New Employee Onboarding Guide

Proper onboarding is key to retaining, engaging talent

By Roy Maurer

N
ew employee onboarding is the process of inte- • How long will it last?
grating a new employee with a company and its • What impression do you want new hires to walk away
culture, as well as getting a new hire the tools with at the end of the first day?
and information needed to become a productive • What do new employees need to know about the culture
member of the team. and work environment?
Onboarding new hires at an organization should be a • What role will HR play in the process? What about direct
strategic process that lasts at least one year, staffing and HR managers? Co-workers?
experts say, because how employers handle the first few • What kind of goals do you want to set for new employ-
days and months of a new employee’s experience is crucial ees?
to ensuring high retention. How will you gather feedback on the program and mea-
sure its success?
Getting Started with the Onboarding Process Once these questions have been answered, HR profes-
Finding the best candidates for positions in your organiza- sionals and upper management can devise a plan of action
tion is only part of building an effective team. The process to help new employees quickly assimilate company policies
of onboarding new employees can be one of the most crit- and workflow while getting fully acquainted with the organi-
ical factors in ensuring recently hired talent will be produc- zation’s culture.
tive, contented workers.
However, in some organizations, onboarding is often Creating an Onboarding Program
confused with orientation. While orientation might be nec- “If we don’t worry about onboarding before the employee
essary—paperwork and other routine tasks must be com- starts, then we’re way behind,” said Ben Peterson, CEO of
pleted—onboarding is a comprehensive process involving BambooHR, an HR technology company. “Rather than hav-
management and other employees that can last up to 12 ing a stack of papers waiting for their signature, send them
months. out to the employee beforehand, for electronic signature.
Before implementing a formal onboarding program, em- Give them their benefits selection. Find the technology to
ployers should answer some key questions to attain team help you automate the paper-pushing process.”
and upper management buy-in, including: As soon as new employees receive a job offer, they can
• When will onboarding start? also receive access to the company’s online onboarding
portal, said Amber Hyatt, director of product marketing at
SilkRoad, a talent management solutions firm.
“Here they discover content that’s designed to engage
them, like a friendly note from their manager, first-day infor-
mation, welcome messages and photos from new team-
mates, a glossary of company acronyms, a virtual copy of
your employee handbook as well as other details about the
new hire’s department and job responsibilities,” she said.
New-hire portals also benefit HR through dashboards
that can organize and track tasks that need to be complet-
ed and managed electronically, such as W-4 or I-9, benefits want them back on Day 2, right?” he asked.
and payroll forms, Hyatt said. New employees at BambooHR are taken out to lunch on
In addition to having new employees fill out new-hire the first day. “We cared enough to hire them, we want them
paperwork online, consider providing the answers to ques- to know we care enough to build rapport,” Peterson said.
tions they may have, such as where to go on day one, who Aligning expectations is critical.
to ask for upon arrival and what to wear, she said. “Organizations that don’t focus on acclimating new em-
Set up new hires’ desk, phone, computer and password ployees to their corporate culture are at a significant disad-
logins before they arrive, said Peterson. vantage,” said Hyatt. “Employees who know what to expect
“The worst thing for a new employee is being wooed from their company’s culture and work environment make
through the recruiting process and then arriving on the job better decisions that are more aligned with the accepted
and the receptionist isn’t even expecting you or your office practices of the company.”
isn’t set up,” he said. To keep existing team members from resenting a new
employee, make sure roles and responsibilities are outlined
for the entire team, Peterson advised.
FURTHER READING: “Sometimes existing team members could feel threat-
SHRM Foundation: Onboarding New Employees: ened that someone new could take over their responsi-
Maximizing Success bilities. So it’s a good idea to clarify the position of the
Onboarding helps new hires adjust to the social and new hire as well as [the positions of] other team members
performance aspects of their jobs so they can quick- whose work is closely related, how they’ll interact with each
ly become productive, contributing members of the other, and how projects will run,” he said.
organization. This report, Onboarding New Employees:
Maximizing Success, will provide the tools you need to
create an effective onboarding process in your compa-
ny.

Tips for Creating an Effective Onboarding Site

When employers consider building an online onboard-
ing portal, they should first think about the core mes-
sages the website will impart to new hires and integrate
those ideas into the design components.

5 Steps to Create an Onboarding Program for Man-

agers The First Few Months
Setting up new managers for success positively im- It’s important for HR to have a one-month check-in to make
pacts engagement, turnover and the bottom line. sure that that the new employee is comfortable, happy and
engaged, said Peterson. “Reviewing and giving thoughtful
feedback on your new hire’s early contributions are also
important during onboarding,” he said.
The First Day According to a BambooHR survey, three-fourths of new
The two main goals on the first day should be setting hires said training during the first week on the job is most
expectations and introducing objectives. Employees need important to them. Meanwhile, 41 percent of HR profession-
to have crystal clear ideas about what their job duties and als felt they needed to update training in onboarding.
responsibilities are on Day 1, Peterson said. “If you aren’t communicating what new hires are sup-
“New employees need to get to know the job and get to posed to be doing and arming them with the tools to do it
know their new co-workers. Social interaction is critical. You properly, you’re setting them up to fail,” Peterson said.
 You also don’t want to inundate your new hires with too
much information. FURTHER READING:
“While it’s important to get your new hire ramped up and Onboarding Mistakes to Avoid And Some Creative
productive quickly, you also need to make sure you provide Ideas to Adopt
on-the-job training in a manageable flow,” he said. To gather some practical ideas about effective employ-
Hopefully, new hires have picked a mentor by the end of ee onboarding, we asked the HR community to share
the first month, Peterson added. Fifty-six percent of respon- stories on social media about onboarding wins and
dents in the BambooHR study said that having a buddy or losses. Some are real game changers.
mentor at work was very important when getting started.
The Aberdeen Group report found that high-performing Recruiters Can Create ‘Unboxing’ Experience for New
organizations are nearly two-and-a-half times more likely Hires
than lower-performing employers to assign a mentor or A commitment to brand keeps onboarding programs
coach during the onboarding process. on message. Would your new hires be as excited about
“Mentoring programs can be as simple as assigning a their first day on the job as they would be to open a
new employee a go-to person or having an elaborate team new smartphone?
of mentors for any questions that might arise,” Hyatt said.
Executive Onboarding Lessons from Presidential
The First Three to Six Months Transitions
Peterson advised HR to conduct another check-in between Imagine what would happen if your company’s entire
three and six months, depending on the employee and the executive leadership and management teams up and
role. left at the same time, handing over their badges and
“Unfortunately, only 15 percent of companies continue turning off the lights without leaving so much as a list
onboarding after six months,” he said. Remember, nearly of tips behind for the folks who would replace them.
90 percent of employees decide whether to stay or go Thousands of vacancies would open up in an instant—
within that first six months. “You have a huge impact on that and your HR team would have less than three months
choice. Sometimes you just have to show that you sincerely to recruit for those positions.
care,” he said.

The First Year “Shift from on-the-job training to continuous develop-

“An employee’s performance at the end of the first year will ment. It’s also a great time to have the compensation con-
prove if they’re fully productive,” said Peterson. “Now you versation,” Peterson said.
can plan for future development. Show them what their ca- “Your new hires will thank you for setting them up on the
reer looks like at the company. Sadly, sometimes they don’t path to success and your company will be well on its way to
belong there,” he said. turning those new hires into seasoned employees.”
The end of the first year is when traditional onboarding
transitions into retention and employee satisfaction. Roy Maurer is an online editor/manager for SHRM.