Everything begins with an introduction. Like the introduction of this article you are reading right now, from blogs and books, to people require an introduction. Let’s, for now, consider this article; what do you learn in the introduction? What you can expect, and what topics are covered in the article. The same way it works in onboarding a new employee.

In your employee onboarding process, you explain your company’s expectations, culture, and work environment. Did you know that hiring managers have the opportunity to boost employee retention by having a strong onboarding strategy?

As a part of our introduction, this article will help you understand onboarding, benefits, and key steps in an effective onboarding process.

What Is Onboarding?

The onboarding process is for the new employees to learn more about the values, mission, & vision of the organisation, work environment, peers, and the scope of their work. 

This is more of an effort to help the new hires acclimate themselves to the organisation. The onboarding process is an excellent opportunity for new hires to explore the organisation and ask questions about their roles and responsibilities. 

Let’s say, unfortunately, the onboarding process didn’t go as expected, and the new hires got a bad impression of your company. Now the chances of them remaining in your company is far less. 

Also, remember the quote “The first impression is the best impression,” if it means so much during the interview process for the employers about the candidates, then it works the same during your onboarding process. Flawed onboarding processes can make new hires feel unsupported and unmotivated. 

What Is Not Onboarding?

The employee onboarding process is often confused with the orientation program. Orientation is a one-time event that consumes a few hours of your day or a full workday. Meanwhile, the onboarding process takes a few weeks to complete. To be specific, orientation is a small part of the onboarding process. 

An orientation program is a one-time event to welcome new hires, quickly help employees fit into the company, and introduce them to their roles. In the onboarding process, new employees get a complete understanding and specific details about their roles and responsibilities.

Benefits of an Effective Onboarding Process

The onboarding process has its benefits for both the employer and the employees. We shall discuss them both in detail:

Benefits for New Employees

• Your new employees feel welcomed during the onboarding process. It’s a way of making them a part of the company culture. 
• The onboarding process is an effective informative session that helps employees be informed about their job.
• The onboarding process motivates new employees and helps to increase their engagement in the company. 

Benefits for the Organisation 

• An effective employee onboarding process is a proven method of retaining them within the company for a long time. 
• Employees with clear objectives feel like a part of the company, which eventually helps them stay focused and perform more efficiently. 
• A proper and engaging onboarding process gives a good first impression and can make employees feel good about the company. 
• If the effective onboarding process helps increase employee retention in the company, then your hiring cost reduces, and your turnover rate lowers. 

4 Key Steps to the Onboarding Process

Unlike orientation programs, the onboarding process takes its time. It entirely depends on the role and training requirements. The duration of this can be a few days, weeks, or even months, and an organisation must build a good relationship with their new employees during the onboarding process. 

The following are a few key points to consider during the onboarding process.

1. The Pre-Onboarding Process

The pre-onboarding process starts before the first day of the new hires. You would need to finalise which documents to prepare before the arrival of the new employees. 

These documents might include onboarding letters, legal documents, payroll documents, and any company-specific documents the employees must sign upon arrival. 

The new hires might have multiple questions running on their mind, from working days and the leave policy, to the dress code. Get ready to answer them. This can make them feel like more of a part of the company. 

2. Plan the Day

When the paperwork is the first step in the onboarding process, the next step is to figure out the first week of your new employees. The following are the “must-knows” for the new hires: 

• Well-informed and introduced to their co-workers and managers. 
• Knowing their roles and responsibilities.
• How and where they will perform their duties.
• Company culture and habits.

You can conduct a few icebreaker activities that would make the new hires get over their “first-day on a new job” nerves. Take them around the office and inform them of the seating areas, cafeteria, food court, game room, and wellness room. 

If devices are to be given to the new employees, make sure they are ready on the same day. 

3. Keep the New Employees Engaged All Day

Keeping new employees engaged all day doesn’t mean giving them a lot of tasks in day one. It means to ensure they are occupied in getting acquainted in the company.

You can introduce a buddy system or program for the new employees as an opportunity to get along with their peers. This is an excellent way to make them feel connected working together. 

4. Keep an Eye Out for New Team Members

Scheduling tasks only for the first week isn’t the end of the onboarding process. Understandably, new hires need more time to get acclimated to the company. To be more supportive, you must check in regularly to ensure their training sessions are going well. 

The time-to-time check-ins are also to check if they have any requirements in terms of training or others issues in the workplace that you can help them with. Host team-building activities to help new employees calm down and get along with their colleagues. This can make a massive impact on their impression of the company. Hence try to keep it entertaining. 

Over to You

Now that you know how to carry out the onboarding process, it’s time to start the action. Get things appropriately done to increase the retention rate and reduce the turnover rate. Your new hires will thank you for the support you showed them, and your company will reward you for the excellent job you’ve done. 

LogicMelon

Award-winning recruitment software that will find, attract, hire and analyse the way you want to work. At LogicMelon, we have experienced software recruitment marketing specialists to help you build effective recruitment solutions supported by the best customer service you’ll find anywhere!

Email: sales@logicmelon.com or call LogicMelon (UK) +44 (0) 203 553 3667 (USA) +1 860 269 3089