12 Employee Onboarding Best Practices EveryBusiness Owner Needs To Know

by Rob Wormley

in Articles

Mar. 10, 2015 13,711 views 13 comments

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If you’ve ever started a new job, only to find the company totally

unprepared for your arrival, you know how important onboarding is to the

employee-employer relationship!

But proper onboarding isn’t just about first impressions. Taking the time to

plan out how new hires will be introduced into your company will affect

their future performance, their ability to achieve stated goals and their

overall satisfaction with their new positions.

To help you succeed in these respects, consider the following 12-step

onboarding process that will help new hires integrate quickly into your

company:

Before the New Hire Starts Work

12 Employee Onboarding Best Practices Every Business Owner Needs To Know.

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Create an agenda for your new employee’s first week. It’s much

easier to plan this in advance than it is to come up with while the new

team member is standing there in front of you. If you aren’t sure what

to include on this agenda, have reach out to the new hire’s soon-to-be

manager or other key coworkers to determine what’s important. If you

assign mentors or work buddies, this is a great time do that as well.

Create a comfortable work station for your new staff member.Nothing kills a new employee’s confidence in the company faster than

being assigned to a dirty, unorganized desk. Setting up the

workstation in advance gives new hires their own “turf,” helping them

feel more relaxed and confident. Fill the desk with any supplies

needed, and place important documents – such as an organizational

chart, employee handbook and new hire enrollment paperwork – on

the desk for the employee’s review.

Provide new employees with a welcome gift. To help the new hire

immediately feel like part of the team, place any branded materials

you offer on the desk, such as a custom t-shirt, a work bag, a coffee

mug, pens, or a pad of paper. Not only will this build brand loyalty

right away, it also helps a new employee feel welcomed.

Send out helpful information. Help soothe a new employee’s first day

jitters by clearly communicating any information that’s needed for the

first day. Include details on dress code, parking rules, directions to the

office, and who to ask for when upon arrival to minimize new hire

stress.

During the First Week

Help new hires get the lay of the land. On the new hire’s first day,

conduct a tour of the office. Be sure to include simple, but essential,

information such as where their desk is located, where the restrooms

and break room are, and where to find the copier and employee

mailboxes. Introduce the new employee to other staff members along

the way and encourage questions as you go.

Block off time for orientation. If you’re in desperate need of help, it

can be tempting to throw your new employee into projects as quickly

as possible. But doing so can be disorienting and nerve-wracking –

two feelings you definitely want to avoid! If possible, use the new

hire’s first day as more of an orientation day than a work day. Try to

have some current team members take the new employee out for

lunch, and set aside time for filling out paperwork, introductory

meetings, and casual conversation.

Plan a manager’s meeting. Sometime during the first week, set aside

time for the new hire to meet with their immediate manager. Use this

meeting to give the manager time to get to know the new team

member, share their management style, and explain future

expectations. It can also be helpful to use this time to let the new

employee know what the ramp-up process will be like in the first

month or two on the job.

Cover important work processes. As the new hire’s first week

progresses, have the new employee and manager meet a few more

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times as needed to discuss important work processes. For example,

new staff members need to know email protocol, communication

expectations, and internal decision-making processes. This is also a

great time to set short term and long term goals. If the new hire will

take on a supervisory role, they should also meet with their direct

reports to begin to build rapport.

The First 30–90 Days

Invest in training. Though the productivity losses can be frustrating,

a new hire’s first 30-90 days on the job should be looked at as an

initial training period. Train your new employee on everything from

the ins and outs of your product line to your brand’s positioning in the

market. Once this introductory period is up, you’ll have a much

stronger worker than one you threw immediately to the wolves.

Allow for job shadowing. One of the best ways to train your new hires

is to have them shadow other workers. But don’t just focus on those in

the employee’s department. Cross training your workers by having

them shadow employees in every department of your company will

give them a much better understanding of how your organization

works.

Build opportunities for feedback into the employee’s first couple ofmonths on the job. Make sure new hires know that they’re free to

share and encourage new ideas. They may not be comfortable doing

so the first day, but over time, their feedback and insights should be

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encouraged.

Conduct your first review. Finally, after 90 days on the job, the

manager should give the new hire their first evaluation. At this point,

the new employee should be fully integrated into the company and

operating at a full workload. Identifying weaknesses at this stage will

allow you to either nip potential problems in the bud or terminate the

new hire’s employment before too many resources have been invested

in an employee that won’t ultimately work out.

Have another best practice that you feel should be added to this list?Share your recommendations by leaving a comment below!

Want to learn more about how to effectively onboard your employees?

Tune into our webinar on Thursday, March 19th @ 1PM CDT. We’re talking

with Gina Lau from HelloSign. Register here – space is limited!

12 Employee Onboarding Best Practices Every Business Owner Needs ToKnow by Rob Wormley

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Rob WormleyHead of Content Marketing at When I Work Follow Author on Twitter.

13 Comments

ClaudiaMarch 11, 2015 at 1:44 pm

Great tips. Thank you!

Reply

Rob WormleyMarch 16, 2015 at 9:40 am

Glad you liked them Claudia!

Reply

Fred EckMarch 11, 2015 at 2:32 pm

Rob, Great points and how great it would be if more companies and managersfollowed at least some of the steps you outlined in your practices. Over the years Iwas able to include many of them, but too often it was “we don’t have time to dothat”! I tried to make the case that better to make the time now, then having to takethe time to hire new employees.

Keep up the good fight!

Reply

Rob WormleyMarch 16, 2015 at 9:41 am

Fred – definitely agree! It’s so important to take the time. Thanks for the comment!

Reply

AshwinSeptember 4, 2015 at 8:14 am

Thanks for the great article Rob!

Reply

Vic SockriderMarch 11, 2015 at 9:57 pm

Rob, spot on. How we seem to forget how intimidating that first day and week is. Iwas shaking! Making our new team members feel at home and meeting the rest ofthe team may be the most important step towards a long relationship together.Great article.

Reply

Rob WormleyMarch 16, 2015 at 9:42 am

Hey Vic – thanks for the comment! I agree – it’s not just about hiring a newemployee, it’s about building a long-lasting relationship!

Reply

johnMarch 13, 2015 at 6:11 pm

Just bringing in a new high-level employee so the WIW email was perfect timing.Rob, thanks for the strategic tips — we’re incorporating them. Well done!

Reply

Rob WormleyMarch 16, 2015 at 9:43 am

John – glad to hear the post found you at the right time. Good luck with your newhire!

Reply

SBDApril 7, 2015 at 8:38 pm

Unfortunately, a 90 day orientation period is not realistic within the constraints oforganizational probationary periods. Employees have to quickly demonstrate a fitfor the job within 6-8 weeks.

Reply

Charles JacksonMay 4, 2015 at 5:19 am

Wow!!! I was looking for something like this. Thank you so much for posting this. Ihave searched different business articles but this is really interesting and helpful. Itis sad to say that most of the companies failing to follow these tips. Only thosefollows will get the maximum out of their human resources. I would say thatemployee training is the most important task among these 12 points. Most of thecompanies hesitated to invest in employee training.

Reply

Agnes Stott-BriggsJune 30, 2015 at 10:24 pm

Great Tip. Most employers forget the human element of new joiners. Too structuredand intimidating. Your style considers the human side of it and it is spot on. Thank

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AshwinSeptember 4, 2015 at 8:24 am

Rob, Awesome article. I’ve heard a lot of people like Fred who face challenges inimplementing this due to time restraints. Have you had any experience in created anautomated workflow? I saw this article on that topic – http://bit.ly/1fZ2QRx

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