What is Employee Onboarding?

What is Employee Onboarding?

Employee onboarding is the process of embracing new employees into an organisation. It can be seen as the process whereby an organisation takes the necessary steps to train, guide, and support new hires and facilitate a comfortable and welcoming work environment.

The client onboarding process has many steps involved. It is usually up to the organisation to achieve the right results, or there would be a high chance of turnovers. The organisation should carefully handle the employee onboarding process from the initial greeting stage to meeting the team.

Employee onboarding doesn’t take a day or a week. To ensure a successful process, managers should invest up to a year to achieve good results. Filling out the paperwork and introducing the new hire to the team should be as important. Constant communication should be maintained throughout the process to ensure the new hire is a happy and productive team member.

During the entire onboarding process, managers need to maintain good communication with the new employees. This, in turn, helps to resolve any arising issues before they escalate. Furthermore, the new hires get reassurance that everything is going to be okay.

Why is Employee Onboarding important?

A well-planned client onboarding program has excellent benefits when executed properly. Here is a synopsis of why this process is vital to the new employee as well as the organisation:

1.      New employees feel relaxed and productive in their new work environment. Adapting to new environments is not easy; thus, a good onboarding program will take the worry of the new hire and boost their productivity mindset.

2.      Promotes Employee retention. A warm welcome could go a long way. As the organisation focuses on training and guiding new employees, a good employee onboarding process could help new hires stay with an organisation for longer as they see an opportunity to grow.

3.      The new employee gets to maximise their skills and abilities. When the organisation is open about accepting the new employee as their authentic selves, new employees tend to put their best foot ahead and explore new ideas as they utilise what they already know.

4.      The organisation yields more profits in the long run. When managers invest enough time and resources in the new hire onboarding process, new hires tend to be happy and productive. When these results are translated to the job requirements, it results in high productivity, which is helpful to the organisation.

5.      Saves the organisation a bunch of money. An employee onboarding process is already costly.  Doing it well saves money as it inhibits turnover, which leads to a hunt for new hires. Turnovers force organisations to run another employee onboarding process that costs more money.

The Onboarding Process.

Depending on the organisation, there are many ways for managers to create a new hire onboarding process. How an organisation approaches the whole process depends entirely on the type and nature of business and what the new employee is receptive towards.

Putting these two factors into perspective, there still are some critical elements that, when carried out properly, will ensure the best experience for every new hire.

Here is a breakdown of the onboarding process;

Before the first day of work

·       Inform other staff. Make sure you let other employees know that a new hire is joining the team and summarise their duties and responsibilities, primary department, and effect on the organisation.

·       Get the paperwork ready. Make sure that every document, including tax documents, are printed and ready.

·       Prepare their workstation. Make sure that the workspace for your new hire looks presentable.

·       Assign a mentor or a trainer. Make sure that you are appointing a mentor that is trustworthy, respectful, and full of integrity.

On the first day

·       Remind the other employees about the new hire. State their arrival time and leave instructions if necessary.

·       Arrange a meal either for breakfast or lunch. This sets a casual setting for the new employee and the existing employees. It is essential to limit this meeting to just the specific department.

·       Perform a guided tour. The manager should offer the new hire a guided tour. This helps the new hire understand the building well. For instance, where other departments are located, bathrooms, coffee lounge, and different sections in the company.

·       Offer training. Internal training is essential and should be offered on the first day. This step should provide the new hire with an overview of their key tasks and responsibilities. Furthermore, other aspects such as health & safety policies should be presented at this step of the onboarding process.

After the first day

·       Maintain a good rapport by frequently checking with the new employee. There is no guaranteed limit as to when you should stop checking on the new hire. You can achieve this by creating follow-up meetings and allowing the employee to express any concerns that arise.

·       Keep a track record of any interactions. This helps the organisation to monitor the new employee’s progress gradually and adjust the onboarding program to fit the new hire’s authenticity.

·       Do the above two steps on repeat for almost a year, until the new employee feels comfortable to handle mot roles by themselves.

Conclusion.

All these steps are crucial in ensuring that an employee onboarding process is successful. Still, it doesn’t mean that new employees should be allowed to take their comfort zone. It would be best for managers to set clear boundaries to ensure that the entire process is successful. Furthermore, managers should ensure that new employees get the time and resources needed to promote a good working environment.