Onboarding for Success

The end-to-end recruitment process is often neglected and even overlooked in the grand scheme of running a business. The importance of a well thought through recruitment process is however paramount to success on many different levels.

A solid onboarding of new employees is a very important step in securing a sustainable and successful outcome for the employees and for the company. The intentional integration of new employees into the organization and having meaningful processes for supporting new hires while they settle into their new role is vital for making the recruitment a success. It is indeed one of the most critical factors in ensuring recently hired talent will be productive and contended workers. Another valuable benefit of an excellent welcome, onboarding and integration process of new employees, is how these can positively affect the branding of your company. Employees tend to talk warmly about their onboarding experiences and the company in general in conversations with friends and family, if this has been a positive process.

Some of the biggest obstacles to better employee onboarding are lack of ownership of the process and absence of intentionality. If you merely see onboarding as an induction process with checklists, regulatory compliance, and paperwork – all HR’s responsibility – your focus is too narrow. You run the risk of high turnover and low productivity because new employees are not engaged. Intentional onboarding focuses on the employee and their experience.

Some of the questions you should raise as you think through your onboarding process include:

• What impression do you want new hires to walk away with at the end of the first day?
• What do new employees need to know about the culture and work environment?
• What role will HR play in the process? What about direct managers? Co-workers?

With the market for high quality talent being very heated it is important to make sure you can retain the employees you hire.

Here are a few practical tips to help ensure high quality onboarding:

• Connection! Onboarding is all about fostering meaningful connections. Prompt managers to introduce new hires to colleagues and key contacts early and intentionally by referring to their unique strengths and drivers and highlight any possible shared interests amongst members of the team.
• Plan, prepare, and provide proper training! This include setting up the desk, phone, computer, and password logins. Having all necessary equipment ready to go on the first day ensures that the new employee feels welcome.
• Engage new employees from day one!
• Assign a mentor to the new hire! It is unquestionably extremely valuable to have a specific person to guide you through everything!
• Focus on solid assimilation to the company culture! This step is often overlooked but it is of ultimate importance – especially if you are hiring internationally. Be aware of potential differences and challenges related to company, team, meeting, and leadership culture and style when merging employees from different countries.
• Communicate! The importance of proper communication before, during, and after each step of the onboarding process is key. Set aside time for scheduled check-ins.

The current situation of more and more employees working remotely adds another dimension and challenges to the onboarding process. Developing relationships and learning their new role in a virtual setting require thinking differently about the onboarding process. Be prepared for these new challenges and be intentional about how you approach the process remotely. One idea is to schedule virtual “coffee chats”.

At SlaterConsult we have extensive experience with finding, recruiting, and onboarding new top talent candidates. Reach out today and we can support and guide you through every step of the process.