When building a strong, top-level team, all you have in mind is probably the different goals you’ll be able to achieve with your new star players. So it actually happens, taking good care of new employees since day one is the key.
As everyone knows, the first impression is the one that sticks. Because of that, you must structure your employee onboarding properly. In this article, you are going to learn how to manage all necessary items to give your new employees a good impression.
A successful onboarding process has the following goals:
- Enhance productivity
- Increase retention
- Make the new team member comfortable
- Save money
Standardized onboarding
To achieve that without struggling, you must build a process that is standardized and planned. Think of it this way: if you don’t get your house in order before hosting a new special guest, they’re most likely to leave and never come back, and of course you don’t want that. That’s why standardizing your onboarding process is so important.
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Imagine the following scenario: in your first day in a new company, the HR department didn’t have all of your documents ready, your colleagues don’t know what you’re doing there and you can’t find someone to help set you up with a company email address. You wouldn’t want that to happen, right?
Well, the problem is that this scenario is more common than you think. A poorly executed employee onboarding is one of the most common reasons people quit their jobs in the first 90 days. And that’s perfectly understandable— if you don’t feel welcome, you’ll want to find somewhere else to work as soon as possible.
A survey conducted in 2018 by Jobvite found out that 28% of new hires quit in their first three months. Most surveyed said that their motivation to leave was directly related to the employee onboarding process. Yikes!
Note: If you want to know more about the onboarding process, check this article.
So it’s important to keep in mind that the employee onboarding process isn’t merely about dress codes, paperwork and introductions. The first days of the employees are an opportune time to immerse them in the company culture, make them feel comfortable and walk them through their first tasks. This may take a while, but it’s in the best interest of both the company and the new hire in the long term.
To help you through this process, we prepared a timeline that encompasses the period before the new employee arrives until their first month in your company:
This is the moment to prepare everything they’ll need. A few days before they arrive, gather all of their information, such as full name, contacts and position, for example, and share this material with everyone that will be in touch with the new hire in the first couple of weeks.
Make sure that the IT and facilities departments are all aware of the new employee’s upcoming arrival and to provide all items they’ll need to do their jobs—equipment such as computers, peripheral devices and software, access and email addresses are essential. Also, don’t forget to get their desk or work station ready for use.
Day 1
On your new employee’s first day, it’s important to give them all the knowledge they’ll need to have a great journey in your business.
It’s the moment to:
- Sign all the paperwork
- Give them a tour in your office, introducing them to other departments, showing them where the manager’s office is and helping them to locate the printer, bathrooms and the coffee pot
- Use this moment to also explain the office’s rules for the kitchen and other common areas
- Set expectations on what they’re going to need to deliver in their role. Make sure they understand their responsibilities clearly
- Acclimate the new employee to the company’s culture and its acceptable and unacceptable behaviors
Don’t forget to gift the new employees with a welcome kit. Stickers, coffee mugs, t-shirts and other swags enrich the onboarding experience and, as a plus, look good on social media.
Encourage the team to be specially warm and welcoming during this day. Doing things like taking the new employee out for lunch, or inviting them for a coffee are amazing ways to make them feel good!
Week 1
The most important thing you can do during a new employee’s first week is to make them feel welcomed and let them know what is expected of them. It’s the ideal time to give them their first assignments, followed by close feedback and evaluations.
One of the secrets of successful teams is sync. Don’t wait for the employee to ramp up before giving feedback and making 1:1 meetings. Set the tone from day one and help them get where you expect sooner.
Also, don’t forget to make them feel part of the team. A team meeting should also be held in the first week, so everyone officially meets each other and roles are well defined from the start.
This time is crucial for retention. In the first 30 days, it’s important to align the new employee’s goals with what their new position has to offer and keep them engaged.
Keep doing 1:1 sessions and ask how they’re feeling, what they expect from their role and encourage them to be open and straightforward with you and the team.
Another nice action is to build a mentorship program in which the new employee receives continuous and direct help from senior members of the team. It could be another 1:1 meeting, a series of workshops or even offsite activities—whatever helps the new employee ramp up faster and completely aligned with the team and the company’s culture.
This should only strengthen your relationship, creating a better work environment for both the new employee and the team that is growing.
Changes always act out of our comfort zone, but they shouldn’t be painful in this case. That’s why we created Pipefy, to help you successfully conduct improvements on your company in an organized, hassle-free way.
Pipefy is the Workflow Management platform that empowers do-ers to easily organize and control their work in a single place. It allows anyone to streamline and automate any business process on their own, resulting in outcomes of higher quality at a faster pace.
With our platform, you can have a complete view of every step of your process, making sure that everything is done correctly and on time.
Pipefy’s employee onboarding template is a step-by-step process specially designed to make your onboarding process more productive and planned.
With our tool, you can follow simple steps to design your onboarding process, from the moment your new employee signs their contract to their 30th day. You can organize all their information, complete checklists and make sure that you aren’t forgetting anything!
Start using Pipefy now and improve your employee onboarding experience. Whip your process into shape, making sure that they’re organized, standardized and in the intended format from the start.
Note: If you want to go further and streamline your processes from recruiting, try our template today.
See why more companies choose Pipefy to improve their employee onboarding experience
Written by Thais Macedo