Whether you're a small business or a large corporation, effective employee onboarding is vital to the success of your new employees. These processes ensure your business operations run smoothly as your employees acclimate as they begin their first day of work and beyond. It includes filling out paperwork, going over responsibilities, and benefits packages, setting them up with any essentials such as business cards or nameplates, training, and more.
When executed well, employee onboarding can play an important role in the success of that employee's overall experience. Employees who feel supported in their first 90 days of work are happier and more likely to stay. Too many companies underestimate the importance of a great onboarding program. Read on to learn why employee onboarding is so important, plus a few tips on setting up an effective employee onboarding process.
Why is Employee Onboarding so Important?
Onboarding new employees benefit not only the new hires but the entire team as well as the company's operations. A positive onboarding experience can support new employees as they take on their new roles leading to better deliverable results. No period in the employee lifecycle is more important than the first 90 days. The benefits of effective employee onboarding include:
· Attracts Top Talent – When you have an attractive and supportive onboarding process, it's just one of the many things that can set you apart from the competition. You can attract top talent with the right onboarding, training, and development.
· Reduced Turnover – A great onboarding process creates positive connections to the team and makes them feel welcome and set up for success. Your company will likely retain that top talent when employees feel supported throughout their journey.
· Boosts Performance – By setting your employees up your employees for success with the right tools, resources, and introductions, you can boost your new hire's confidence leading to higher productivity. They are better set up to understand the expectations from the get-go and perform better sooner.
· Introduces Company Culture – Company culture is the values, goals, and experiences of everyone in the workplace. It sets a positive tone throughout that leads to higher morale. Going through the onboarding process introduces them to their role, the team they are working with, and the company culture, giving them a better support system to fit in and embrace it.
· Cultivate Relationships – Engaging your new hires with effective employee onboarding can help create stronger connections with coworkers and management. When employees have good relationships within the company, they are more likely to be productive team members.
· Encourages Communication – Starting a new role for anyone can be stressful, not knowing who to turn to. A great onboarding provides your new employees with resources and mentors they can lean on when they need guidance.
Tips to Create an Effective Onboarding Process
The employee onboarding process covers many activities to welcome your new employees and ensure they are ready to start in their new roles. Don't underestimate the value of a great onboarding process. These tips will help you ensure you cover all essential aspects and activities to make your new hires feel like they are an integral part of your company.
Start Early – You don't want to wait until their first day to start the paperwork. The first day of work for anyone can be overwhelming, and starting off on the right foot is essential. As soon as they have that offer letter signed, send them all the important paperwork to get it out of the way. This process is called pre-onboarding and allows your new hires to familiarize themselves with the company a little before they start. This way, on their actual first day of work, you can focus on introductions and more important activities.
Personalize the Experience – While setting up a consistent employee onboarding process is vital, you want to still to ensure you personalize the experience for every new employee. The experience can be tailored to their role, their learning style, or their personality to ensure you optimize their comfort level and help them feel at ease as they begin their new career.
Notify the Team – It's important to prepare your current team and fellow managers in advance before the new hire begins. When you notify the team, you can work to prepare mentors, discuss important first-day activities, and mentally prepare your team to be ready to welcome their new colleague.
Begin with Introductions – On the first day, you want to familiarize your new employee with where they will be working and who they will be working with. With all the paperwork out of the way, take them on a tour of the building and introduce them to all the teams they will be working with. You don't want to overwhelm them, and the first day can be dedicated to only introducing them to the team they will be working with directly.
Define Roles, Responsibilities, and Expectations – On the first day, you want to set your new hire up for success without relying on an employee handbook and written job descriptions. People can easily lose interest, and things may fall through the cracks. Having a prepared presentation or speaking point to summarize important roles, responsibilities, and expectations in a way that is engaging and allows them a space to feel comfortable enough to ask questions. You can prepare a document they can refer to at any time to review what was covered as they learn.
Assign a Mentor – Leadership can be a great resource for new employees when they first start, but there are a lot of other responsibilities that help out your new hire, and they can end up feeling like a burden. Assigning a mentor can benefit your new employee by providing them with a resource to ask questions, learn about culture, and help them better understand their role as they settle in.
Schedule Regular Check-Ins – Employee onboarding is a process that extends well beyond the employee's first day. You will want to schedule at least weekly check-ins to see how they are settling in, allow them to ask questions, and go over any challenges or successes to ensure they are on track.
Plan Team Building Activities– Teams that work the best together have strong relationships built off trust. Team building is vital for existing teams to establish connections that enable them to work better together, increase productivity, and ensure the happiness of all your employees. When a new employee starts in their new role, there is no better way to get to know the team than by planning a team-building activity. It can be held in-house or scheduled after hours, but the goal is to bring new and existing employees closer together and build strong bonds.
Employee onboarding is one of the most effective ways to set your new employees up for success from day one. It creates a positive outlook on their new role and view of the company, welcomes them to the company culture, and ultimately boosts their confidence. Your onboarding process should involve ongoing efforts to develop strong relationships across your organization that increase performance and foster loyalty, encouraging them to want to grow and stay with your company.
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