5 Steps to Mastering the Onboarding Process

According to Gartner research, only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organisations excel at onboarding. That’s a huge failure rate, within one of the first key interactions that your new starter will have with your business.

It’s clear, then, that the process is broken for many. Luckily, with some very clear guidelines and actionable points, any HR leader can master the process and ensure that they’re offering an exemplary onboarding experience.

Let’s delve into each element to understand how they contribute to successful onboarding.

1. Culture

Culture is the cornerstone of employee onboarding. It encompasses a company’s values, history, and personality, setting the tone for an employee’s journey. Beyond paperwork, companies should invest in showcasing their culture through initiatives like employee handbooks, company swag and personal stories shared via podcasts or testimonials.

In short, demonstrating culture through more tangible experiences fosters a sense of belonging and offers more chances for alignment with the organisation’s values.

Where businesses often fail in highlighting their culture are with superficial presentations of core values or lengthy documents that fail to engage new hires.

2. Clarity

In short, uncertainty breeds dissatisfaction and decreased productivity. Clarity in onboarding goals, company objectives, roles and responsibilities is vital. New employees should understand how their contributions align with the company’s vision.

Defining objectives, clarifying roles and setting performance expectations empower employees, fostering engagement and commitment.

Assuming that alignment without communication will just ‘happen’ is a huge pitfall that many companies fall into. And, a lack of coordination between hiring managers and HR is setting yourself up to fail.

3. Connection

The sense of connection and belonging is essential for new hires. Establishing psychological safety through mentorship programs and team meet-ups will enhance job performance from the outset.

Deloitte data from last year reports a 56% improvement in job performance when employees feel connected at work. Assigning work buddies and fostering open communication channels contribute to a positive work environment.

Neglecting introductions and expecting new starters to integrate into the workforce without sharing critical information is a key way to fail fast here.

4. Compliance

Understanding industry regulations, company policies and internal procedures is crucial for any new starter. Compliance training, data security education and confidentiality protocols, whilst they may not be the most engaging information, ensure that legal adherence will be met and set the tone for professionalism.

Neglecting compliance training can lead to costly mistakes and tarnish the company’s brand and risk legal issues and brand damage further down the line.

5. Feedback

Feedback is an incredibly valuable tool for continuous improvement, and this is never truer than in the first months of employment, when habits will be built. Regular check-ins and feedback sessions during onboarding create a culture of learning and adjustment, and prevent having to un-learn bad habits later.

It’s likely that your business has some form of employee onboarding software, which can be incredibly useful for facilitating documented feedback, allowing organisations to refine their processes based on new hires’ experiences.

Failure in this area looks like relying on someone else to speak on behalf of the new hire and not directly seeking their feedback. In this instance, the business will learn nothing from the full employee lifecycle.

By mastering these five keys to successful employee onboarding, HR can not only significantly impact business growth, employee engagement and retention, but also simply ensure that the process of starting a new journey within the company is a fun and motivating process.

This comprehensive approach ensures that new team members not only understand their roles and responsibilities but also feel connected, valued and empowered from the very beginning of their time within your company.

Implementing these strategies will not only streamline the onboarding process, but also contribute to a positive and productive work environment, ultimately benefiting the entire organisation in the long run.

Originally published on HR Grapevine, https://www.hrgrapevine.com/content/article/2023-12-07-5-steps-to-mastering-the-onboarding-process