next level onboarding
Taking your onboarding to the next level can make the difference in your new employee’s desire to stay with your company.
Every person that’s ever been employed, has been on-boarded in some form. This process can vary from “just the basics” by providing just enough information to get entered into payroll to an overly complex, week-long orientation. Oftentimes it’s the former. Some companies do not dedicate time and energy resources to the on-boarding process and the talent acquisition process seems to end once the job offer is made.
Imagine this conversation.
“How is the new job, Joe?”
“Well, I was hired, given a short tour on the way to my department and ‘thrown into the fire, so, it’s going well I guess.”
Many of us have experienced this type of “on the job training” or know someone that has. While you can bring someone into your company with just the basics – you should ask yourself if that could ever be a rewarding start for your new employee?
Next-level onboarding is more than “paperwork”. Your challenge is bringing the on-boarding experience up to the next level to generate a feeling of welcome and engagement with your new employees. You want to thank them for choosing you as their new employer. Let’s face it, employees have a lot of choice right now, and if you are lucky enough that they turned down other offers to join your team, show your appreciation.
A few things to keep in mind:
A strong start with a company will improve the likelihood of an employee connecting with their new employer fostering a sense of belonging which can drive retention.
A thorough on-boarding will ensure that a new employee not only knows the basics of their new role, but they understand what is expected of them from the very start.
Connecting with your new employee even before they start will help them be ready and prepared for their first day.
Creating a First Day Agenda will ensure your existing team is aware of and prepared for your new employee.
Creating a New Hire Buddy System will partner tenured and new employees to ensure that questions are answered and the new employee has a partner they can go to for guidance. It can also be fun for the tenured employees to share their journey and get new employees started off successfully.
Orientation to your company, your product and your culture is valuable time spent. Even if you can’t have a full-blown, sit-down, lunch and games Orientation session, you can still utilize videos, slide shows and a company tour to accomplish connecting the new employee with their new company.
Set goals and let your new employee know exactly how they will be measured at 90-days, annually or on your performance cycle. Knowing from the start what the target goal is will set-up the new employee for success and save frustrations later down the line.
You may have remote workers, or some remote – some on-site. How do you effectively onboard remote teams? Much of what you do in person can still be accomplished through video platforms, written new hire guides, virtual tours and virtual “meet and greets”.
How do you sort through the myriad of options to plan what is right for your company? You can create a committee and have them work on a process. You can research and determine an on-boarding program that is right for you. Or you can give me a call and we can not only brainstorm together, but I can help you execute a next level onboarding experience for your new employees. Let’s talk!