In the race for great talents companies are willing to spend vast amounts of money to attract and hire new employees, and now at the beginning of the year onboarding is in full swing. Or is it?
You just made a great hire and you are all excited. And then everything goes quiet for maybe 1 – 2 – 3 months before the new employee can start their new job. Don’t let the honeymoon feeling cool off before Day 1. Let them know you love them, invite them to office after works, Christmas parties, kick-offs or whatever happens in the period before they start. It will make the new hire feel so welcome. They will get to know their new colleagues and look even more forward to starting. And when Day 1 finally comes, it will be like welcoming an old friend.
There are lots of little details (such as: computer, phone, a ton of logins, business cards, desk, flowers etc etc) that need to be taken care of before the arrival of a new employee. Make sure to involve all the necessary people (manager, HR, IT…) and have everything in place. Imagine the difference it makes for a new employee arriving at their new desk with everything ready and beautifully laid out for them. You want everything on the first day to say: “You’re finally here!”
No matter how experienced your new hire is, it is always different in a new workplace. Make sure to introduce them to important people, explain how office life works, show them the secret snack drawer in the pantry, and tell them about the unofficial Thursday afternoon break at 2pm. The small details are very important for quick culture adoption.
Make sure to have a plan ready and booked in your new employee’s calendar for the first 2-3 weeks. Ensure that they get to understand all the different roles and departments in the company, connect them with key people for their future success, have them “shadow” a colleague, and pre-book on- and offline trainings. Within the first few days it’s important that they fully understand their role and deliverables, and that expectations are aligned.If possible, an “onboarding week” is highly recommended. By gathering a group of new hires and give them the opportunity to really immerse themselves in getting to know the organisation, the culture, the purpose of the business, and each other, you will have a unique chance to create a sense of belonging at an early stage.
Dialogue and continuous feedback is essential to creating a foundation of trust. We are all busy, so don’t leave it up to chance to create room for follow-up and feedback. Pre-book weekly, and after a while monthly, check-ins where you can follow up, answer questions, check on deliverables, and quickly iron out potential hick-ups or misunderstandings. You want to continue to make sure that the hire is a great match – to ensure that this isn’t just a summer fling, but a long-term relationship. And, in the event that it wasn’t a match made in heaven, after all, it is still in both parties’ best interest to surface the facts at an early stage and together figure out the best way forward.
Onboarding programmes come in many shapes and forms – some last a month, some last a year. However, with these 5 basic steps you will be well on your way to secure successful onboarding of your new employees.
And remember, not only will you secure your current hiring investment, but delighted, new employees are the best employer branding you can wish for. Make no mistake about it – they WILL tell their friends (all 1,500 of them on Facebook and LinkedIn!).
We can help you with the nitty gritty, leaving you with more time for sharing culture and love. If you would like to learn more about how our master data solution can automate your onboarding processes using workflows and secure your employee data, you can start by downloading our free e-book here.