on this. No new employee wants to turn up over or under dressed on their first day.
Align your new hire process with your company culture. For example, at software company Lever new hires are sent a welcoming Gif, to align with their innovative and youthful culture.
Your new employees first day
At Twitter, where new employees are hired and retained regularly, new hires have breakfast with the CEO, a tour of the office and group training on all tools and systems relevant to their role. A well thought out onboarding process like this encourages employee wellbeing and productivity and reduces chances of employee turnover.
Meet & greet
Organise someone to greet the employee on their first day. Ideally, this should be their supervisor or manager. Your new hire should then be brought to their organised work station which has been prepped with all necessary items.
Introduce your employee to the team
Introduce the new employee to their colleagues, give them a tour of the office and organise a lunch. Focusing on your company culture like this will make your new hire feel at ease, familiarise them with the company ethos and leave a good first impression.
Let the employee know who they should direct questions to, and encourage them to communicate with them whenever they need. In larger companies, peer mentors are popular to help integrate new members into the business. At Google, most Nooglers (new hires) are given a mentor to help their progress towards becoming a productive employee.
Organise monthly check-ins
After on boarding your new hire should feel comfortable within the company and informed on all systems necessary to perform their new job. Organise monthly meetings to keep on track with your employee's progress. If your new hire has any issues these should be addressed and, if warranted, implemented into future onboarding processes.
BCG, reveals that onboarding ranks second (after recruiting) as the most impactful of all the 22 HR practices.Treat each new hire as a celebration and invest in a good onboarding plan and you will see the return on investment.
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