How To Make The Onboarding Process Successful: A 7-Step Guide

After constant evaluation, the recruiting process will ultimately come up with the best candidates for opening positions in an organization. However, when it comes to ensuring the newly hired talent will be contented and dedicated, the process of onboarding new employees will play a pivotal role. 

This process is to get new members ready to be productive members of the team. Like any other complex process, successful onboarding requires robust groundwork with well-documented and deliberate steps. 

This article is here to arm you with some useful guides to build an effective onboarding experience reflective of your company personality.

7 Steps To Master A Successful Onboarding Process

1. Give Your Employees A Clear Outlook

It is crucial to get your objectives clear to you and the new hires. An apparent offer letter with clearly outlined job responsibilities, requirements, and expectations is a great start for an effective onboarding process.

Conveying your appreciation and implying that you value your new hire and their talents will help build warmth and excitement. 

After they officially accept the job offer, there will be an overwhelming stack of papers for new employees to sign. To speed up the whole process and save time, you can count on technology advancement. Have a program that automates the paper-pushing process. Send the papers out to the employee beforehand for electronic signature. 

Additionally, after having new employees fill out new-hire paperwork online, be well-prepared for some questions they may have, such as where to go on day one, who to ask for upon arrival, and what to wear.

2. Prepare Elaborate Onboarding Kit

It’s important to show new hires how well-organized your company is and its tight coordination by preparing a comprehensive welcome pack. This kit includes:

• Company policies, office perks 
• An overview of your management structure and where to go if they have questions 
• A detailed explanation of job duties to avoid any later confusion
• What to expect from the training process: a schedule and other access

In large organizations, these documents frequently change. So the automated and digitized system can help make sure your onboarding kit is accurately up to date without extra exhausting hours of work and keep employees informed on the latest policies. 

3. Set Up Workstation

Proactively plan for your new hire’s success by setting up new hires’ desk, phone, computer, and password logins before they arrive. 

To make sure everything operates smoothly from your employee’s first day, work with IT and procurement in advance to ensure computers, phones, and all necessary peripherals are ready to go well. Sort out computer and email passwords to provide your new hire the right access to the apps, software, and databases needed to perform their job duties. 

4. Create A Warm Welcome

Social interaction is critical. Thus, it’s indispensable to schedule some time for the new employee to meet with key people and departments on their first day. 

This will give them a good overview of where to go to get what they need and a more understanding of how your company works and how they’ll contribute to the overall picture.

Arranging a lunch meeting or after-work gathering for the new employee and their immediate team members is a great idea to break the ice and build rapport. This will allow the employee to get to know their new colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere and allow you to learn more about your new employee outside of the interview process. 

5. Take Time For Training 

There are bound to be differences between companies. So even if the employees have performed the same job function elsewhere, their first week or so should be spent on training.  

A training plan is a vital part of helping new employees find their feet in an organization. Therefore, it should cover company rules, processes, procedures, and expectations. Elaborating on what is expected for new employees sets a precedent by which they can measure their progress and comfort in their new role.

6. Assign A Mentor And Involve The Whole Team

It’s integral to coordinate with your current staff. Clarify each member’s responsibilities, the position of the new hire as well as that of other team members, so they’ll know exactly how they can assist during the training process and cooperate to fulfill the project. 

Assign the most suitable team members to lend new members a helping hand. In this phase, it’s very important to make the KPIs crystal clear to the new member. Set concrete goals and milestones to work towards over the first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job. 

7. Follow Up

This step is the most important yet often overlooked by employers. Commit to your 30, 60 and 90-day check-ins with the new employee, even when the employee is doing well and you feel like they don’t need an evaluation. 

This is also an opportunity to find out what they liked and didn’t like about your company’s onboarding process from the employee perspective and make appropriate changes.

The First Influential Stage

First impressions can have a lasting impact. In other words, your company’s employee onboarding process will play a determinant role in a new hire’s outlook on your company and sets the tone for their relationship with your business in the long term.  

Poor onboarding can have many disastrous effects on workplace efficiency and turnover rates and change an employee’s outlook on your company. The result can be costly. So, take time and effort to establish a successful onboarding process.