Best Practices for Onboarding New Employees

Even though onboarding is done after recruitment, it is an important part of recruitment. If the process of onboarding is taken seriously by a company and done right, the efforts to retain the new employees for long can start realising from that very moment.

Nevertheless, the main aim of onboarding an employee is to give the required training and knowledge so that the new joinee can do his work without facing any major hiccup.

In our view, onboarding must start before day one. The best way to do so is to start communicating with the new joiners. You can tell them what they can expect on the first day or how their first day at the office would look like. You can draft an email for the same which can include-

1.  A warm starting note welcoming the employees.

2.  The venue (company address) and the parking area. This is important when the employee has to work on a job site.

3.  Who should they ask for at the reception and whom will they meet first on the first day.

4.  A brief description of the paperwork they will do, a tour of the office, and an introduction of team members.

5.  Tell them that breakfast and lunch are on the company.

Some businesses give new employees a welcome package and onboarding schedule that includes a company gear and brochures, calendars etc that tell the new employee about the culture and the company. The manager can reach out to the employee by phone or email in order to formally welcome the new member to the team.

Remember HR software can help you only with the paperwork during onboarding. It is incapable of creating the human connect, you have to take charge of it.

Day 1

On the first day, an email should be sent to the employee which must include the following information-

1. Congratulating and making them comfortable.

2. Attaching an online employee handbook.

3. Contact list of departments and people.

You can also share the link between HR and recruitment software you use. Or the link of the ID you have created in the software for them. Tell them to have a look at it and that the required information will be filled by them in the software when they reach the office.
The big picture

It is very important to make the new employee understand the bigger picture. He should understand his goals and how they are going to help the company in achieving the bigger long term goals of the company.

Another important aspect of training is to make the new employees feel like they are already a part of the team. The office is their second home and it is very essential for them to feel the warm welcoming gesture from the team. Make them fill the information in the HR and recruitment software. Guide them on how to use the HR and recruitment software you are using.

Also, be nice to them and don’t bombard them with work on the first three working days.