A lackluster new hire onboarding process might not seem like a major problem, but it turns out that poor onboarding drives turnover. People with a bad onboarding experience often feel unprepared for their jobs, which triggers disengagement, which triggers leaving. Turnover, in turn, costs your business a bundle in direct and indirect costs.
The good news in this hailstorm of business owner anxiety is that you can deploy a lot of measures that improve the new hire onboarding process. Not sure where your onboarding process can use some help? Keep reading for six tips that will help your employee onboarding.
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Don’t Make the New Hire Onboarding Process All About Paperwork
Yes, you need paperwork from your new hires to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations. You don’t need the employees to spend half a day filling out forms and reading documents in person. Set it up with onboarding software, such as Workbright onboarding software, so they can review or fill out forms online in advance.
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Buddy Up
Navigating the culture and politics of a new job while trying to learn that job is a big ask. Pair up new employees with a buddy or mentor who meets with them on a regular schedule. That gives them someone who knows the landscape that they can ask questions.
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Build an Onboarding Timeline
No employee in the history of ever actually hit the ground running. It can take months before they even match the productivity of their coworkers. The onboarding timeline should take that into account and slowly level up the work and responsibilities assigned to new employees.
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Job-Specific Materials
Each employee should get onboarding materials that apply specifically to their job. In terms of responsibilities, the new programmer and the new sales hire might as well work at different companies. Onboarding materials should help them understand their jobs.
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Leverage Technology
In an age of inexpensive HD cameras and streaming video, there’s no excuse for handing new employees a three-inch binder of documents. Create webinar-style content for employees to watch. It can improve attention and retention.
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Prepare Their Space
Is your new hire getting a locker, a cubicle, or an office? That locker, cubicle, or office should already have everything the new employee needs in it, whether that means coveralls, a desk, or a computer that’s hooked into the company’s network. Preparing these things in advance saves time and spares the employee needless headaches.
Successful New Hire Onboarding
A successful new hire onboarding process acknowledges the realities new hires face. It takes time for new employees to acclimate to the culture and learn their responsibilities.
You can mitigate some of these issues. A buddy or mentor can help new employees get up to speed on the culture and politics. Job-specific materials and training can speed up the rate at which someone becomes productive. Wherever you can, leverage technology to your advantage with video or interactive training.
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Interesting Related Article: “8 Great Ideas to Try When Onboarding Remotely”