Onboard and Integrate New Hires
From fostering employee engagement to providing necessary resources so your new hire can quickly integrate with your organization, your onboarding process and schedule can make or break how successful your new hire is early on, and determine whether or not they choose to stay for the long haul.
Setting the Stage for Success: Creating a Seamless Onboarding Experience
A strong onboarding process helps new hires feel welcomed, valued, and supported, and demonstrates a commitment to employee success, fostering loyalty and significantly reducing early turnover.
In this chapter, we will:
- Outline key strategies for a successful new hire onboarding process, focusing on meticulous planning, a welcoming environment, and ensuring early success.
- Emphasize the importance of structured first-week and 30- 60- 90-day schedules, including clear and comprehensive expectation-setting.
- Explore how to foster a positive environment through employee connections.
- Offer suggestions on essential resources you can provide during onboarding to empower new employees from day one.
“The way that physicians are hired is a little bit more white glove treatment. Even though [our] mechanics, for the most part, aren’t white glove style, I still give them the same kind of care and consideration as I would have a physician because they’re as important to our organization as a physician would be in healthcare. And that little extra care and consideration leads us to that greater victory.”
Best Practices
First Day and Week Planning
Deliver a Detailed Onboarding Schedule
Develop an hour-by-hour onboarding schedule before the new hire’s start date, which includes pre-set meeting times and a list of team members (names and roles) to ensure scheduling clarity through the first few days or weeks.
Provide a list of all software and tool access provisions, and outline workspace equipment (computer, additional screens, etc.) to be provided.
From an engagement standpoint, foster open communication with regular check-ins to address concerns early and ensure the employee feels prepared and supported from their first day.
Establish 30, 60, and 90-day Expectations
Candidates seek employers who invest in their growth and development. This is especially prevalent in the first 90 days of their employment. By establishing a clear career path forward, you demonstrate your organization’s commitment to employee success, build excitement for the start of their role, and reinforce the idea that they are making a good professional decision by joining your team.
Draft a concise document that highlights their unique deliverables (project delivery, new system understanding, technical proficiencies, etc.) and allows them something they can regularly refer back to as they onboard.
Creating a Welcoming Environment
The Welcoming Committee
Pair new hires with an in-house professional mentor or manager to facilitate introductions to team members before or on the first day. In the case of distributed or remote teams, emphasizing relationship building is especially important; designate a team member (ideally a leader within your organization) to this task to help foster a more welcoming environment and create more opportunities for informal interaction and connection right out of the gate.
Equipment and Workspace Preparation
Proactive planning is key to a seamless onboarding experience. Do so by conducting a detailed tech audit tailored to each role well before the start date to ensure workspaces (whether in-office or remote) are fully prepared and reflect a welcoming company culture.
In the case of remote team members, ship all essential equipment at least 2 weeks before the employee’s start date with clear setup instructions and security protocols.
Have all equipment pre-configured and ready for immediate use, and be prepared to provide a clear orientation to both the workspace and technology; if technical support is expected, have someone on your IT team ready to address initial hiccups.
Technical issues happen (often). Establish communication channels (email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, etc.) for ongoing workspace assistance, when needed.
Last, and possibly the most important practice, is to ensure all workspaces and equipment meet accessibility standards, which should be reinforced regularly by security and compliance training, particularly regarding data protection.
Ensuring Early Success
Provide Resources to Get Your New Hire Started
Share role-specific materials, such as industry articles, that allow your new hire to get to know your industry, competitors, and so on more quickly. Provide access to documents such as your employee handbook and org chart, or company videos and internal communication channels that will allow them to get acclimated physically and culturally to the organization they are joining.
You can even take it one step further by suggesting relevant online courses or tutorials that further impress your commitment to their professional success.
Align Candidate Experience with Employee Experience
As we’ve noted a few times already, a seamless transition from the offer stage to onboarding, and beyond, begins with consistent communication and engagement throughout the pre-employment “onboarding” period (the first 90 days or so).
Within that timeframe, employees are still evaluating the company’s culture and values, ensuring that their candidate experience is truly a reflection of the overall employee experience.
Regularly checking in on your new hires to ensure their introduction to the company is positive can reduce the chances of post-acceptance reneging or 90-day employee turnover.