Onboarding – The Best Practices

If you have just gone through a recruitment process and found your ideal new employee, your job is not done.  Your focus now needs to shift to ensuring you hold on to them and they stay!!

As we find ourselves in the thraws of the great resignation with the added pressure of increasingly high numbers of job vacancies and no applicants to fill them, it has never been more important for a business to retain the employees they already have, and it’s never too soon to start the process.   Onboarding is a critical component of a company’s success and it is paramount that they make the investment in their employees as they join the workforce.

Onboarding has a wealth of benefits for both the employee and the company where inclusion and belonging can be facilitated easily allowing a new employee to settle in whilst conveying the inclusive nature of company culture.  The easier it is for a new employee to settle in, they will be less inclined to look for alternative employment.  According to research from the Brandon Hall Group, great employee onboarding helps to improve staff retention rates by 82%.  Onboarding is also beneficial in setting clear expectations of the company and by showing new employees they have support is an excellent way to boost productivity and allows them to jump straight into their role.  New hires want a seamless transition into their new jobs, and the onboarding process is a big part of this.

 

Here are a few tips for a successful onboarding process!

  1. Start before their first day

Once you have found your new employee, you can start to build your engagement with them straight away.  You can begin to do this by sending a welcome email or a new-hire welcome pack or invite them for a site visit and encourage them to ask questions.  This will endeavor to ease any nerves and to build confidence before they begin their new role.

 

  1. Pre-boarding

Historically, your first day at a new job was spent aimlessly sifting through paperwork and doing the all the awkward introductions but thanks to technology, all of this can now be done before the new employee starts.  Emailing documents such as employee handbooks and asking for E-signatures will get the monotonous tasks out of the way and a team’s call will allow a new employee to meet the team before their first day.

It’s also very important for the employer to make preparations for the new employee’s commencement by doing things such as setting up IT requirements or preparing desk space for them.  This sounds pretty basic but welcoming an employee to an organised, structured first day will provide them with the confidence they will fit in to your business well.  First impressions are critical and can be the difference between someone returning or not after day one!

3. Set Expectations

Its always good practice to ensure that a new employee is fully aware of what their role entails and what the company’s expectations are of them from the very beginning.  An important part of the onboarding process is setting clear expectations and highlighting how the business will help new hires achieve these expectations.

This is an opportunity to inform new hires of useful information about the company so they can hit the ground running such as the company culture, rules and where to go if they need assistance.

4.Regular check in’s

Just as employee onboarding doesn’t start on a new hire’s first day, it doesn’t finish after their first day either. Employee satisfaction and performance requires continuous communication, so it’s important to check in regularly.

 

Regular check-ins can help both sides set and manage expectations and can be a great way to continue evolving an organization’s onboarding process. New hires can be a great source of feedback, so employers ……..don’t be afraid to ask questions!

 

Aim for check-ins on day 1, 7, 14, 30, 60 and 90 — as a minimum.

 

These are just a few of the key areas to consider within the commencement of a new employee’s employment.  At Consult HR we can guide you on how to implement a successful onboarding process.  Contact Julie on 07858 089006 or email julie@consulthr.co.uk for further information