How to create a great onboarding experience
Workplace orientation – the ‘onboarding process’ – can be a significant factor in employee satisfaction. Here’s how you can build a good one.
Workplace orientation – the ‘onboarding process’ – can be a significant factor in employee satisfaction. Here’s how you can build a good one.
If you don’t have a set orientation process in place, don’t worry – you’re among the 68% percent of companies without one. [1] Many opt for on-the-job training where employees can learn as they go. While this can save money in the short-term, you can take a financial hit in the long run if your employee chooses to move on – the average cost of replacing an employee is between 16 and 20 percent of their salary.
When it comes to starting a new position in a large company, familiarity breeds contentment
But once you’ve put the right process in place, you’ll need to update it on a semi-regular basis to make sure it’s ticking all the boxes. Once every three years, reassess the process in full, and update it accordingly to keep it fresh.
You won’t get a second chance to make a first impression. So make sure you have an onboarding process in place that leaves your new hires feeling welcome, valued and prepared.
Here are some things to consider.
Keep things as simple as possible
There’s no need to make new hires learn the hard way. Keep things as simple – and engaging – as possible. Your communication and collaboration tools can help. Using Workplace, for example, enables you to add new hires to a ‘new starters’ Group that uses pinned posts and file-sharing to help people get up to speed quickly.
Every new hire is individual. So their onboarding experiences should be too
It’s a quick and effective way of pointing people to important documents like orientation schedule and learning aids.
Do the Who’s Who
Depending on the size of your company, your new hires will likely have plenty of new faces and names to memorize. Make things easy for everyone concerned by having a company ‘family tree’ with job titles, names and a short description hosted on your company intranet or people directory.
When it comes to starting a new position in a large company, familiarity breeds contentment.
Make it personal
Every new hire is individual. So their onboarding experiences should be too. Make sure each one is unique, exciting and, above all, relevant. Simple steps to do this include assigning mentors to new hires to help build employee relations and develop professional plans. Using collaboration tools like Workplace are an effective way of managing the mentor relationship. They can work together to keep track of progress, coordinate training and share materials needed to support the on-boarding.
Don’t just orientate: integrate
Everyone’s had an experience where they’ve toured an office and said hello to fifty people but remember a grand total of four or five.
Giving new employees clear goals is more likely to make them feel valued
Ensure that each new hire gets a warm welcome with a team or company lunch or drinks. Friendly faces from the get-go will help build new employees’ impression of the office as a comfortable and cheerful place to be.
Let's Stay Connected
Get the latest news and insights from the frontline of work.
By submitting this form, you agree to receive marketing-related electronic communications from Facebook, including news, events, updates and promotional emails. You may withdraw your consent and unsubscribe from such emails at any time. You also acknowledge that you have read and agree to the Workplace Privacy terms.
Draw guidelines and set goals
Set specific goals and offer guidelines for new hires.
Giving people clear things to strive for – and providing regular, productive feedback – makes new employees feel valued. It makes them feel as though they’re an essential part of their organizations’ success.
And that’s the key to both short and long-term fulfillment of individual and business alike.
[1] Why 68% of Companies Fail Their New Hires & Employees, Workology
