Onboarding well isn’t all that complicated. When you’re a small team early on, it’s straightforward and happens organically, but once you reach a certain scale it does require moving towards a formal, regularized process, otherwise you do run the risk of missing some low-hanging fruit to drive employee engagement and productivity.
1. When is the right time to formalize onboarding?
- Under 10 employees - If you’re less than 10, but just raised capital and are planning to scale quickly.
- Over 10 employees - If you’ve reached ~10 employees, then there’s likely enough institutional knowledge about “how things work” and opportunities for new employees to feel left out of the group.
- Remote hires - If you’re hiring one or more remote employees, regardless of team size.
2. What does a good onboarding process look like?
A good onboarding process captures and accelerates the enthusiasm and energy employees have when they first start a job. They feel welcomed to the company, they clearly understand their role, the company mission and values, and they quickly adjust to all the systems and tools they need to perform their jobs. A bad onboarding process on the other hand, almost immediately detracts from their motivation and increases their time to ramp up and perform in their job.
3. How do I get started?
Check out this onboarding checklist created by Forbes Business. It’s not rocket science, but it’s a useful guide to ensure you’re not missing anything critical — that tends to be the easiest trap to fall into.
4. What are the benefits onboarding well?
- Employee productivity and well-being - An employee feeling welcomed and informed on their first few days can have a huge impact on their overall productivity long-term and their long-term retention.
- Employee retention - A strong onboarding process can dramatically improve employee retention.
- Maintains culture - Each new hire receives the same set of information about company values and expectations.
- Reinforces existing employee engagement - When new hires join the team and are fully-aligned with the company’s goals and values, it positively impacts existing team members.
- Regulatory compliance - Makes sure you include all the required hiring notices and disclosures to safeguard against regulatory mistakes which can be costly to the company.
References
To Retain New Hires, Spend More Time Onboarding Them
Talent management is one of the things CEOs worry about most, and yet companies often spend very little time onboarding their new employees. The most effective organizations onboard new hires for the duration of their first year — their most vulnerable period — and focus on three key dimensions: the organizational, the technical, and the social. By using this integrated approach, they enable their employees to stay, and to thrive.
hbr.org
What Scientific Research Says About Employee Onboarding — 32 Statistics & Findings
This post has over 30 statistics and findings from the academic literature on employee onboarding.
www.preppio.com
Forbes Sample Onboarding Checklist
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