3 Steps for a Successful Employee Onboarding Process

Employee onboarding is crucial. If you don’t orient your new employees properly, you risk having them waste time trying to figure out their roles, or worse, have them quit. And who can blame them? Who’d want to work in a place where you don’t feel fully welcome or competent? Here are three steps for an effective onboarding process to make sure you don’t waste time and money when you bring in a new hire.

Define the Role

To feel comfortable, competent, and armed for success, new employees need to understand their roles. Instead of just handing them a list of tasks and responsibilities, each employee should understand how their duties contribute to the success of the company as a whole. They’ll feel more committed to the company and engaged in his work, yielding a higher performance.

Let them know what your expectations for this role should be, in what timeframe, and how they can go about getting there. What should their goals be? By when? Have a co-worker sit with them or at least check in with them every few hours, for the first week to show them the ropes. Remember that you’ve already invested time and money in them by recruiting and hiring them, so it pays to invest a little more to make sure he’ll be successful.

Have the manager check-in

It’s important to develop the employee-manager relationship early. Their manager is the one who will teach them, guide them, encourage them, and empower him to be confident and successful. Managers should communicate immediately what they expect from their new hire and how they prefer to communicate. He should ask questions to ensure that the employee is understanding and learning their new role. Schedule meetings during the first week, at the end of two weeks, and again monthly and quarterly to check progress and offer feedback to the employee. They should understand that their development is important to the company, expect constructive analysis, and be given the chance to ask questions and offer comments.

Welcome Them Into the Culture

Sometimes new employees struggle with their jobs or leave the company because they don’t feel comfortable in the culture. You have to reach out before they even start the job to make them feel welcome, emotionally connected, and bonded to new co-workers. In addition to your company’s mission and core values, communicate your brand as much as possible in an orientation program.

Take your time and be patient with this process so you don’t risk having a bad employee or a quitter. A new employee is only a clean slate once! After that, it takes more time and effort to unlearn something they have misunderstood, and by that time, they may have done damage to your company’s efficiency or already be on their way out the door.

For more tips on how to bring on new employees, contact us today.

Written by Tyler Culver

Ty Culver has extensive experience in the Talent Acquisition/Retention space. He has helped some of the most powerful companies in the market place enhance their employee experience and scale their teams. Ty specializes in Executive Search, Retention programs for Key People and Population Wellness. Ty has helped CulverCareers rise to the Top 1% of the industry and differentiate from the field with a holistic approach to Acquisition and Retention of People.