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Want to boost employee engagement and retention in your organization? Start at the beginning of your employees’ journey: the onboarding process.
\n","post_body":"Want to boost employee engagement and retention in your organization? Start at the beginning of your employees’ journey: the onboarding process.
\n\nYou spend time, money, and energy recruiting just the right person to fill an empty seat, and your job isn’t done once they sign their new hire paperwork. The best employee onboarding experiences can improve new hire retention by 82%. Learn about the best way to onboard a new employee, the employee onboarding tools you may find helpful, and enjoy the relief of not needing to jump back into another recruiting cycle.
\nWhy you need a great employee onboarding process
\nStrong onboarding processes are a hallmark of operational maturity. They don’t appear out of thin air and do require thought, planning, and organization. But investing in a strong process for the onboarding of an employee will pay dividends: a good onboarding process can increase productivity by over 70%, and new hires who have a positive onboarding experience are three times more likely to feel committed to their new employer.
\nNot only will you gain in productivity and employee loyalty, you’ll avoid the bad outcomes of a sub-par onboarding experience for employees. Only about half of new hires are satisfied with their onboarding, which decreases engagement. Low engagement employees can cost a business the equivalent of 18% of their salary — not to mention the eventual cost of replacing them (up to 2x their salary!).
\nGoals of a successful new employee onboarding
\nWhen organizing your employee onboarding platform, keep in mind that a successful employee onboarding experience will result in three big outcomes:
\nAcclimation
\nNo one likes feeling like the odd one out, and without a great onboarding, a new employee could feel like they’re on the outside looking in at your company. A great onboarding will make your new employee feel like they’re integrated with their team.
\nEngagement
\nEmployee engagement is a perennial hot topic for a reason: it’s critical to a well-functioning organization. Promote engagement with the process and your org during onboarding to set the stage for long-term engagement.
\nRetention
\nNo matter what the job or hiring market looks like, employee retention is always going to be a better play than jumping on the recruitment merry-go-round. First impressions matter for long-term retention!
\nPre-onboarding process for new employees
\nBefore your new hire even starts their job, you should get a few things out of the way before onboarding.
\nNew hire paperwork
\nWhenever possible, get new hire paperwork ready or completed before your employee starters. You want them to be able to jump in and focus on the firehose of information coming at them when they start, not distracted by essential paperwork that could have been done ahead of time.
\nFirst day (or week) scheduled and shared
\nBefore your new hire starts, create and share a schedule so they know what to expect. One of the hardest parts of starting a new job is anxiety around the unknown; a schedule can provide relief. Ideally, you’ll be able to give at least a rough outline for what the new hire’s first week will look like. At the minimum, make sure they know exactly what they’ll be doing and who they'll be meeting on their first day.
\nThings to include in your employee onboarding template
\nIf you’re looking for employee onboarding software to make your onboarding easier, playbooks are a super helpful way to organize an onboarding process. You can document company processes to assign to all new employees, as well as team/role information for further detail — even create a playbook for “how to onboard a new employee” for your company or team. Here’s a checklist of employee onboarding documentation to get you started.
\nOnboarding process for all new employees
\nCompany story: here you can include things like a timeline of your company history, the story of your product or service internally and externally, and anything else that would help new employees get a sense of your company’s culture and story.
\nPolicies: this is the place for things like benefits, company holidays, communication etiquette and the like.
\nSafety and compliance: a subset of policies that can include things like security information, DEI policies, and anything else that’s static and required for compliance.
\nCompany Processes: processes here can include things like how to request time off, who to go to for device issues, how to access payroll/tax information, etc.
\nTechnology, systems, and tools: in this playbook you can specify the tools everyone in your company uses for things like communication and everyday work, as well as log-in information, systems, and device information.
\nOnboarding a new hire onto a specific team
\nRole-specific training: it’s helpful to create playbooks relevant to a specific role. For example, if someone is stepping into the role of content marketing where writing and publishing blogs is a part of their work, you can document that process and hand it to them to learn and refer to.
\nTeam-specific technology, systems, and tools: different teams will have different tools and tech; you can document what’s specific to a new role here.
\nTeam processes: here you can document processes for things like team-based projects.
\nBe prepared with a new employee onboarding checklist for your new hire and yourself
\nOnboarding employee checklist for new hire to complete
\n- \n
- New hire paperwork (tax forms, employment contract, NDA, benefits info, etc.) \n
- Device policy (BYO or assigned) \n
- Access to accounts (email, chat, software tools) \n
Onboarding employee checklist for managers to complete
\n- \n
- Set up onboarding process (in onboarding software and other team tools) \n
- Agenda for employee’s first day \n
- Add employee to relevant communication channels and groups \n
- Schedule a 1x1 meeting for first day \n
- Track employee onboarding progress daily \n
Making a new hire feel part of the team
\nA great onboarding experience for new employees will go beyond an info-dump. The key to a successful new employee onboarding is helping your new hire feel like a real member of the team. Even seasoned professionals can suffer from “new kid at school” jitters that a thorough onboarding will alleviate. Some ways to make your new hire truly feel like part of the team include:
\nPersonalized onboarding plan
\nInstead of dropping a plan on someone that feels like it could have been for anyone, make your new hire’s onboarding feel personal to them. Use their name in any personalized checklists, make references to things you learned about them during the interview process, and express your excitement at them joining your team.
\nSchedule introduction to team
\nThe first chance you get, introduce your new hire to the rest of the team they’ll be working with. Give them a nice intro and encourage your team to reach out to them for individual catch-ups.
\nSchedule 1x1 meetings
\nGet your first 1x1 with the new hire on the books as soon as possible, and schedule out your next few months. Your first 1x1 is a great place to set the tone for how the meetings will go and give your new hire a the security of knowing there will be dedicated time for them to connect with you.
\nSet up meet and greets
\nIn addition to encouraging your team to reach out to your new hire, be proactive about getting your new employee into meetings with people you think would be helpful to them, whether they’re on your team or not. You could make a list of 3-5 people, give them a heads up that you’d appreciate their time to help welcome the new hire, and create tasks for your new hire to reach out to them for a meet and greet.
\nDesignate a buddy
\nSome companies, including Microsoft, have introduced a “buddy” program during onboarding. 1x1 meetings with their manager are excellent for new hires, but adding a colleague they can talk to without the pressure of the reporting relationship has been shown to be a boon for the onboarding process. One study showed that more than half of new hires who met their buddy once in the first three months of starting their job became more productive more quickly, and their reported productivity increased when the frequency of meetings increased.
\nBest practices for new hire onboarding
\nCreating an awesome onboarding experience doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have to be thoughtful. Once you have a plan laid out, make sure to include the following onboarding best practices to make your onboarding exceptional.
\nInvolve more colleagues
\nFrom implementing an onboarding buddy program to facilitating meet-and-greets between your new hire and colleagues they may not interact with otherwise, it’s always a good idea to create a pre-built work community for your new hire. They may click with some people and not others, and meeting a variety of colleagues will ensure that they have people to turn to for support.
\nBalance personalization and consistency
\nPeople coming into your organization should feel welcomed and that there’s a sense of excitement about what they can add to the team. Personalization can go a long way to help someone feel welcome, but should be balanced with consistency; you want the same people coming into the same role to more or less have the same onboarding experience. Documenting important information in playbooks will not only help you with onboarding, but also give you an opportunity to review your processes and make sure your whole team is on the same page.
\nPaint a picture of the future
\nFor the most part, when someone starts a new job, they’re not looking for the exits right away, but they may have questions about how their career will grow as a result of starting their new role. Right from the start, you should learn about your new employee’s career goals and see how they fit into their role and the company at large, even if you hope/expect they’ll be in the current role for a while. Giving people something realistic to look forward to and a plan for how to get there will help them stay engaged.
\nCollect feedback
\nMake your new hire a member of their onboarding experience. Ask for feedback with the intention of filling in any gaps they’ve found in the process that you can remediate for them, and also add to your next onboarding to make it even better.
\nMeasure your successful onboarding
\nHow do you improve anything in your business? You measure it! In addition to the feedback you get from the employees you onboard, you should also take note of their performance down the line. Do you notice anything different in productivity or performance metrics as you optimize your onboarding experience? Do some people onboard in a different way than others due to seasonal changes in your org? If so, what are the differences down the line? Measure, keep track, and keep improving your onboarding processes.
\nWant to make your next employee onboarding experience the best one yet? Use Strety to create personalized Onboarding Playbooks that tie into your business operating system for a seamless onboarding. Try it free for 30 days or reach out to book time with our team for a product tour.
","rss_summary":"Want to boost employee engagement and retention in your organization? Start at the beginning of your employees’ journey: the onboarding process.
\n","rss_body":"Want to boost employee engagement and retention in your organization? Start at the beginning of your employees’ journey: the onboarding process.
\n\nYou spend time, money, and energy recruiting just the right person to fill an empty seat, and your job isn’t done once they sign their new hire paperwork. The best employee onboarding experiences can improve new hire retention by 82%. Learn about the best way to onboard a new employee, the employee onboarding tools you may find helpful, and enjoy the relief of not needing to jump back into another recruiting cycle.
\nWhy you need a great employee onboarding process
\nStrong onboarding processes are a hallmark of operational maturity. They don’t appear out of thin air and do require thought, planning, and organization. But investing in a strong process for the onboarding of an employee will pay dividends: a good onboarding process can increase productivity by over 70%, and new hires who have a positive onboarding experience are three times more likely to feel committed to their new employer.
\nNot only will you gain in productivity and employee loyalty, you’ll avoid the bad outcomes of a sub-par onboarding experience for employees. Only about half of new hires are satisfied with their onboarding, which decreases engagement. Low engagement employees can cost a business the equivalent of 18% of their salary — not to mention the eventual cost of replacing them (up to 2x their salary!).
\nGoals of a successful new employee onboarding
\nWhen organizing your employee onboarding platform, keep in mind that a successful employee onboarding experience will result in three big outcomes:
\nAcclimation
\nNo one likes feeling like the odd one out, and without a great onboarding, a new employee could feel like they’re on the outside looking in at your company. A great onboarding will make your new employee feel like they’re integrated with their team.
\nEngagement
\nEmployee engagement is a perennial hot topic for a reason: it’s critical to a well-functioning organization. Promote engagement with the process and your org during onboarding to set the stage for long-term engagement.
\nRetention
\nNo matter what the job or hiring market looks like, employee retention is always going to be a better play than jumping on the recruitment merry-go-round. First impressions matter for long-term retention!
\nPre-onboarding process for new employees
\nBefore your new hire even starts their job, you should get a few things out of the way before onboarding.
\nNew hire paperwork
\nWhenever possible, get new hire paperwork ready or completed before your employee starters. You want them to be able to jump in and focus on the firehose of information coming at them when they start, not distracted by essential paperwork that could have been done ahead of time.
\nFirst day (or week) scheduled and shared
\nBefore your new hire starts, create and share a schedule so they know what to expect. One of the hardest parts of starting a new job is anxiety around the unknown; a schedule can provide relief. Ideally, you’ll be able to give at least a rough outline for what the new hire’s first week will look like. At the minimum, make sure they know exactly what they’ll be doing and who they'll be meeting on their first day.
\nThings to include in your employee onboarding template
\nIf you’re looking for employee onboarding software to make your onboarding easier, playbooks are a super helpful way to organize an onboarding process. You can document company processes to assign to all new employees, as well as team/role information for further detail — even create a playbook for “how to onboard a new employee” for your company or team. Here’s a checklist of employee onboarding documentation to get you started.
\nOnboarding process for all new employees
\nCompany story: here you can include things like a timeline of your company history, the story of your product or service internally and externally, and anything else that would help new employees get a sense of your company’s culture and story.
\nPolicies: this is the place for things like benefits, company holidays, communication etiquette and the like.
\nSafety and compliance: a subset of policies that can include things like security information, DEI policies, and anything else that’s static and required for compliance.
\nCompany Processes: processes here can include things like how to request time off, who to go to for device issues, how to access payroll/tax information, etc.
\nTechnology, systems, and tools: in this playbook you can specify the tools everyone in your company uses for things like communication and everyday work, as well as log-in information, systems, and device information.
\nOnboarding a new hire onto a specific team
\nRole-specific training: it’s helpful to create playbooks relevant to a specific role. For example, if someone is stepping into the role of content marketing where writing and publishing blogs is a part of their work, you can document that process and hand it to them to learn and refer to.
\nTeam-specific technology, systems, and tools: different teams will have different tools and tech; you can document what’s specific to a new role here.
\nTeam processes: here you can document processes for things like team-based projects.
\nBe prepared with a new employee onboarding checklist for your new hire and yourself
\nOnboarding employee checklist for new hire to complete
\n- \n
- New hire paperwork (tax forms, employment contract, NDA, benefits info, etc.) \n
- Device policy (BYO or assigned) \n
- Access to accounts (email, chat, software tools) \n
Onboarding employee checklist for managers to complete
\n- \n
- Set up onboarding process (in onboarding software and other team tools) \n
- Agenda for employee’s first day \n
- Add employee to relevant communication channels and groups \n
- Schedule a 1x1 meeting for first day \n
- Track employee onboarding progress daily \n
Making a new hire feel part of the team
\nA great onboarding experience for new employees will go beyond an info-dump. The key to a successful new employee onboarding is helping your new hire feel like a real member of the team. Even seasoned professionals can suffer from “new kid at school” jitters that a thorough onboarding will alleviate. Some ways to make your new hire truly feel like part of the team include:
\nPersonalized onboarding plan
\nInstead of dropping a plan on someone that feels like it could have been for anyone, make your new hire’s onboarding feel personal to them. Use their name in any personalized checklists, make references to things you learned about them during the interview process, and express your excitement at them joining your team.
\nSchedule introduction to team
\nThe first chance you get, introduce your new hire to the rest of the team they’ll be working with. Give them a nice intro and encourage your team to reach out to them for individual catch-ups.
\nSchedule 1x1 meetings
\nGet your first 1x1 with the new hire on the books as soon as possible, and schedule out your next few months. Your first 1x1 is a great place to set the tone for how the meetings will go and give your new hire a the security of knowing there will be dedicated time for them to connect with you.
\nSet up meet and greets
\nIn addition to encouraging your team to reach out to your new hire, be proactive about getting your new employee into meetings with people you think would be helpful to them, whether they’re on your team or not. You could make a list of 3-5 people, give them a heads up that you’d appreciate their time to help welcome the new hire, and create tasks for your new hire to reach out to them for a meet and greet.
\nDesignate a buddy
\nSome companies, including Microsoft, have introduced a “buddy” program during onboarding. 1x1 meetings with their manager are excellent for new hires, but adding a colleague they can talk to without the pressure of the reporting relationship has been shown to be a boon for the onboarding process. One study showed that more than half of new hires who met their buddy once in the first three months of starting their job became more productive more quickly, and their reported productivity increased when the frequency of meetings increased.
\nBest practices for new hire onboarding
\nCreating an awesome onboarding experience doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have to be thoughtful. Once you have a plan laid out, make sure to include the following onboarding best practices to make your onboarding exceptional.
\nInvolve more colleagues
\nFrom implementing an onboarding buddy program to facilitating meet-and-greets between your new hire and colleagues they may not interact with otherwise, it’s always a good idea to create a pre-built work community for your new hire. They may click with some people and not others, and meeting a variety of colleagues will ensure that they have people to turn to for support.
\nBalance personalization and consistency
\nPeople coming into your organization should feel welcomed and that there’s a sense of excitement about what they can add to the team. Personalization can go a long way to help someone feel welcome, but should be balanced with consistency; you want the same people coming into the same role to more or less have the same onboarding experience. Documenting important information in playbooks will not only help you with onboarding, but also give you an opportunity to review your processes and make sure your whole team is on the same page.
\nPaint a picture of the future
\nFor the most part, when someone starts a new job, they’re not looking for the exits right away, but they may have questions about how their career will grow as a result of starting their new role. Right from the start, you should learn about your new employee’s career goals and see how they fit into their role and the company at large, even if you hope/expect they’ll be in the current role for a while. Giving people something realistic to look forward to and a plan for how to get there will help them stay engaged.
\nCollect feedback
\nMake your new hire a member of their onboarding experience. Ask for feedback with the intention of filling in any gaps they’ve found in the process that you can remediate for them, and also add to your next onboarding to make it even better.
\nMeasure your successful onboarding
\nHow do you improve anything in your business? You measure it! In addition to the feedback you get from the employees you onboard, you should also take note of their performance down the line. Do you notice anything different in productivity or performance metrics as you optimize your onboarding experience? Do some people onboard in a different way than others due to seasonal changes in your org? If so, what are the differences down the line? Measure, keep track, and keep improving your onboarding processes.
\nWant to make your next employee onboarding experience the best one yet? Use Strety to create personalized Onboarding Playbooks that tie into your business operating system for a seamless onboarding. Try it free for 30 days or reach out to book time with our team for a product tour.
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