How To Create An Effective Employee Onboarding Experience

After you’ve spent countless hours hiring the perfect person for the job, it’s time for that new hire to show up for work. It would be unfair to give them a task and just set them loose on day one. They would have no idea where to begin. That’s why you absolutely must create an effective employee onboarding experience.

Card saying welcome aboard at desk for employee onboarding

What is onboarding exactly? Onboarding is an important piece of the employment puzzle. It’s the concept of taking a new hire from zero to hero. To put it simply, onboarding is the way a company introduces a new employee to the team, skills, company, brand, routine, and everything else that makes your office tick. It’s an important part of the hiring process and cannot be overlooked.

Quite often, employee onboarding is a boring experience filled with tedious forms, mind numbing lectures, detailed printed materials, dated videos, and impersonal orientations. It’s your responsibility to create a positive and effective employee onboarding experience that still relays the information necessary for a new hire to get the job done. Think about employee onboarding as the “first impression” a new hire has of the company as a whole. Make your company shine and set your new hire up for success.

Onboarding is a valuable part of the hiring process. It’s the opportunity for the company to:

Display your employer brand
Explain your company culture
Outline expectations, goals, and routines
Provide the tools to do the job

Now this can’t be done in an hour long session or even in a week. It’s an ongoing process that requires a plan of action. Tap into the new hire’s excitement, personal brand, insights, and fresh perspectives to make it a positive and fun experience. Think outside of the box and consider this as time well spent investing in your company’s future.

Here are eight elements of an effective employee onboarding experience that you need to make sure you include:

Company Tour
HR Paperwork
Team Introduction
Social Hour & Team Building
On The Job Training
Mentorship Programs
Professional Development
Feedback Cycles

Personalize the onboarding experience. Get to know your new team members. Create an open and honest relationship where they can ask questions, accept feedback, and reach their full potential. Ensure that they are smiling and having fun, but also ensure that they know how to do the job that you hired them to do.

Onboard correctly and your company will go far. Your new hires will stick around. You’ll practically eliminate turnover expenses. You’ll boost your bottom line. And of course, you’ll make your job a little bit easier.

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