This is a big question many managers and supervisors avoid answering with any type of clarity. The reason for dodging the question – they do not have a confident answer.
If you can relate to this, I have good news, there is a silver lining to not having an answer. The silver lining means you have a place to create and build an outstanding onboarding process from that will give you new confidence.
In this article I will share with you the tactics and tools you need to make your onboarding process outstanding. Plus the timeline given will help you set check-points to make small adjustments when needed. Instead of hitting an obstacle in the process and feeling stuck, you will be ready to go the moment your new employee accepts your offer.
After reading to the end, you will understand what goals to set, the logistics involved, and how to use empathy and feedback to keep getting better.
Hey Anne, why do I need an onboarding program? –
This is a great and important question to understand the value of an on-boarding program. Quick answer is, not having one is not an option. The longer answer is the onboarding process is what sets you apart from other organizations. This time with your new hire is also a golden time to invest in them and show them who you are as a leader and as a culture.
Plus, without an amazing onboarding process in place, think about how your new employee will feel. It is very likely they will feel confused, alienated, downgrade their confidence, and disconnected. This is no way for a new hire to feel, especially when they started off excited!
Begin with the end in mind – (Goals and logistics)
No alt text provided for this image
Beginning with the end in mind is a concept of planning and decision making that has been around a long time. The idea is to start with your outcome in mind, then build the process in reverse. For onboarding a new employee, the end goal is to keep them in your organization.
The end is a relative term used in both the long-term and short-term sense. Your long-term goal of your onboarding process is retention. Your short-term goal can range from the first week, the first three months, and the first year.
For your long-term retention goal, ask yourself the following questions –
What about our company and culture offers new employees a long-term benefit to plan on being here for their career?
How can we make such a powerful impact on their first impression, they can see a clear roadmap of their career with us?
What vision of our future is going to inspire this person to want to be here long-term in terms of growth, appreciation, and compensation?
For your short-term goals, ask yourself the following questions –
What information is essential for them at this point and who must they meet?
When is the best time to meet with them one-on-one?
What is an appropriate balance between getting paperwork done, training them, and interacting with them?
What is the best form of and the expectations of communicating with them?
What is our plan if they are ready before onboarding ends?
What is our plan if they are technically ready when onboarding ends but they struggle operationally or culturally?
Tailor these questions to fit the position and your organization to maximize your planning. Doing so will help you optimize and adapt when you need to. Without answering these questions, you are missing the structure needed for you and for them to succeed.
When it comes to logistics, you will need to customize this to the position and the purpose.
In general you will want to have a detailed schedule of events for the first two weeks.
From week three to the 90 day mark you will be transitioning from more frequent to less, but never miss a scheduled meeting. Never. If you put a day and time on your calendar to meet with your new hire, you do it no matter what.
A point worth emphasizing – investing your time and energy and staying accountable to your commitment is non-negotiable when onboarding.
This non-negotiable nature of on-boarding helps support why enrolling your entire organization in the process is so important.
Enroll your organization, not just your team – (Culture over company)
No alt text provided for this image
On-boarding your new hire is not done in a vacuum. On-boarding is an all-hands evolution to give your hew hire the most support possible. This full enrollment in the on-boarding process is also about bringing the company together to each of a stake in the success of the new hire.
Yes, your team and the people who work with them on a regular basis will have a large influence. Yet leadership and employees across the company can give support by offering insights, ideas, and new approaches to help improve.
A lot of this enrollment will be indirect, yet it will come from a place where everyone in the company matters as does their voice. Your new hire will feel this because it will also be visible across the culture.
Sending a message that everyone cares about their success reinforces the new hire they are in a safe place. A place where people care about other people, even if there is no direct benefit to doing so.
This all-hands style of enrollment in on-boarding also creates a sense of empathy giving further comfort to the new hire transition. This empathy is a great place to engage from regardless what point in the onboarding process you are in.
What if you were them? – (Empathy to engage)
No alt text provided for this image
The fundamental question you need to ask yourself to stay in-tune with your new hire is – what if you were in their shoes?
If you were them, what would help you feel welcomed, feel confident you have support, and feel excited about what is to come?
What were your fears that they may have as well?
What were questions you had that they may have?
What concerns about the position can you address?
How can you help them understand their value and worth in the company?
What is the best way to set them up for success with the least amount of friction in the future?
What obstacles will they experience and who do they turn to for help?
A major portion of your on-boarding process has to do with how you answer these types of questions. Because you are planning beforehand sets the tone for when your new hire starts. Once their first day is over, it can be challenging to address issues on the fly.
You want to build your process with the foundation of empathy because it will get you out of your head and into theirs to help smooth out the process for them.
Once you exhaust these questions and answers it is time to seek outside counsel. This outside counsel can be a recent new hire, someone on your team, or someone in another department.
The reason you want to gather this feedback is because everyone experiences things different. The onboarding process for one person will have pro’s and con’s different from another person.
Gather this information early and often to set you, and ultimately your new hire, up for success.
This is the language of champions – (Feedback as fuel for them and you)
No alt text provided for this image
Gathering feedback is one of the most challenging and rewarding things you can do for your on-boarding process. Challenging because you must be open to areas you need to improve the process. Rewarding because you get valuable information from other equally valuable sources.
Caveat with feedback on your process, and in general, is to make sure the person giving it to you is coming from a good place. Meaning they want to help improve and want to see you and the new hire succeed.
This is why feedback is the language of champions as well. The majority of successful people, across industries, seek out another set of eyes to help them get better. Whether the feedback makes them feel good or bad, if it is helpful it can be useful.
The types of people to get feedback from –
Your mentor within your company
Your coach outside your company
Your colleague within the company.
Your colleague from networking groups.
Example timeline of events for your onboarding process –
No alt text provided for this image
Prior to the start date – Assign a team mentor, prepare a detailed schedule for weeks 1 and 2, craft your 48 hour welcome email/text.
48 hour email/text:
Logistics – Where to park, who to ask for when they get there, to pack a lunch or not, etc.
Personal – Tell them how excited you are for them to start, share cool events coming up, any other information specific to them.
Week 1 – Provide detailed schedule for each day, ask about the recruiting/hiring process, ask about their first day, and solve any technical/technology issues.
Week 2 – Provide detailed schedule for each day, ask about their onboarding so far, address any new questions or issues.
Week 3 – Setup meeting schedule for the coming weeks, bi-monthly, tapering to monthly for the first year.
Week 4 – Set expectations and check-ins leading up to the 90 day mark.
Full year – Onboarding needs to go through all four seasons of the business cycle. You want to be a resource for them when times are busy, slow, or unexpected so they feel stable through it all.
What’s next? – (This is cyclical, not linear)
The next thing to do is go through the process of refining your onboarding process. This is not a linear workflow, it requires consistent update and evaluation to make sure it is top notch.
Now that you know the value of an onboarding process, some macro perspective, and the micro, tactical points it is time to get to work. Start with the end goals in mind, both short and long term. From there enroll your team as well as your organization so the culture embraces the onboarding process.
Begin to gather feedback throughout the process and each time someone goes through it as a new hire. You can use the general timeline provided as a starting point and then , refine, polish and update.
It will take some time to get it where you want it, and that’s a good thing. Yet you have no time to waste, so the sooner you get to work the better.
You have got this and I am here if you need help. It is my mission to support leaders who love leading their people. And make no mistake about it, the onboarding process is your chance as a leader to make a great first impression. So make the most of it by making it count!