Onboarding a New Team Member Effectively Makes Good “Cents”
The first day at a new job isn’t all that different from the first day at a new school. Whether we’re the new “kid” at school or in a new job, we all want the same things. We want to be accepted and fit in, succeed and do well, and find our sweet spot and enjoy each day. Success in a new school and a new job depends on one thing: thoughtful and effective onboarding.
The big difference between an unsuccessful first day at school versus an organization is the financial cost when onboarding is ineffective. Onboarding is a process that starts on the employee’s first day of work and ends when he is well acquainted with the organization’s mission, values, culture, procedures, operations, and people and is easily executing his work responsibilities. It is far more than a single orientation educating the new employee about where to find the office supplies and the location of the restroom. Hopefully, both the employee and the organization took their time and utilized a well-researched, thoughtful talent selection process, so both sides know the hiring decision produced a great fit. If that didn’t happen, no amount of skillful onboarding could correct that oops.
When thinking about an efficient onboarding plan, visualize a welcoming first day, an information-rich first week, a schedule for gearing the new hire up over the next 90 days, and a robust six-month and one-year review.
The 3 most important things to remember about onboarding a new employee are:
1. The first few days and weeks after a new member enters your organization present the greatest risk for buyer’s remorse on either side.
You want your new team member to love her new organization, bring her full energy to her work, and bring her knowledge of how your organization operates up to speed as quickly as possible so she, your current team and your customers can feel great about her work contributions.
Well-executed onboarding has a productivity cost to your organization that should be considered a worthwhile investment. A fumbled onboarding has a significant productivity cost and can result in wasted time, unsatisfied personnel and clients, and poorly executed work product.
2. Use Day One to focus on completing HR forms, a welcome talk from the CEO, a tour of the office, and sit-downs with various team members.
So as not to overwhelm the new hire, the best onboarding plans balance conversations about “this is how we do x, y and z” with work time and “get to know you” time.
3. Assign each new employee a buddy from your team.
After all the meetings and guidance a new employee receives, he will want one more thing, someone to go to for questions, a refresher the first time he is expected to fill out a time sheet or expense report, etc. By assigning your new employee a buddy who is not someone they report to, you will free them to ask questions they might not want to ask their boss and help them begin to develop a network within your organization. A buddy should be someone friendly, who understands your organization’s procedures, and is willing to spend time training someone new, show him the ropes, provide lunch-place options and even take him out to eat on his first day (on the organization’s dime).
Whether the onboarding program is extremely formal or informal, the important thing is that it happens methodically. If your organization doesn’t yet have a written process, jot down what you do now, ask your current employees to suggest steps they feel may be missing, and implement this plan on your very next hire. If you are the new hire and the organization doesn’t have a robust onboarding plan, think about “leading up” and respectfully and enthusiastically ask for one. It can demonstrate your ability to be resourceful and develop new processes/solutions — a win/win for you and your new employer.
If you’d like help developing an onboarding program or would like an outside perspective on your onboarding program, please contact me.
