4 Things You Should Never Forget When Onboarding

The most nerve-wracking part of recruitment is probably the waiting.

When your applicant says yes to the job offer, it’s a cause for celebration, but you don’t get to relax just yet! It’s also your responsibility to ensure a smooth transition for your hire, who should go from bumbling newbie to savvy employee in a matter of months.

Beginnings are important. To give you a sense of how much onboarding matters, employees make up their mind about staying in your company or leaving after six months into the job.

Good onboarding translates to less turnovers, which are: 1.) expensive; and 2.) demanding on you because you have to scout for a new hire for the same position yet again.

Let’s keep it short and simple with the following four fundamentals of onboarding:

Onboarding starts even before you secure your hire

Don’t be secretive about your company. If you don’t have a “Careers” section yet on your website, get started on it already and put detailed descriptions of job openings.

Heck, make sure that your website is informative enough so that anyone looking through it has a good grasp of what your company is all about.

This ties in with employer branding. Get your company’s message out there properly, and the right pool of applicants will naturally gravitate towards you.

Knowledge is power: cliche, but true

Fill your new hire in on everything that he should know. Explain his role and responsibilities, get ahold of his expectations, answer all questions–and try to do this before he even steps into the office.

Information that he should know goes beyond job details: get talkative about company etiquette, benefits, logistical details about the office.

Paperwork is another necessary evil, but you can avoid a ho-hum first day by taking care of it early on.

A thoughtful gesture would be crafting a welcome kit, which can include an onboarding guide, or you can simply email company videos and FAQs. Likewise, as the first day approaches, ease anxiety by checking up on your applicant and brief him.

The other half of the equation is relationships

Knowledge is one half, and the other is coworker relationships. Just as onboarding should be a good learning experience for your new hire, it should also be about breaking the ice and including her into the community.

Make a company announcement that there’ll be a new hire so nobody gets surprised to see a stranger walking around. When the new hire does arrive, introduce her to everyone and arrange a lunch out–treat it like a welcome party!

Bonus points if you come up with a buddy or mentoring system that gets the new hire to bond with her team while meeting people from other departments.

Accept that it’s for the long haul and ask for feedback

Onboarding is a long-term process. It doesn’t stop after the second week–the adjustment period is more like three to six months.

Establish that you value open communication and you won’t condemn him to a scathing glare if he points out that some aspects of your onboarding can be improved. A new employee has a fresh perspective, and may be able to notice things that you don’t.

Check on him regularly and ask how he’s adapting. Being a good listener, despite being difficult to master, is a must for HR. Take action based on new employees’ feedback, and if it can’t be changed, be honest to them about it.  

Conclusion

You know your onboarding is working when your new hires rave about it to their friends (and you’ll definitely notice how they feel about it when you ask them directly). An excellent onboarding process makes employees more motivated and committed, and it also does wonders for your employer branding.   

 

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