How Effective is Your Onboarding Process?

How employers handle the first few days and months of a new employee’s experience is crucial to ensuring high retention. Onboarding is the final step within the candidate experience and arguably, the most significant. New employees expect more from their new employee than just a brief introduction and a load of forms to fill out.

A strong onboarding process will ensure your new hires are well introduced and settled within your organisation, if you do not have an official onboarding process, then here are a few suggestions on how to implement one:

Welcoming Environment

The morning should involve company and department introductions. Perhaps even setting up a company meeting to officially welcome your new starter. Creating a welcoming environment will speak volumes regarding your employee engagement strategies, how you care for the happiness of your employees.

Stay in Touch

Maintain engagement with your new hires throughout the wait period (between accepting and starting) through emails or letters. Issue a detailed (but not overwhelming) agenda for their first week to allow them time to know what to accept and exactly what their first few days will entail. Creating and sending a fun and simple starter pack with company branded items will go along way in making the new starter feel welcomed and already part of the team.

Regular check-ins

Onboarding should be a continuous programme for your new hires during the first six months of their employment. Once a week or month check ins to ensure the employee is settling in, coping with the role and work load and settled in amongst other employees.

Involve colleagues

Successful onboarding ensures effective communication of your culture and vision while ensuring a full understanding of where your employees fit in within your organisation. It could be an idea to implement a ‘buddy system’ for the first few days when the new starter joins.

Be Social

A team lunch, or end of week drinks will show the social side to the business and enable employees to bond outside of the working environment. This will also indicate to the new starter that the organisation isn’t “all work and no play”. Friendships can be built, confidence can be developed and this will also give you a chance to catch up with your employees, find out how they are getting on and a chance to get to know them better as individuals.

An efficient onboarding program will consist of a well-thought-out process. These will be designed to ensure that openness and a consistent two-way communication is main priority within your organisation. Training programs and exercises will be in place, with regular assessments on both sides.

Good onboarding processes will ensure that employees are encouraged to integrate with each other through group activities and social events. Roles will be clarified carefully from the start and any issues will be addressed appropriately. When these measures are taken from the beginning, the workforce functions better as a whole, and high employee turnover is likely to be a thing of the past.