Glossary

Employee Onboarding Process

Employee onboarding is the process by which we help new hires become familiar with our organization and start working productively.

Table of Contents

The employee onboarding process is a crucial part of any business. It's the period between when new employee starts their job and when they become entirely comfortable in their role.

To help your new team member acclimate to your company as quickly as possible. Here are some tips for creating an effective onboarding program:

effective onboarding process, employee onboarding process flow, entire process

Introduce the new employee to the team.

  • Introduce the new employee to the team.
  • Meet them with their supervisor (if they have one)
  • Introduce them to their manager (if they have one)
  • Introduce them to the company culture and mission/values

Implement an onboarding checklist for your new hire.

It should include essential information about the company, such as:

  • A detailed description of their job responsibilities and goals
  • All of the necessary training documentation, including learning materials and documents that require signatures
  • A schedule for when they will be meeting with different departments or individuals within your organization. As well as any pre-meeting steps they need to take (such as scheduling meeting times)
hire paperwork, new employee onboarding process

Take a new hire out to lunch.

A lunch date is a great way to get to know your new hire and set the tone for their time with your company. Make sure you take them out to lunch, not just give them money or put it on the company card! This helps make them feel welcome and honored.

You can also show them around if something specific needs showing—like an office kitchen or petting zoo (if applicable).

It's also essential for employees to meet their colleagues as soon as possible. So they don't feel alone on their first day at work. It helps build camaraderie between employees, which creates happy workers who care about each other.

Email

Introduce them via email before the start of the work day. So people can prepare themselves emotionally for meeting this person who has been getting all sorts of attention from upper management lately!

Set up an account/show them around their work environment.

  • Give them their key.
  • Show them around the office. Walk them to their desk, and introduce everyone they'll interact with. And show them where things are located (bathrooms, water cooler, cafeteria). If it's a huge office, t to include an elevator tour!
  • Show them how to use their computer and phone/tablet. This could include passwords for various programs or apps and other documents needing confidentiality. 
  • Introduce yourself again after walking through all of these steps!

Create and review a company handbook with your new team member.

Once you've found and hired your team member. It's time to let them know what they can expect from working at your company.

Again, the company handbook is an excellent way to introduce your organization's culture and guide employees' conduct during their time with the company.

Don't just create one handbook and leave it there. Ensure it's updated regularly as policies change and new benefits are added. Or anything else in the employee handbook needs updating.

In addition, it should be made available to all employees, so they can access this information whenever they want or need it. And because everyone must read through everything at least once yearly!

Connect them with a mentor or coach.

Mentors are people who have been there before. They can help new employees navigate the company culture, find their place in the organization, and get around the office.

Mentors can also act as a sounding board for ideas on improving processes or putting together better presentations for clients.

new hire onboarding process

Invite their manager to host one-on-one meetings with the new employee.

You want your manager to meet with you one-on-one as soon as possible after the employee starts working for you. This can be a great opportunity for the two of you to get to know each other. And it will also allow them to introduce themselves and show off their office space.

Your manager should also be able to answer any questions about the company or industry that may come up in conversation. This will help ensure your new employee feels comfortable and prepared when interacting with others in their company.

Having your manager host these meetings allows everyone involved in onboarding new hires (yourself included) to feel more confident in their ability to handle potential problems that might arise during this process.

In addition, you won't have to worry about whether or not there are any issues because someone else has already dealt with them!

employee acceptsemployee onboarding process

You should always take care of your employees, especially when you get them on board!

You want to ensure your new employees are well-prepared for their job, happy, productive, and welcome. To do this, you need to guide them through the onboarding process.

You'll have many opportunities to teach them about their new responsibilities and how they can get help if they need it at any point in time.

Benefits of the properly set employee onboarding process

Do you know what's tough?

Recruiting new employees. You'll spend a lot of time and energy sifting through resumes, interviewing candidates, checking references, and trying to figure out if this person will be a good fit for your company. And then, once you find someone who seems like they'd be great for the job (hooray!), there's still one more major step: onboarding.

That's where we introduce our new hires to everyone else in the office and ensure they're prepared for their first day on the job. But did you know inefficient or ineffective onboarding can do more harm than good? Fortunately, there are some simple ways to turn your employee onboarding process into an asset rather than just something necessary.

It all starts with creating an efficient plan that keeps employees and employers happy throughout the transition between hiring someone new and having them start working full-time with us at work!

You can retain your best employees.

Onboarding is a critical part of the hiring process, but it's also important for current employees. If you set up an onboarding process that works for new and existing employees, you may retain some of your best talents in less than six months.

A well-designed employee onboarding program is not just paperwork — it should be ongoing throughout their tenure with your company. This means that there needs to be an established plan in place so that new hires know what they have coming up next (and that managers and team members know how much support a new employee needs).

You'll save money.

Reducing turnover is a big deal because it saves you money. The cost of replacing an employee who has left can be enormous, particularly for high-growth companies where turnover tends to be high.

As much as 20% of your workforce could leave within the first year, and 30% will leave within two years. Your company will have to spend time and money recruiting new employees, training them, putting them through probation, etc.

You'll save money if you reduce employee turnover. For every 10% decrease in attrition rates over three years (that is if 90% of your employees remain at year 3), you're likely to save around $6 million in recruitment costs alone!

It's less stressful for new hires.

Hiring new employees is one of the most important things a company does. With so much riding on how well you fill positions, it's not surprising that there are so many resources out there that can help you recruit top talent and make sure they stay engaged.

One such resource is an employee onboarding process — a way for new hires to learn about their roles in the company and get familiar with all the systems and processes they need to operate within.

Your employees will be productive faster.

  • New hires will hit the ground running because they'll better understand the company culture and processes and can start contributing to their team from day one.
  • They'll also have a clearer idea of what's expected of them, so they won't be wasting time trying to figure out what's happening around them or how best to do their job.
  • new hire paperwork, company policies

Your new employees will be prepared for their jobs.

They'll know the company culture and how to get help when they need it.

They'll also be able to do their jobs more efficiently because they've learned what's expected of them and how to do it correctly.

Onboarding can transform how efficiently your new employees join the ranks.

Onboarding is a process that helps new employees become productive faster and stay productive longer. It's not just about getting the new hire in the door; it's about setting them up for success in their role so that they can be more efficient and effective.

Onboarding is a process of integrating new employees into the company culture and processes. It's also about helping them understand the roles they're filling and their responsibilities within those roles so that they feel comfortable doing their jobs from day one.

You might think of onboarding as a one-time thing, but it should be ongoing throughout your employee's time with your business.

You don't want someone to fall behind on training because there wasn't enough early support; instead, you want them to hit their stride immediately, so they stay engaged over time!

Employee onboarding process best practices

It's essential because it sets the tone for how your organization treats new hires and can influence whether someone stays with you long-term. If you do it right, onboarding will be more than just paperwork and orientation—it will be a meaningful experience that helps employees feel like they belong at your company.

Hire for soft skills and potential.

When it comes to onboarding, we always encourage hiring for soft skills and potential. Consider the following examples of each:

  • Soft Skills

- The ability to communicate clearly in writing and verbally; willingness to take ownership of tasks and responsibilities; ability to follow directions from supervisors or peers.

  • Potential

- Ability to learn new processes quickly; eagerness to take on additional responsibilities within a company structure or environment; demonstrates leadership qualities in the workplace.

It's crucial that you know how your team members will fit into your business culture before bringing them on board so you can make sure they match up with what you need from them and what they want out of their job experience working with you!

Once these values have been determined through an interview process, consider using one of our recommended assessment tools, such as Clifton StrengthsFinder® (CSF)®, Hogan Development Survey®, Gallup Path™ Assessment, etc., which will help identify strengths within their profiles so that both sides can better understand each other's expectations in the future.'

Set expectations early.

Setting expectations early on is essential and can be done in several different ways:

  • Have conversations with employees before they start work. This will help you identify what they want from a job and how they plan to achieve it.
  • Training materials include information about your company's mission, values and goals. This will ensure that everyone knows the company's priorities from day one.
  • Set up regular check-ins after onboarding is complete so that you can review progress against agreed metrics together—and also give yourself time to address any issues early on so that people don't feel frustrated by them later down the line!

Give new employees time to adjust.

You want to ensure your new team members get the information and help they need to succeed.

This can be accomplished by giving them time to adjust. Give them time to get used to their new role, culture, environment and people. Give them some breathing room to get settled into their schedule before being thrown into a big project or heavy workload.

Make the paperwork process as easy as possible.

For your new employee, the paperwork process can be overwhelming. Here are some tips for making it easy for them:

  • Make sure you don't ask for too much information at once. It's vital that your employees feel comfortable with their new company and the people around them, so take your time filling out a long form. Instead, have them fill out one or two forms per day over several weeks so they have time to get used to their new job before committing themselves by signing anything official.
  • Provide clear instructions on how to complete forms and any prerequisite knowledge needed for the employee to understand why they were asked to fill out these forms in the first place (such as explaining why collecting tax documents is necessary).

Schedule one-on-one meetings with new hires.

The onboarding process is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It's crucial to customize an employee's experience based on their role and company culture, but you can use some best practices to ensure your new hires get off on the right foot. One of these is scheduling regular one-on-one meetings with your new hires.

These meetings allow you to get to know each other as individuals, which will help you understand how they work best and let them to ask questions about anything they may find confusing or frustrating in their first few weeks at work.

You should also be honest about your concerns so that both parties can feel comfortable working together from the beginning.

Start an employee mentorship program.

Establishing a mentorship program is an excellent way to help new employees acclimate to their roles. Mentors can provide guidance, answer questions, and advocate for their protégés. They can also be a resource when navigating workplace politics (another area where onboarding training falls short).

Being assigned a mentor isn't just another responsibility on your plate; it's also an opportunity to build relationships with your coworkers and establish yourself as someone willing to go the extra mile for those around you.

Emphasize culture from the start.

Culture is the foundation of your company. It's not just what you say. It's also what you do. Culture is how you treat people and how they treat each other.

Culture is how your organization makes decisions and conducts itself with its customers, partners, vendors and investors.

The best way to build that kind of workplace is through consistent communication across all levels of management about what values are most important in an organization's culture.

Create follow-up communication systems for managers and HR.

To manage the onboarding process, managers should utilize a communication system.

For HR, follow-up is essential because it helps employees get started quickly and feel comfortable in their roles. For managers and business units, it also makes them aware of what's going on with their new hires as they settle in so they can provide support where needed.

Determine if onboarding is working.

You can use metrics to measure success. Also, try to use surveys to ask employees how they feel about your onboarding process or whether they think it's working. You can also get feedback from managers and HR, but the best way to gauge employee satisfaction is from new hires.

And if you want even more insight into what your employees think of their onboarding process, try asking other employees who have been through the process before.

It's important to hire for soft skills and potential and set expectations early, in addition to other things.

  • Hire for soft skills and potential, not simply hard skills.
  • Set expectations early: What will you expect from each employee? What's their role in the company? How can you help them develop and succeed?
  • Communicate clearly: Don't assume your new employee will figure out what they need to do without some guidance. Set clear goals and ensure everyone understands their role in achieving those goals.

As you can see, there are many things to consider regarding the onboarding process. But don't let that overwhelm you!

Instead, we hope this post has given you valuable insight into what makes for a great onboarding experience—and how you can apply these ideas to your own company.

Conclusion

Your employees need to feel like they work for an organization that cares about them. When it's time for them to get on board with their positions, don't be stingy about letting them know what's in store for them. Why? Because the first 3 months on the job are the most important. Happy employees mean healthier companies that get more done and have a more prosperous future ahead.

Developing a strong onboarding plan is necessary to ensure that your new employee truly knows and understands your business, especially when starting in a leadership role.

Employee onboarding is essential for building a solid team that works together well. It's also a great way to ensure new hires become productive company members as soon as possible. Implementing the steps discussed above ensures your new employees feel welcome from day one!

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