Employee onboarding is a basic and necessary step in hiring people. However, offering new hires a great onboarding experience can improve retention by 82% and productivity by 70% according to one study.
As such, it’s worth assessing your onboarding process to ensure your new hires are given an experience that makes them feel welcome and truly reflects your company’s culture.
Here are 7 steps to successful employee onboarding that’ll help improve retention and overall productivity.
This is a bit of a no-brainer, but make sure you provide a brief overview of the company and its mission, values and culture. Doing so can help a new hire feel more connected and understand how their role fits into the wider picture.
However, keep it brief and stick to the main points, as you don’t want to overload them with information at this early stage.
Cover the key processes and systems that keep your company running, specifically focusing on what the employee will need to know in order to perform their role. For technical roles, this will include information on software, tools and protocols related to their role.
Of course, you’ll want to keep things specific to your company processes. There’s no need to cover standard software like Word and Excel.
You can regard this step as a break from all the information the employee will be taking in. Introduce them to their new team, direct management, and key stakeholders in the organisation. It not only helps to foster a sense of community but can also help new hires feel welcome more quickly.
While onboarding involves lots of training, make sure you highlight extra training and development opportunities available. For technical roles, this could include training programs, certifications and workshops that can help the new employee develop their skills.
As with meeting the team, you can use this step as a more informal chat for some breathing space. Be sure to cover any benefits and perks that are available in the role, such as health insurance, paid time off, and other employee programs.
If certain perks require the employee to sign up, be sure to state this. However, don’t expect them to do so there and then, as they will probably have a lot on their minds already. Just explain where they can find the relevant information to digest in their own time.
It’s vital that a new employee understands the performance management process and how it’ll affect them moving forward. Make sure you cover the evaluation of progress and development, and any specifics related to probation periods. While this is a necessary and formal step, keep things as unintimidating as possible.
Onboarding and retaining an employee is a two-way street. As such, you should provide information on how an employee can access feedback and support services within your company.
Make sure they know about formal feedback processes and how they can approach their manager and colleagues for immediate help. This ensures the employee feels valued and supported during the onboarding and development process.
Assessing your onboarding process regularly helps ensure you’re addressing potential gaps in support and knowledge. Use the list above as a jumping-off point, and consider asking for feedback from new employees during and after their onboarding. Not only will this help you adjust as needed, but it’ll also make them feel valued.
