Effective Onboarding for New Employees
We all want to give our new employees the best start possible, and the first few weeks and months are crucial! Don’t forget, onboarding is much more than creating a good first impression.
It’s about laying the foundations for a strong, lasting, and productive working relationship.
When you have someone firmly established in your business who understands your goals and objectives, and who knows their value to the company and culture, they will be more motivated to continue to come to work and treat the business as their own.
However, when onboarding goes wrong, it can put your business at financial and competitive risk. We invest a lot of time and money in finding the right person for our needs, so it’s critical for employers to create a thorough onboarding process that helps new hires adapt quickly to the company culture and sets them up for success.
Here are five key onboarding mistakes to avoid:
1. Treating Onboarding as Training:
One common mistake is confusing training with onboarding. Training focuses on systems, business terms, and product knowledge. Onboarding, on the other hand, should focus on the company’s vision, values, culture, and relationships. These are two very different things and should be treated as such.
For further definition on the difference between onboarding and training, an author on HR Resolutions has an article covering 4 common points on the topic.
2. Forgetting the “Human” Aspect:
The practical side of onboarding, like explaining where the bathroom and the coffee machine are, and outlining the business structure, is necessary. But the key to successful onboarding is relationship development. Don’t isolate the new recruit in a meeting room for days with various people presenting information. Instead, spend time introducing them to colleagues, team leaders, suppliers, and other key stakeholders!
Another idea is to include a social gathering during their first week, even if it’s just for a coffee or a sandwich. This helps them understand the team’s motivations and culture, and find where they fit in. If you can, pair them with a mentor or someone they can shadow, (who can be anyone familiar with the company), to help them navigate and feel comfortable.
One more quick point, if you can, make sure they know about workplace traditions, like a “Casual Friday,” where everyone is allowed to wear jeans instead of business attire to help them to avoid any awkward situations.
For a great list of ideas, Learnifier has an article we recommend checking out, called “23 Creative Onboarding Ideas Your New Hires Will Love”. This might give you some inspiration and provide opportunities for brainstorming amongst your team on how you can do better with your company’s onboarding welcomes.
3. Not Taking Enough Time:
Don’t forget, onboarding isn’t something that’s over in a day! A good process starts the moment the employee signs the contract and continues for 3-6 months into their employment. A quick phone call to your new employee the week before they start to go over basics like parking and starting hours can ease new job nerves and show them you value their arrival.
Remember, job seekers often have multiple opportunities when they accept a role, because they typically have applied to several different jobs. So, ensuring they feel welcomed and excited to be part of your company can prevent them from being lured away by another offer.
4. Not Checking In Regularly:
Onboarding should be the manager’s responsibility, not outsourced to someone else. Regular check-ins are crucial. At the end of the first week, ask how they are feeling, what they have learned, and if they are comfortable. Check in regularly at a reasonable interval to address any issues early on, recalibrate if needed, and set new goals. Discussing their career development plan is important and can show that you value them and see a future for them at your company.
5. Forgetting the First Impression:
Making sure your new team member has the space and equipment they need to do their job is an obvious step, but believe it or not, it’s often overlooked! If they don’t have the technology and space that they need to start their work, it doesn’t look professional and reflects poorly on the organization.
For some more ideas, you can also read KES’s other article “Encouraging Your New Employees to Stay”, it includes 5 tips from creating an onboarding plan to helping them grow in their career, as well as a downloadable list of 14 different free trainings across fields that you could offer.
Avoiding these five common mistakes can help you get onboarding right. By treating onboarding as its own process, separate from training, you’ll be able to give it the time and attention it needs.
Remember: cover the basics, include a human element to create a true sense of welcome and connection, and check in regularly during the first few weeks/months. This way, you’ll be laying the groundwork for a positive and lasting experience for your new employee!
Here are some additional resources to help you get started!
Learnifier provides a great list with 23 different onboarding ideas to welcome your new employees to the team.
Kootenay Employment Services has an article with our tips for encouraging your new employees to stay in their new role.
Kootenay Employment Services has an article on why good team relationships matter to help you bolster your team.
HR Resolution has an article that helpfully details what the differences are between onboarding versus training.
