How to Onboard Employees: Techniques That Work for All Companies

Techniques: ignorance always brings with it fears. That’s why going to a new job is a lot of stress. What is the atmosphere in the team, will my colleagues and superiors like me, will I be able to adapt to the conditions, will I meet the expectations and cope with the tasks? A newcomer is always overwhelmed by a lot of doubts, so the adjustment period at a new place is very important.

Quality onboarding ensures that the employee quickly and effectively adapts to the new environment. Today we will tell you all about this process.

What Is Onboarding? Techniques

Onboarding is a set of measures that are taken in a company to adapt new colleagues. This includes induction training, getting to know the company, its rules and principles, briefings, support and tutelage from an HR specialist and a lot more.

Onboarding is one of 3 stages of adaptation (onboarding, induction, adaptation). It covers the period from preparation for the arrival of a new employee to induction.

The goal of onboarding is to make the new employee quickly and easily adapt to the new workplace. According to a study by staffing agency Robert Half & Associates, 28% of employees leave within the first 90 days, which is during the probationary period. Onboarding is what it takes to keep people in the company.

That’s why it’s important:

• The company spends resources on recruiting new employees.
• The company spends resources on training and onboarding new employees.
• The team is also stressed by the lack of specialist onboarding.
• The stress of having a new employee in the team’s processes.
• The faster the new employee gets used to, the faster he will work effectively, therefore, will bring profit to the company.
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Preparing for the New Employee’s Exit

Before onboarding, a new employee, the unit manager and HR specialist should gather all the necessary materials and think through the little things that may irritate both the newcomer and the team.

Choose a release date for the new co-worker. The release time should be later than the beginning of the workday so that there is an opportunity to prepare, to take into account all the nuances.

Create a working manual: information about the company (mission, principles, values, history, main directions and products), how processes are built, who to contact for certain questions, where to get information and what can be studied additionally.

Prepare your workspace: equipment, software, access to necessary resources, stationery, and space for personal belongings.

Make a plan for the new employee for the next 1-3 weeks. The plan should include tasks, people to contact with questions, data sources, and due dates.

Going to Work Techniques

We have only one opportunity to make a first impression. And this is where it works both ways:

• Familiarity. Introduce the new employee to your colleagues, tell them how and with whom they will interact, who to contact with what questions. If someone wasn’t at work or you work remotely, do a mailing list.
• Starter Packages. It’s similar to 22Bet bonuses provided for registration, as such packs are not huge but meaningful. These are usually corporate souvenirs that will be useful for work as well as increase loyalty to the company.
• Give a tour of the office or an online tour of the company. Let the first day be a trip with pleasant impressions.
• Do not forget about the documents. A list should be in the human resources department. Along with a safety briefing, NDA, and other technical stuff.
• Add the rookie to all communication channels. Access to corporate email, and general chats. The supervisor or HR person should send out a welcome message that won’t embarrass the newcomer but will introduce him or her and introduce him or her to colleagues.
• Talk about products and customers, and introduce the employee to the company structure and basic processes.
• Talk about the responsibilities and your expectations of the new employee. How tasks are set, monitored and accepted. Give several tasks for the coming work week with exact deadlines and clear introductions.
• Determine when you can be called upon for support. What you can provide to the new employee now and always during working hours.

The first day on the job should be an easy and fun version of the normal workflow. If you create a supportive atmosphere and can keep the workplace and conditions interesting, the new co-worker will want to try his or her best to pass the probationary period.

First Work Week Techniques

During this period, it’s necessary to agree on all the terms and clarify all the conditions. So that there are no inflated expectations or too difficult tasks. The fewer reasons to be disappointed, the higher the probability that the employee will stay with the company for a long time

This stge is called Induction. It’s a logical extension of onboarding and an introduction not only to the work tasks, but also to the place, to the team. It includes:

• A meeting with the HR manager. Discussing an adaptation plan for 2-3 months. Approval of terms.
• Meeting with the direct supervisor. Discussions of responsibilities, current tasks, plans for the month, six months, year.
• Meetings or online 1:1 conferences with colleagues. Getting to know each other, clarifying roles, responsibilities and interactions.
• You can ask a new colleague to present a presentation about himself: biography, hobbies, work experience, expertise, working and personal principles, vision of his mission and goals in the company.
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Then comes the adaptation process, which takes from 3 months to a year. But the tasks of onboarding do not end here.

Analysis Techniques

The employee went to work, and we have to check ourselves. Did we do everything right, where were the issues, awkward moments, or lack of resources?

• Evaluate the onboarding plan, analyze how the preparation for the employee’s arrival and implementation is going.
• Continue to support the new colleague and inquire about his status and task management.
• Evaluate the resources spent. What is taking more time than planned and why, how this can be corrected.
• Track the successes and difficulties of the employee, praise for achievements, help in difficult moments.
• Draw up a task plan for process improvement and implement it.

From here it’s easier. You follow the plan and try to help, prevent difficulties and support on time.

Peculiarities of Onboarding at a Remote Site

When you move to a remote job, the onboarding process can take a long time. After all, employees see each other much less frequently, or may not see each other at all. This situation has its pros and cons. Pay attention to the following points:

• Personal communication. The person in a remote job receives much less attention. Do not forget to ask if everything is alright, keep in touch as you would in the office. At least try to.
• Without getting to know each other in person, it’s much harder to reach out to colleagues. So take the time to have online meetings with your entire team and colleagues individually, so there’s no awkwardness when questions arise.
• Outline all the rules in a personal conversation with a newcomer. Whether it is allowed to write jokes or polemic in the project’s chat, whether it is necessary to tag a particular person in general chat or it is better to write to him personally. All of these questions will help reduce annoyance.
• Take the edge off the tension more often. Online, especially in correspondence, intonation can be considere different. So full sentences, precise wording and as sincere a tone as possible will get rid of speculation.
• More specifics. Don’t ask “How’s it going?” but ask what questions you might have about the task, what’s confusing and what can be clarified.
• You don’t watch the clock on a remote job. Keep to your work schedule. Appreciate your time and the time of your colleagues. Work questions only during working hours. If it’s necessary to work overtime, analyze why the situation arose.
• Ask the new colleague to describe what he got out of his onboarding time. His perception of the company, the team and his closest colleagues, how he understands tasks and how he prioritizes work. This will help you understand whether you are doing everything right, whether onboarding is successful.

Remote work has many nuances. The most important thing an employee loses when working from home is the feeling of working in a team. Fixing this will help with attention. Take an interest in your colleague, hold online team-building events, meet with colleagues remotely as often as possible, and support them.