What is employee onboarding?
Employee onboarding describes the processes of integrating new hires into a company and its culture, including training, tools, and documentation
There is no single, standardized process used by companies across every industry and market. Instead, businesses are tasked with developing an onboarding process that addresses their specific needs and the needs of their new hires. That said, the process often follows a generalized path. This path includes the following stages:
Offer Acceptance
The onboarding process picks up precisely where the hiring process ends, with the prospective hire formally accepting your offer of employment. With the new employee committed to joining your team, it is now the responsibility of the hiring manager to notify the HR department of the hire, work with the employee to set a start date, and secure an offer letter for the employee to sign and return.
HR is then responsible for ensuring that the new employee receives all relevant forms and documentation explaining the terms of their employment.
Pre-boarding: Preparation for onboarding
Organizations often face a number of hurdles when onboarding new employees. Specifically, the desire for employees to feel welcomed and confident, and to quickly get up to speed in terms of productivity may be hampered by an inconsistent onboarding experience. To ensure effective onboarding, HR should work with Learning & Development teams, department heads, and other stakeholders to create role-based templates. Managers can then use these templates to build employee-specific onboarding plans.
1st day: new employee welcome & orientation
As the employee arrives for their first day, it’s your responsibility
to ensure that they have access to the equipment, tools, and resources
to begin performing their job. Prepare a workspace for them, requisition
any necessary hardware, and authorize them to use essential company
software. Likewise, remote workers who are not expected to show up in
person to any physical workplace will need to have access and software
availability before they can begin.
The employee’s direct supervisor or manager should send out an
organization-wide email publicly introducing and welcoming the new
employee, and someone should be assigned to meet the employee as they
arrive at the office, give them a tour of the facilities, and introduce
them to their team members and organizational leaders. Greeting and
introducing the new employee to facilities, team members, and resources
is important, even in hybrid and remote-work environments. A video
training, online guided tutorial, or even a simple remote
getting-to-know-you video call can go a long way towards helping remote
workers feel welcome and included.
Human resources should hold an orientation meeting, outlining company values and goals and covering important policies. Enroll the hire in any necessary training programs and add them to recurring meetings. Schedule a time for the employee’s three-month check in.
1st week: introduction to company, people, and role
With most of the important housekeeping tasks squared away within the
first day or two, management can focus most of the rest of the first
week on helping the new hire acclimate to their role and the company.
After approximately one week of employment, the employee’s manager
should schedule a meeting with the hire, asking for any thoughts,
feedback, or questions.
At this point, HR should verify that the employee has received and completed all necessary forms and documentation, and that they have access to all resources they need to perform productively.
1st month: ongoing education and trainings
With the employee now settling into their role within the company and developing a working routine, management should now be able to assess the quality of the hire’s work. Set up a meeting with the employee to address relevant performance metrics, provide feedback, workshop any issues, and respond to any concerns the employee may have.
It’s important at this stage to set a habit of continual improvement. Rather than allow the employee to become too comfortable with their now-familiar task, push them towards further growth. Enroll them in more advanced training courses where possible and appropriate, and support them as they pursue job-relevant education options.
3rd month: check in and feedback
After three months, the employee should be relatively comfortable
with their tasks, understand their performance metrics, be familiar with
the company culture and values, and know how to work with their
managers and immediate team members. At this point, many organizations
feel that the onboarding process has come to a close.
To mark this milestone, schedule a meeting with the employee to check in on their progress and gather further feedback. After going through the onboarding process, these employees will likely have valibile insights that may help you refine and improve the process for future hires. Some organizations may instead wish to schedule a six-month recap and review as the conclusion to the on boarding process.
Working from Home
It’s also worth noting that onboarding is just as important for
remote workers as it is for in-house employees. When bringing on hires
who might not be working in the office, ensure that these employees have
been sent any necessary hardware, and set up video conferences to cover
important policies, align on goals, and hold introductions with
leadership and team members. During the hire’s first days with the
company, make sure that someone is online and available to answer
new-employee questions as they arise.
Remote work creates a number of potential hurdles, particularly where the social, interpersonal aspects of company culture are concerned. Leadership, HR, and team members will likely have to put in extra effort to ensure that the new hire feels like they are part of the team.
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