8 Guidelines for Successful Staff Onboarding
A new hire may need several months of training before they have the knowledge, abilities, and behaviors necessary to start making a positive impact on the company.
It’s nearly impossible to construct a specific onboarding agenda, schedule, or template because onboarding takes a long time to complete and can last throughout the first year of employment.
Instead, try adhering to some of these best practices as you develop the longer-term objectives and measures you’ll use to evaluate the success of onboarding.
Best Practice1: Before your new hire’s first day of work, begin training
Many businesses make the error of delaying orientation and onboarding until the new employee’s first day of work. But frequently, it will take days, weeks, or even months from the time you receive a job offer until your new hire starts their new position.
This delay offers you a fantastic opportunity to use the time leading up to the first day to create anticipation, make them feel welcome, and start the steady flow of information they will need to rapidly catch up.
Best Practice 2: Establish fantastic recruiting and welcoming procedures
A great first impact can be made by providing a great hiring experience. However, that hiring process involves much more than just giving your new team members a coffee mug or a list of company policies.
Consider creating a new hire plan that includes some of the following new hire practices to help your new employee get off to a quick start and prepare them for their first month on the job as well as their first day.
- Make sure to contact and welcome email the new employee.
- Send a welcome gift to new hires.
- Prepare the work tools and materials for the new hire.
- Create a schedule and orientation program.
- Give chances for colleagues to mingle
Best Practice 3: Get senior leaders involved in establishing a business culture
Your human resources staff is not the only one responsible for onboarding new employees. Onboarding activities must be carried out by the entire organization, including team members, managers, and senior leaders, even though HR professionals are frequently engaged in the program’s development.
Involving a senior leader, such as a founder, for instance, provides that person the chance to explain company values and expected behaviors while also helping new employees comprehend the company culture and history.
Senior leaders can be involved in a variety of methods, including:
- Deliver a business presentation
- Conduct a building or facility visit
- Give a particular training presentation
- Invite the new team member out for lunch or coffee.
Best Practice 4: Making use of onboarding tools
From finishing new hire paperwork to conducting new hire orientation and training programs, an efficient onboarding process involves a huge variety of tasks and activities.
Numerous HRIS software providers, including BambooHR, offer automated, integrated onboarding solutions that reduce the use of paper-based forms, remove redundant data input, and streamline the entire process. Additionally, they make sure that no duties are missed during the crucial first few days and weeks.
Best Practice 5:Together with your employee, draft a lifetime trust agreement
Whether it’s between members of a group or a manager and a team member, a trust agreement serves as the cornerstone for a successful working partnership (s). As a living document, it should be developed collectively, documented, reviewed, and updated regularly.
Best Practice 6:regularly hold one-on-one conversations
The primary goal of holding regular 1:1 meetings also known as “check-ins” with each member of your team is to promote fruitful communication between you, the manager, and each team member.
As soon as you can, incorporate these 1:1 meetings into your new hire’s daily schedule and instill the practice of doing them. Consider having your first 1:1 appointment with them on their first day of work as a part of their onboarding and orientation program. Future meetings will be put up as a result of this.
Best Practice 7: Give chances for workplace interaction
Being the new kid on the street can be difficult. There are a variety of methods you can assist your new hire in making connections with their new coworkers and fostering a sense of inclusion and belonging, for example:
- Quick welcome sessions with coworkers.
- Request that a current team member serves as a mentor or friend to your new employee.
- To foster a more laid-back, casual atmosphere for getting to know one another, organize a team lunch or other team-building activity.
- Before the new employee’s first day of work, send them a welcome film that introduces the members of their new team.
Best Practice 8: Perform “offboarding” to discover the reasons why individuals leave
Many of the offboarding events are geared toward comprehending the employee experience. This is usually accomplished by gathering feedback using tools like surveys and exit interviews.
Making the most of employee loyalty and retention is one of the objectives of a successful onboarding procedure. When an employee does depart, it’s important to figure out why and what could have been done differently during the onboarding process to avoid it.