ONBOARDING

They say that first impressions are lasting. Well think of onboarding as the employee’s first impression of your company, your brand, mission, and values all wrapped up in one.  Onboarding is not a one-day event. Onboarding is a process that is of utmost importance to the acclimation of your new team member.  Onboarding begins as soon as your new team member accepts the job offer.  Before your new team member steps foot in the door or logs into their remote workstation, you want to ensure they understand the vision and mission of your company and what role they play in it.

Before their first day, find out a few interesting facts about them that can be shared with their team or the company as a whole. A suggestion is to have them complete a quick, fun survey that includes things like their day of birth (no year), their hobbies, favorite colors, favorite sports teams, etc.  If your team uses a platform such as Slack, send a message welcoming the new team member and share some of this information. By doing this, you encourage others employees to engage the new team member and provide them with some ice breakers to spark dialogue. If your company does not use Slack or other social platforms, a simple email will suffice as others can still reach out to the new team member via email, and spark dialogue in the break room or at the coffee station.

When staffing allows, set your new team member up with an onboarding buddy. This is a person who is matched with the new team member to educate them about the day-to-day processes, introduce them to the rest of the team, make social connections, and answer questions throughout the day as they come up.  This buddy can be an integral part of the onboarding process. Many new team members feel left out in the cold. They are put at a workstation and left to fend for themselves for a few days or given a few tasks to do and are supposed to just "figure it out" because they are "experienced". This is illogical and a loss of productivity.  Having an onboarding buddy ready to show the new team member what is expected and what the “usual tasks” are can make the new team member settle in more efficiently. The buddy will also provide role-specific training for the new team member.  They can have assignments ready for the new team member to work on.  We all know that even when you hire an “experienced” person, training is necessary to acclimate the new team member to the company’s processes and procedures. When having a buddy is not feasible, the HR team should be responsible for this task. Do not, I repeat, do not, leave your new team member alone at a workstation to fend for themselves. This will lead to a construed notion of your culture and could potentially make them feel like they are not a part of the vision and mission of your company right out of the gate.

Set reminders with the team leader or manager to ensure they schedule one on one time with the new team member to bridge any gaps, answer any questions, and simply build a bond with the team member. This should be done within the week to week and a half.  Make sure goals are set so that there can be tracking for observation purposes. These meetings can be done in person, on the phone, or via a web call.

The HR team should do regular check-ins with the new team member. Make sure their work needs are being met. Do they have all the tools they need to be successful and are they having interactions with their teams, with their direct supervisor/manager? How are they doing personally? Do they have any questions about the role that are not being answered?

Last, but certainly not least, makes sure the HR team checks in with the new team member’s direct supervisor/manager to see how the new team member is performing.  Track the metrics/goals that were set. Find out if additional training or counseling is necessary to move this new team member forward.

Studies show that new hires that are not properly onboarded are likely to leave the company within the first 90 days of employment. This is a costly statistic.   By having a well-planned and meaningful onboarding process for new team members your company benefits in ways that are both tangible and intangible. It enhances employee engagement, provides a better employee experience, shortens the learning curve and increases productivity, promotes communication, and improves job satisfaction.   Make the first impression count. Onboard your new team members with the intention and the purpose of wanting them to be a permanent part of your company. Onboard like your success depends on it.

Peonca S. Grier, SHRM-CP

President

Cultivating Solutions, LLC

Culture-Focused, Leadership Driven