A lot of time, effort, and energy goes into hiring and training a new hire. You want to make sure that onboarding is successful and can get your new employee up and running as fast as possible.
Facts about onboarding:
- According to Gallup just 1 in 8 employees strongly agree that new hires at their organization receive an excellent orientation and onboarding experience
- 20% of employees who quit do so in the first 45 days of their job. (SHRM)
- Two-thirds of organizations fail to include team leadership in their onboarding, according to Allied.
- 37% of remote organizations identified remote onboarding as a top challenge – Workable
- 4,100 to onboard a new employee – WhatFix
Pre-Work Onboarding
Many companies do not do pre-onboarding. This is onboarding that happens before the new employee starts their job. I know for many people there may only be 2 weeks before the offer letter and the start of a new job and for many people they might be working a different job in those 2 weeks.
It is still important to do pre-onboarding but to keep in mind that your new employee will not have a lot of time to do it. This means it is important to keep it brief and important. No “busy” work.
Things pre-onboarding should include; any paperwork that is relevant to the position, W-4 forms, and maybe an introduction to the company video. You should also include their 2 week schedule and any dress codes. New employees should know what to expect when they walk in the door.
Onboarding
Once the employee arrives it is crucial to get them up and running as soon as possible. That being said you also want them to have the highest chance for success at possible.
Keep in mind the experiences of the new employee. Yes everyone needs onboarding but does the new VP need the same onboarding as the fresh graduate starting their first job? I would argue they both need the same basic training but then their onboarding should be tailored to their experiences.
HR Handbook
HR is the first face your new employee will see and it is important to make a strong connection. I would start with a face-to-face (even if it’s virtual) session. Sit down with the new employee, introduce the company, go over any unique company norms (do you ring a bell when you make a new sale? Half day Fridays? etc.), give them time to ask questions, and set them up for their next training.
If you can try to give them a “buddy” who is also onboarding at the same time. This will allow them to bounce questions off each other and get acclimated to the company together.
Hiring Manager Handbook
The hiring manager will eventually just become the new employee’s manager. It is their job to do the role specific training and on the job trainings. It is the manager who will also propose and possibly give any on-going training, such as extra excel training or manager trainings.
Other Things to Note
It is not only HR and the hiring manager involved in the onboarding process, your company should make a list of all other involved. Will the front desk need to give them a badge? Will someone need to mail them a laptop? Will a name plate need to be ordered? Who will be doing all of this? Make sure to include all of those people as well.
And Don’t Forget
Onboarding is an ongoing process, not just the first few weeks. Make sure that HR and the hiring manager is doing check in. My suggestion would be at the 30 day mark, 60 day mark and 90 day mark.
There should always be ongoing training offered. People want the chance to learn, hone their skills, and grow. This can be considered a part of onboarding so make sure to keep in touch will all employees about upcoming training programs.
Virtual Onboarding Training
With all of the other onboarding going on there will be some onboarding training that is now done virtually. This varies from company to company but for the most part the company’s code of ethics, harassment training and DEI&B training all tend to be in this section of onboarding.
Please take a look below at some sample code of ethics, DEI&B, and harassment trainings I have created below.