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Onboarding New Employees: Your Complete Guide

Onboarding New Employees: Your Complete Guide

Could your new employee onboarding guide use some work? Maybe you don’t even have one, in which case you could be missing out on some valuable information, introductions, and planning. 

It’s possible to create an organized, streamlined onboarding guide for all of your new hires. Just follow these steps. 

WHAT SHOULD ONBOARDING INCLUDE?

Start off by ensuring your onboarding process includes the following:

An introduction. Introduce your new employees to their new department, the company’s culture, and your business objectives. How? Through meetings, projects, check-ins, and shadowing. 

A clear focus. What matters most in your new employee’s role as well as in their department? Ensure they’re aligned on this and know exactly what’s expected of them in their new role. 

Goals. Help your new employee set strategic SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals for their next week, month, and quarter. Check in regularly to assess how they’re doing and to discover any gaps in training or in capacity. 

A NEW EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING GUIDE:

Now for the details. Here’s a full guide to help you as you onboard your new hires. Every company is unique, but this serves as a starting point to ensure you don’t miss anything. 

The setup

Timing: before first day

Set up your new employee’s workspace and help them feel welcomed. Include a few office items such as pens and notebooks (bonus if they include your company’s branding), as well as a few “welcome” items such as a t-shirt or company mug. 

Set up various meetings with the departments they’ll need to meet and ensure they have time to get to know the company. 

Set them up in any internal systems, such as message boards, email, HR tools, etc. 

The first impression

Timing: first day

Give them a good, welcoming first impression. Have someone waiting for them as they enter so they don’t wander around the office. Guide them to each meeting and set clear expectations for the day ahead. Check in regularly to ensure they’re getting their questions answered and getting well-acquainted with the company and different departments. 

Looking ahead

Timing: first week

Meet with your employee and help determine clear goals and performance objectives for the first week, month, and quarter. Give them a clear roadmap of their first month to three months and ensure they know what’s expected of them. 

Provide feedback often, especially on initial tasks in order to set clear expectations for future work. 

Help them get acquainted with other departments that they may not be working with regularly in order to get a better picture of the business as a whole. 

Getting established

Timing: ongoing

Check in with your new employee on a regular basis and be open and available for any questions they may have. A great cadence to follow is a temporary informal weekly check-in to address immediate questions or concerns, a 30-day check-in to address work as a whole, and a regular 90-day check-in for coaching and improvement. 

Always ask for feedback to ensure your new employees are being onboarded properly. Is there anything you’re missing? How did the various checkpoints help them or slow them down? What’s the most helpful aspect of onboarding for them? 

HOW WE CAN HELP

Our onboarding solution streamlines, standardizes, and consolidates your new hire paperwork online so their first day isn’t about filling out paperwork; it’s about feeling welcomed into the company. 

We’ll easily guide your new employees through simple questions in order to automate new hire employment forms. Once paperwork is completed, your HR members or department managers are automatically notified and allowed to authorize electronically, saving you money and time. Let’s get started – just contact us here or learn more about our onboarding solutions by clicking here. 

Posted Apr 15, 2020