Think back to an old position where you were once a new employee, or even think to when you started at the current company you are at now. What was the process like for you? Do you recall positive aspects? Do you recall the parts you hated?
Most of my previous experience included a rushed tour of the office, lots of annoying paperwork to review, fill out, and sign in a room by myself. I would inevitably lose whoever was supposed to be training me and wander around looking for help. Sometimes it would include a few weeks of classes to get us up to speed on how to use their software systems. Occasionally, I have just been thrown into the wolves with a “figure it out yourself” situation.
Have you had a similar experience? Did it make you question if you made the right choice when you accepted the position?
Did you know that over 33% of employees leave within the first month, according to BambooHR “What People Really Want from Onboarding” . It continues to state they found that over 68% of new employees leave within three months!
That’s an alarming number!
Considering that onboarding a new employee can cost your company thousands of dollars, you should do whatever you can to ensure the best experience possible for a new employee.
You might want to change how you view a new employee and start to think of the onboarding process as an investment in your business. You want to be able to nurture and grow this investment – I mean employee – to get the best possible outcome.
We all know the saying “you only get one first impression”, so what should you do to ensure your onboarding process works to your advantage?
I have created my own onboarding process and worked with clients on ensuring their new employees have positive experiences that reflect the culture and values of that company.
I’ll take some time to share some simple things to do when onboarding a new employee.
First, you should note that the onboarding process does not just take a day or even a week!
Onboarding can last for at least 3 months and should not technically be finished until after the first year of their employment.
Onboarding requires the new employee to not only learn their own position and the daily tasks involved, but they need to learn their team, their management, who to communicate with, and time to adapt to the company’s culture.
Next – make a good first impression!
Can you imagine walking in on your first day and having the receptionist not know you were coming in? Or the person you were hired to train under isn’t even in the office that week!?
It might make this new employee rethink accepting the job offer in the first place! They may even head home and restart their job search that day!
Luckily there is an easy fix! Simply communicate with your staff! Make sure everyone is aware of the new employee and what their position within the company will be.
Confirm the necessary people will be in the office during that time period.
Lastly, ensure their paperwork is ready, their desk space if prepared, and they have all the necessary items needed to complete their tasks for the first day.
Finally, be organized!
Have a checklist in place for both the new employee and the manager in charge of moving them through the onboarding process.
Prepare a checklist of what is on the agenda for the employee as well as what tasks they should expect to complete that day, week, or month.
This will help ensure they understand what will be occurring throughout their work day and what tasks they need to be able to complete within a certain timeframe. Don’t forget the manager!
Don’t forget the Manager! By providing the manager a checklist of tasks to be completed can also ensure a smooth onboarding process for both the employee and the company.
Whether you are hiring your first or your one hundredth employee, we can all agree that having a process for onboarding is important.
Please note that when it comes to onboarding new employees, it is not a standardized, “one size fits all” type of process.
Each company possesses a different set of values, different overall culture, and may have different requirements for their onboarding process.
Take time to recognize what makes your company unique and provide value to a new employee.
If you need additional help creating an onboarding procedure for your company, let me know.
Support U can work alongside you to build a process that reflects your company’s culture and ensure a positive complete onboarding process for your new hires.
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