Hello, welcome to the firm. Here is your desk. Good luck. See you in 6 months.
Funny? Relatable? Rings a bell? Perhaps, it is not far from your own experience…
Good news is, there is a pretty easy fix!
What is Onboarding?
Onboarding is essentially a socialization process. It means getting acquainted with the organizational culture and the requirements for the newly taken position. Yes, it also has to do with collecting equipment and signing appropriate documents but the potential is so much greater.
Imagine your first day at a new company as this: you do not have your e-mail address set nor have been able to figure out the coffee machine. Most importantly you have not met your team leader and everyone around seems unable to help you. Anyways, bothering people on your first day frustrates you. It could have been worse because they actually gave you a chair. But do you feel welcome? That is unlikely.
Onboarding means a set of procedures to be performed when someone new joins the company. It helps to avoid situations like the one described above. If the process is handled correctly, everyone knows what to do from the minute they get to the office. All the necessary equipment is there, all the formalities lack just the signature and most importantly the employee is aware what awaits – not only on their first day but during the whole probationary period.
You only get one chance to make a first impression
It is often underestimated how important the first days are. Somehow companies are aware of the first impression significance when it comes to their clients but completely forget about it when welcoming a new team member. Nevertheless, the beginnings are crucial for the employee to form their opinion about the company.
‘First impression can only be made once’ is a cliché, but it probably played a role during the interview. Why should it not work the other way around? If a company looks bad in the eyes of the newcomer, they might quit early. And that means unnecessary costs, waste of time and general frustration.
Do we have a plan?
At first glance, adding procedures for welcoming new employees might seem unnecessary. How much is there to do? Should it not be obvious?
Now, do you remember all those situations when you hired someone and did not know what to give them to do during their first week? If you do not recall such situations – congratulations! – you have great procedures and as a matter of fact you can skip this article. Sorry for keeping you this long. On the other hand, if that sounds familiar, please read on.
First. Let’s answer some questions!
- What should be done before day one? What information the soon-to-be employee needs and who is responsible for that?
- Are there any formalities pending? Maybe there are some medical exams or special trainings to be scheduled? For sure a contract needs to be signed!
- What kind of tools do you have to prepare? Computer, phone, company car or maybe some special permits?
- Who will be the employee’s mentor? It really is important to assign someone who can help out during the first days.
- What are the mission, vision and strategy of your company? Remember to share that so everyone is on the same page!
- How should a day one at your company look like? Are the people who need to participate in the onboarding available? It would be ideal to give everyone a little heads-up.
Take your time and think these things through before the newcomer arrives. We recommend creating templates for future onboardings for each job position, not only for the current vacancies. That way you only need to design them once. Such template can then be used many times. What better way than to keep it all in a software?
The HCM way
Onboarding is so much more than just a clean desk and a stack of papers to sign. It should include predefined meetings, trainings, introductions, tasks and so on. It is important that the employee is informed about what is expected from them since day one. They need to be well-equipped and prepared to independently take over the responsibilities. It is going to look a little different depending on the position to fill. That is why you need a guideline to follow. Set it in the software and worry no more!
In MintHCM you get to define all the steps in the onboarding process, create a plan for such situation and simply follow it when someone new joins your team. The system offers a road-map of procedures that need to be done before the new employee enters the building on their first day. It also delivers a variety of features in order to remember to sign the required documentation, arrange necessary meetings, give out the tools, set up the training and many more.
No more chaos. Go through checklists of what is there to do and forget nothing!
We hope we inspired you to rethink the procedures at your company. Let us know if you need some support while implementing the software.
And how do you approach onboarding at your company?
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