Your effort should be going into finding the perfect candidate, not having to worry about the logistics of the onboarding process. If you aren’t worrying about that, you’ll have more time to make sure the employee is comfortable and happy as they settle into their new position. Here’s a few ways for onboarding to be a little more smooth for both your business and the new hire.
Make It Personal
This might sound counterintuitive to streamlining but trust me, it’s not. It’s easy to have a set directory for new hires to access so they can understand hierarchy and the position of those emailing and messaging them.
Another option to consider is implementing set learning tests and making plans for how each of the learning types will thrive. A little more work in front, but this can save ample time in the future, especially in a growing company.
Technology Is Your Friend
Don’t be afraid to find onboarding software to help you automate as much as possible. There’s nothing lazy about it, it’s just a sure way to remove human error and guarantee the process is the same from new hire to new hire. This will make for less stress for both you and new employees alike.
Be Clear
Let the employee know exactly what they need to do on their end so the process can continue to move along while the HR side of things is getting taken care of. You can make sure you are explicitly clear of what’s expected of them during this process and during the first few weeks of their employment.
Make sure they have the floor if they need it to ask any questions before you are hoping they’re up to speed. Let them know what is expected of them at certain points and when follow ups will be scheduled to go over what’s already been assigned and what the next stage of their employment looks like.
Collect Feedback
Perfecting your onboarding process won’t happen overnight but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t always be trying to improve it. Even if you are the perfect employer, there will always be turnover. As new hires become tenured employees, ask what they would have liked during onboarding and what could have been smoother for them.
Collect whatever information you and implement as much of it as possible to make it the best possible experience for new hires.
Plan Ahead
Once the new employees start date is set, make it company policy to commute immediately with everyone who will be involved with the new hire’s onboarding. Having their desk set up already is perfect to show you care and want them to succeed.
Having a set mentor for new hires in their respective departments is another way to keep things smooth. This way, you can make sure everyone is trained the same way and the new hires will always have a set person to go to. This will allow the trainer to have time set aside to familiarize themselves with any questions a new hire might have.
