There's a lot of pleasure to be had in running your own business. You get to be your own boss, call the shots, and reap all the benefits of your own success. There's a reason business owners tend to be some of the most satisfied workers across all industries in the United States.
That doesn't mean being the boss
always comes easy. There's an endless amount of challenges that come with being
a business owner, and there is always room to improve. Handling a new employee
will always be an area where a business owner can learn and improve.
If you're onboarding new employees
at your place of work, what should you understand about getting them on the
same page as the rest of your team? How can you craft an onboarding process
that helps your new hire and yourself? Read on, and we'll walk you through a
few ideas and tricks that can help make the process run much smoother.
1.
Create a Consistent Process
The last thing you want to do is
present an onboarding process to a new hire that is sloppy, inconsistent and
reveals a lack of planning. We all know how important a first impression is,
and there's no bigger first impression for a new employee than their official
onboarding.
Just tossing some paperwork at a new
hire and hoping they figure out the rest on their own is going to send them
packing quicker than you'd prefer to think.
This problem is more common than many like to believe.
In order to avoid any kind of a
mess, it's important to plan out in detail how you want your onboarding work to
be done ahead of time. The process should stay consistent from hire to hire,
and there should be set expectations and plans in place that you can follow.
This way, you can keep the
onboarding on track even as other things come up that might need your
attention.
Brainstorming and planning ahead of
time will also allow you to approach the task of onboarding a new employee with
a clear mind.
Approaching
Your Onboarding Plan
First, you should start with a blank
slate and list out all things that a new hire might need to know about the kind
of work you do. Start broadly, thinking of general information about your
business they'll need to know, then you can work more specifically into details
associated with various job titles and departments.
You'll want to think about their
daily tasks and needs. What kind of logins will they need, what access, and
what programs will they use? They'll need to be able to get started with all
these things quickly.
You'll also want to think about
basic needs outside of their work. Do they know where the bathrooms are? The
procedure for getting in and out of the building? How about where to get
lunch?
The more you sit and brainstorm, the
more you'll realize you might have to convey to your new hire. The onboarding
needs of each business will be different, but the most important thing
businesses across all industries can do is take this time to plan ahead.
You'll be able to fine-tune and
better your onboarding process based on results each time, but there should
always be something you can rely on in place.
2.
Get Paperwork Done Ahead of Time
One hack that can make the
onboarding process easier for both employer and employee? Try to get all the
initial paperwork done ahead of time. That means before the employee is clocked
in at work for their first day.
Many businesses give an employee a
huge packet of paperwork that ends up eating nearly all their time on their
first day. This eats up precious time that this new hire could be used
integrating into the environment and getting comfortable.
No one is going to learn much with
their head submerged in piles of paper, writing down their social security
number for the ninth time. New employee forms can be dense and distracting to
get through.
This is why, when you make an
official offer to a new hire, you can also provide them with all the paperwork
they'll need to fill out to get started with your company.
If the employee can take some small
amount of time the week or two before they start to complete this paperwork, it
can make their first day run so much smoother.
If you feel uncomfortable asking
your new hire to do this kind of work off the clock, you can always just give
them the option to do it whenever they want. You'll find that given the option
(instead of being forced), many employees will also want to get this kind of
paperwork out of the way ahead of time.
Your employee likely wants their
first day to be as productive and engaging as you do.
Today, it's easier than ever to do
all the tasks involved with this kind of paperwork remotely. You can even use a
website like WorkBright.com
to verify I9 information through the web. It couldn't be easier.
3.
Consider a Welcome Video
As we stated before, crafting a
great first impression with a new hire can help carry over into their work for
many weeks. The environment you set on a new hire's first few days can really
set the tone for the whole stretch of their experience.
One way to go above and beyond with
this first impression? Consider presenting your new hire with a welcome video.
This video can accomplish a number of amazing things when it comes to
establishing a connection to your new employee.
For one, a welcome video can be an
easy and efficient way to get across things about your business that might be
hard to capture in words. It's a great place to 'sell' the idea of your company
again, reassuring the new hire that they made the right choice in accepting
this job.
You can cement the ideas of your
company culture, get across all the basic information about your company's
history and way of life, and help to welcome them into this existing
world.
A welcome video can provide an easy
way for various members of the business to say their hellos to the new hire. If
you've got the time, it's great to personalize these videos, but using the same
video for multiple hires is also possible.
You can include this video in a
welcome email to a new employee, or present it to them in person once they
arrive at your place of work.
At the end of the day, an employee
will see a welcome video as evidence that you were willing to go above and
beyond to make their first day special and memorable. This extra step will not
go unappreciated and will help you start off on the right foot with this new
hire.
4.
Plan Out a Reasonable Timeline
The most difficult part about
onboarding a new hire? Determining how long the process should take in the
whole. It can be far too easy to overwhelm a new employee on their first day or
two, throwing a mountain of information at them and expecting them to be up to
date within a small window of time.
New employee orientation can take
time, and it's important to plan ahead for the time that will be needed. The
window that you should provide will vary depending on the size and scope of
your business and the position that the person in question is being hired for.
It's best to overestimate the time
needed. It's much easier for a person to decide they feel comfortable and get
ahead of schedule as opposed to a new employee already feeling like they are
falling behind.
When you make your initial
onboarding plan, you should highlight how many days it takes to reach various
milestones.
How many days before a new hire is
integrated into all systems? When will they have met all the various players at
your business? When will they take over certain responsibilities from existing
team members?
Again, the answers to these
questions and more are not set in stone. They will depend on the kind of work
that you do and how you run your business. The most important thing is just
that you have expectations in place and communicate them clearly to your new
hire.
It's important to ensure that the
expectations are clear, reasonable, and give your new hire ample time to get
comfortable.
5.
Welcome Them to the Area
A new office and place of work can
be like entering into a new world. While it's essential that they get used to
your office as a new place to spend their time, it can also be helpful to take
the extra step of welcoming them to the area in general.
Including information about the
surrounding area in your initial documentation can be another way to show an
employee you're willing to go above and beyond to make them feel welcome.
A great and useful tool is to give
them a guide to all the various lunch establishments near the office. You can
break it down by type of food, budget, or even have different employees pick
out their personal favorites.
It can be disorienting for a new
employee to determine where to go during their lunch hour, and this kind of
guide can make the task much, much easier.
Including other information about
essential services and entertainment options near the office can also be
helpful. Is there a movie theater around the corner? A gym with a great
membership deal?A park that can be a great place to take an evening
stroll?
All of these are worth mentioning to
new hires so that they can start to get comfortable building their life around
this new workplace.
Remember, the more comfortable they
are at your office, the more they'll perform quality work and stick around for
many years.
6.
Make Team Introductions
The first day of work for a new
employee can feel a lot like the first day of school. They are being integrated
into an environment where they are the odd person out. Everyone else on your
team already knows one another and how things work. This can make any sort of
new hire feel nervous or anxious.
Trying to make this new employee
feel as welcome as possible as early as possible will help everyone out.
Think long and hard about how best
to introduce this new hire to the rest of your team. Sending out a new employee
announcement to your existing team ahead of their arrival can be a good start
so that your current employees know what to expect and attempt to connect with
this new person.
It can also be a good idea to plan a
team lunch sometime on the first day or two of a new hire's employment. Having
a casual environment in which this person can meet the rest of your company can
allow them to integrate much easier.
If it's too hard to get everyone in
the office together for this, at least prioritize getting them some face time
with the employees which they'll be working most closely.
Bettering
Your New Employee Onboarding
If you're bringing a new employee
onto your team sometime in the near future, you'll want to ensure that you're
doing so in a way that will make their experience as positive as possible.
The above are a few essential tips
and tricks that can make your overall onboarding process efficient and
memorable. This can help make a new hire feel welcome and better your overall
employee retention.
Need more tips for the workplace?
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