Want A Smooth Onboarding Process For Your New Employees? 5 Tips To Consider
One of the most important factors a jobseeker looks for is a great employee experience. But this “employee experience” does not only begin on your new hire’s first day. It starts as early as the minute you offer a chance for an interview, the result of which is dependent on your interactions and responses.
Once your talent has signed on, the challenges have only just commenced. Ensuring a proper onboarding process for new employees will really help them determine the company culture at a glance. So it is best to have this streamlined as possible. But before we get to how, we have to first understand what it is and the usual process to go about it.
What is the employee onboarding process like?
If the new role is the door of opportunity, the onboarding procedure is your newly minted talent’s foot inside it. The employee onboarding process refers to the procedures a company undertakes to integrate its new hires. Orientation, specialized and generalized training sessions, and mentoring are just some of the events new talents can look forward to.
While the proper onboarding process for new employees varies per company, there is a standard set you can look at as a guide to help you.
To further understand the process, we summarize this into three essential steps: pre-onboarding, the first day of work, and post-onboarding.
What are the steps to onboarding a new employee?
Pre-onboarding This refers to the period before your new employee’s start of work date. Here, they run through all the pre-employment checklist items. Things like medical tests, filling up access forms, and taking the company ID photo are just some of the examples under this stage. Make sure that the requirements are specifically laid out, with details not amiss. For instance, describe the type of laboratory work the employee needs to have done. For example, food handlers need a special battery of tests done, including a hepatitis test. On the other hand, employees with co-morbodities need to have their blood work tested every now and then to avoid problems during shifts. Focusing on details like having two copies of diplomas and other special documents should be shared ahead of time. This is to ensure both of your conveniences, and at the same time make sure nothing is amiss. Also read: 10 Benefits For Employees Workers Actually Need Right Now
First day onboarding Some employees get right to work on the first day. Think of it as getting the ground running despite not knowing full well what to expect. But even then, your employee should already know what their job role entails. While they may be full of questions, they have to have the basics down pat. Even while work is ongoing, orientation sessions and trainings usually fill the first week of work. The employee goes around the company, learning about the different departments before diving deep into their own department. This is especially helpful for employees whose projects entwine with other roles in the company. Mentoring and buddy systems occur during this time, where handpicked employees take on the role of teacher for their new team members. Also read: 6 Ways to Set Better Boundaries with Your Employees
Post-onboarding Employee onboarding does not stop at the first week of work. It continues on even afterwards, and the first year review is crucial. Aside from gauging if the employee is a perfect fit, this is also a good time for the employee to do the same. Performance assessments and check-ins come in. Direct supervisors usually ask how their stay is at the company, if they are enjoying their time. Aside from this, employers and employees exchange feedback for improvement too.
What are some tips to improve your onboarding process for new employees?
Employee onboarding processes are usually set in stone, especially for companies that have been around for a while. But once in a while, a good fine tuning is always a step in the right direction. Here, we share five tips you can apply to improve your processes.
Be proactive with your new hires. Whether your new hires come from an ad or through online job partners (like on JobStreet, which can be done by making an account for free), you must embrace a proactive attitude. It is not enough to welcome your new hire to the company and leave them to grovel in the trenches. We are not talking about hand-holding here or serving information on a silver platter. But embrace some empathy here: this person is new. Moreover, they do not know how the culture works nor some of the aspects in the office yet. Make their first day and week (even year!) memorable. Assist them directly or have an assigned mentor who knows their ins and outs in the company. Make sure you watch over your new hires well and to be on the lookout for any questions they might have.
Create a systematic timeline for their onboarding plan. While we divided the onboarding process into three phases, it is ultimately dependent on you to switch it up. You can have a 30/60/90 day plan for check-in, to see how your employee has fit into the company. Whatever timeline you choose, make sure that you stick and commit to it. Just as you expect your employee to show up for deadlines, so should you with your plans. Make sure to schedule feedback sessions accordingly. Block dates if you have to in advance to avoid last-minute conflicts. Doing this shows you care for your employee even after their first day. It is always about walking the talk. What you can also do is to have a new hire checklist so that you do not forget anything.
Set realistic goals and manage expectations This is a step that most managers fail to share. While new hires should be aware of what the role entails, it is important to reiterate it. Before the new hire begins, make sure that they know the necessary KPIs, goals, and metrics they have to reach. Help manage expectations by being lenient with them for a period of time. Give them that space to make mistakes. Be firm but loosen up when you need to. No one is a success overnight.
Do not rush the training period Some companies would want their talents to start right away, especially if they are short-staffed. While hitting the ground running is admirable, skipping the training can be a great loss in the long run. This is not to say that every company has a cookie cutter method to follow, but a standard must be set. Doing away with this time encourages more mistakes than right decisions, mainly because your new hires must have missed the details in the training. Plan out the trainings well to avoid double booking for another session. It is advisable to enrich as much as possible. You could be avoiding critical mistakes. Also read: Your Checklist For Upskilling and Retraining Employees
Encourage the practice of job shadowing Sometimes, classroom learning swoops in and out of the ear. It is best to have the new talent understand the job on the spot. Have your new hire shadow a team member in the same role, or at least integrate them during a regular day’s work. This helps your new hire to gradually embrace the role they have in the team. You can do this either by including them in meetings, have them contribute to a project, or go through protocol together. The practice you have to consider here is inclusion. Everyone loves to be a part of something.
Embracing your new hires is a wonderful process. The challenges exist but the good can outweigh the bad if you take their needs into consideration above yours. Know the ins and outs of your standard recruitment plan and adjust as needed. Good luck!
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