Onboarding Practices for Optimal Success

Onboarding isn’t what it used to be. Employees no longer expect a long day of filling out forms, reading manuals, and watching “welcome” videos. Employees prefer a positive and engaging onboarding experience, and your ability to provide it will affect everything from the caliber of talent you attract to the company culture that helps you recruit and retain them. To reinforce every new employee’s decision to work with your company, give them an onboarding experience.

Onboarding: What it is (and what it isn’t)

A strong onboarding experience supports company goals for nurturing and retaining top talent, and it starts long before an employee’s first day on the job. Develop your onboarding experience to begin on the day your employment offer is accepted, and plan for it to extend through the employee’s first 90 days on the job. Start with a thorough understanding of what onboarding is — and what it isn’t.

Onboarding refers to the process of welcoming new employees to your company. It can be simple or complex, but an excellent onboarding strategy helps newcomers get to know their colleagues and your company’s culture, mission, values, and workflows. Dynamic onboarding sets employees up for success, empowering them to explore, ask questions, and discover insights they’ll need as a member of your team.

The term “onboarding” is sometimes used interchangeably with others, but onboarding is not:

• Orientation. Onboarding involves introducing a new employee to your company, engaging them in welcome activities, and providing context for their new role. Orientation serves an administrative function for filling out HR paperwork, setting up payroll, and completing compliance and safety training.
• Training. While essential to every employee’s success, training is not onboarding either. Training teaches the specifics of a new employee’s role. Additional training occurs over time, but new hire training is a heavy focus for the first few months in a new position. New hire training can be incorporated into your onboarding program, but it shouldn’t replace it.

Create a dynamic onboarding experience

New employees spend the first few months on the job asking themselves three questions. The answers, which they should discover during onboarding, are essential to a successful, dynamic onboarding experience. The three big questions are:

1. Did I make a good choice?
2. Am I welcome here?
3. Can I be successful here?

Your onboarding strategy should be proactive, productive, and focused on providing new employees with positive answers to these three questions. Dynamic onboarding substantially improves a new employee’s understanding of your company culture, defines how they will contribute to your team, and establishes everyone’s expectations for success.

Many companies only review compliance and job duties in an abridged onboarding process. With this approach, employees get the information they need to start work but receive little of the support they need to settle into your company culture and connect with their new co-workers.

Best onboarding practices

Onboarding is a process, and new hires deserve an optimized onboarding experience for maximum benefit to both employee and employer. Start with these steps:

1.  Begin before the first day. Send a welcome email, encourage questions, and include content related to company values in a welcome package to your new employee. These small steps can make a nervous employee feel more comfortable about walking into work for the first time.
2. Use preboarding tools. Technology allows new hires to learn more about your company and complete required paperwork prior to their first day of work. Any task that can be managed quickly and simply with technology is one less task they’ll have to complete during onboarding.
3. Get ready for the first day. Ensure new employees have the tools they need to begin learning their job in earnest, including desk space, an email address, and secure system access. Anything you can prepare for their first day will help new hires acclimate to their role more quickly.
4. Make introductions. Make introductions so new hires have a head start on making connections with colleagues and team leaders.
5. Provide a work buddy. A buddy system gives new employees a point of connection with a more experienced colleague who can answer questions that pop up as they progress through onboarding.
6. Establish expectations. Set clear expectations early. Give every new hire a current, detailed job description to help them set realistic performance and productivity goals.
7. Provide regular touchpoints. An excellent employee onboarding experience depends on continuous communication. Check in with new employees regularly to answer questions, address concerns, and provide constructive feedback.

Dynamic onboarding isn’t a simple checklist or a day of paperwork and orientation videos. It’s an intentional, well-crafted experience designed to help new employees acclimate to your workplace, connect with their new colleagues, and get set up for success.

Are you ready to learn more about creating strategic recruiting, hiring, and onboarding experiences? Visit terrastaffinggroup.com today.