Detailed How-To on the Onboarding of New Hires

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To grow loyal and highly motivated employees, HRs need to perform effective onboarding, as this is when the working way of every new employee starts. The quality of the onboarding process and the success of the adaptation period doesn’t depend as much on the employee’s level but the teamwork with the HRM department. Discovering the list of tasks and the basics about the product is not enough. One needs to dive deeper into the corporate culture, feel a part of the team and the company, find a place in effective solving issues for the company.

We also must give a warning to all business owners and HR managers: more than 25% of hired people change their job due to incorrect onboarding.

Let’s take a closer look at the main points of the process and consider the best practices of the IT industry.

Ultimate Goal and Main Tasks of Onboarding

The main goal of this process is not only to bring someone to the company and tell him how to work in a team. HRs need to involve them in all activities, make a part of the company, make them stay in the project and motivate them to achieve the maximum effectiveness.

Consequently, the main tasks are:

1. Easy and effective start of the work.
2. Learning about the company and its product or products.
3. Getting acquainted with co-workers, establishing communications.
4. Immersion to the working processes, getting involved.
5. Adaptation.
6. Retention of employees.

A tip: The faster you help a new employee feel comfortable in your company, the faster they show great results.

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Simple Onboarding Rules

Do you know how an ideal onboarding looks like?

Example of an Onboarding Plan:

 – 1st day – getting to know the team, creating a plan for the first week, setting up working accounts, acquainting with KPIs.

 – 1st week – learning more about the project, agreeing on the specific plans and intermediary goals (for each week or the whole probation period).

 – Without any doubt, an HR, a manager, and a new employee should communicate at least weekly to track the success of onboarding. New employees’ feedback is crucial not only for making the process faster but for the company as well, as an outside perspective might detect the inner company’s problems.

 – 1st and 2nd months – evaluation of the working results achieved during the probation period, exchanging feedback. The time-frames depend on the company rules. Some set a 1-month probation period, some make it longer – 2-month or 3-month. This is standard practice for IT companies.

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It’s a good sign that a manager or a head of a department create an individual development plan for the next half a year or even a year after the probation period. Such a plan commonly includes the most significant goals to achieve, skills to develop, professional knowledge to gain. This works as a motivation source for a newcomer and a plan for their team leader, who’ll be responsible for tracking one’s achievements.

Finally, What Are the Anticipated Outcomes?

1. Increase the personal effectiveness of each employee.
2. Grow loyal and highly involved personnel.
3. Create united and cohesive teams.

Tips from the World Leaders

Google’s experience of introducing an electronic checklist ‘Just in Time’ shows the importance of this process for every company. The system reminds managers to tell newcomers about their responsibilities and roles, set up regular meetings during the first half of the year, match new employees with their ‘peer buddy’ and set up open dialogue. They state that this system has helped improve the onboarding results by 25%!

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Zappos has created a special 5-week onboarding course during which new hires learn more about the company culture and its products. They even offer people money ($2 000) for leaving! Still, they say that only 1% has chosen money, others enjoyed the company so much that rejected this offer.

Conclusions

You can now see how much onboarding is underestimated by many businesses. Do you want to glue your hires to the company and its value?

Take a look at how onboarding is conducted in your company. Analyze whether newcomers fit your teams and are ready to achieve your company’s goals as fervently as his own ones.

Next, make sure that you have a ‘welcome pack’ which might help new employees ‘feel like at home’. Check how their first steps in the company are going.
Who knows, maybe all the problems with employees who leave start here?..