Employee job performance and success are often a direct reflection of the quality of their training. Hiring top talent is a great step toward setting a team up for success. But it’s only the first step. After spending a great deal of time and energy hiring someone, the last thing you want is to drop the ball on investing in the new employee’s success. Onboarding is a critical component in the hiring process, offering new hires their first impression of the company. It’s a time to introduce them to the workplace culture, its standard operating procedures and all the resources that will be available to aid in their success.
While onboarding is a crucial step in the hiring process, not every company gets it right. According to a 2017 Harvard Review Business Article titled Onboarding Isn’t Enough, “many companies think they are doing a good job of onboarding … when they actually aren’t.”
Different from employee orientation, the goal of onboarding is to excite new employees about their new team and all they can achieve, helping them feel inspired and empowered to hit the ground running.
What are specific ways to onboard employees and help them acclimate to their new workplace?
Here are a few tips:
Consider their challenges
Even if the employee is a confident, experienced professional, starting a new job isn’t easy. With no workplace relationships established and no working knowledge of workplace culture, it’s easy to feel vulnerable or like a fish out of water. Employees will respond to those feelings in different ways — perhaps showing hesitancy or, on the other side of the spectrum, overcompensating. It’s important, especially in the initial days, for managers to empathize and gently stress the importance of learning over “doing.”
Build the team
New employees need to feel like part of the larger team. The sooner that working relationships can be established among team members, the better. This means talking to established team members and reminding them of their responsibility to help new colleagues acclimate and feel like valuable members of the team. Any other stakeholders that the new employee needs to meet? Make a list, including notes that explain various reasons why each contact may be important to building a larger network. Give it a month or so, then follow up with the recommended stakeholders to make sure the new employee’s network is beginning to form.
Communicate expectations, feedback
Clearly defining expectations and continuously offering feedback help employees set benchmarks for themselves and set a foundation for managers to measure their employees’ performance and progress. Every employee wants to know how the boss feels they’re doing. Offer feedback often, and don’t forget to ask for the employee’s feedback, too. This keeps lines of communication open and shows employees that you genuinely care about their success.
Help them get early wins
Being more involved in a new hire’s workday than you otherwise would an experienced employee is okay — even preferred. Helping your new employees crush early goals will boost their confidence and morale.
Continue coaching
Once new hires are acclimated to the new workplace, it’s still important to check in and help coach them for success. While you don’t want to spoon-feed your employees, be proactive if you notice them struggling or finding themselves in a negative dynamic.
Effective onboarding is an ongoing — and, some would argue, never-ending — process. Even when a new hire is acclimated to the team and working completely autonomously, a hiring manager may still need to onboard employees who, for instance, have been internally promoted. The key to onboarding, as in so many other aspects of life, is simple: communication — and lots of it. Being considerate and empathetic and genuinely feeling excited about helping and watching someone succeed: that is an effective onboarding strategy that empowers employees and keeps them working hard for you.
