Onboarding is crucial for setting your new hires up for success – theirs and yours.
An effective onboarding process helps newcomers get to know your company culture, mission and values, in addition to processes, policies and procedures that will add to everyone’s overall productivity.
Start onboarding the minute you decide to hire someone.
Preboarding should mesh into a new hire’s first few days on the job, and on into their mid and post-recruitment experience. Think of successful onboarding as a three-part process:
- Help new employees get acclimated ASAP.
How important is effective preboarding? Consider the results of a recent Indeed study: 65 percent of employers reported hiring people who didn’t show up on their targeted first day of work. Done right, preboarding will prevent you from becoming part of this eye-opening statistic.
- Send preboarding gifts – and a personalized welcome. Gifts, like company tee shirts, mugs or caps – are an easy win. Accompany them with a handwritten, personalized post care welcoming your new team member.
- Ask for feedback on your hiring process. This will prime your new hire to feel valued and encourage them to make an immediate impact. Plus, their insights could have a significant impact on your bottom line if you make needed process improvements.
You should also answer as many questions as possible and given new hires a head start on forms to be completed and related administrative tasks, before their first day. Reach out to them and establish your robust communication philosophy at the earliest possible opportunity.
- Take it a step further and help new hires quickly become engaged.
Engagement starts with introducing new hires to your company and their team members. It continues with getting them involved in some early “wins” once they’re officially on the job. Give them some initial assignments or tasks to complete that will help in both regards
- Follow up frequently. There’s no need for micromanagement, but make time for frequent check-ins with new employees. You can keep them informal and/or schedule official meetings. But maintain a friendly, supportive tone throughout
- Recognize your new team members.
Appropriate recognition of all your employees should be an integral part of your culture. You can extend this to new hires by recognizing even their small contributions early on. (Remember those early win projects?)
- Encourage their fresh perspective. Whether your new hire has just graduated or is a veteran coming from another organization, they have something to offer based on their prior experience. Welcome them to share their ideas, perspectives, and strategies that worked for them in the past.
At PrideStaff Fresno, we’re all about ensuring that your employee recruitment and retention efforts consistently succeed – and ultimately, helping your business grow as you bring only the highest value talent on board. Our own award-winning team is standing by to partner with you: we’ll provide guidance and insight as you define your hiring needs and create effective strategies to meet them. Contact us today to learn more.