Educate and inform new hires before their first day. Educating the new hire before their first day is something that I call “Early Onboarding”, also known as “Preboarding”. After the recruiting process, they should have a general idea of what type of company you are, how you work, and what values you respect. Though, it a great idea to send them an email or webpage to inform them about everything they should know. It should include their start date, daily start and finish times, where they should report themselves (e.g. to reception, or to a specific person), where they should park their vehicle and how they should be dressed.Also, give them a quick summary of what they should expect from the first few days and what they should bring with them. Some other details to be included like where the lunch room is and if there are recommended eateries nearby.

Have your onboarding process completely laid out for them.

Many recruiters and managers tend to forget to set up a solid onboarding process. As horrible as it sounds, some even try to set something up on the spot. A well-prepared onboarding process makes it easier for the new hire and the organization.

Here are some things you should consider to do:

  • Give them a small assignment they can easily do that will expose them to some of the tools and systems commonly used, so they become familiar with them. Next, to the fact that they will learn from it, they will also see that day as productive. They did something for the company.
  • Let them know they are free to reach out to anyone within the company. Give them the feeling of being universally welcome. Speak with the new hire now and then and ask how they are doing. Outside of the necessary formal talks and interviews, informal talks will be appreciated.
  • Consider scheduling a lunch with the new hires, along with the CEO if available, for their second day to further welcome them to the company and discuss any new questions they may have.
  • Make sure they know what their responsibilities are and how they are being evaluated.
  • Assign all the tools and resources they need from day one. Nothing is more frustrating than having to do something and not having the right tools to do it with.

When does it stop and what then?

Onboarding takes about 2-3 months depending on the business. However, some onboarding processes could take less. After those 2-3 months, your new hire should be integrated quite well with the team. Right now, you should be thinking about some other stuff that is probably less important but should still be done. Think about updating your website if you have a ‘team’ page on it for example. If you don’t do this, the new hire will still feel that he/she is not fully integrated into the team. One thing you might want to do too is to evaluate the onboarding process with your new hire. He or she is the best person to judge the whole process and can help it improve. This can be done with a simple survey, or you could set up a meeting. Both ways will work. Iteration and adoption are key in employee onboarding. Written by Stan Smith from ChiefOnboarding, a solution to make employee onboarding awesome for the new hire and the business.]]>