How to Make Your Onboarding Process a Successful One

How you onboard your new employees can have a ripple effect that impacts everything from engagement to turnover. Effective onboarding can speed up a person’s time-to-productivity, saving you money and time in the process.

To get the best out of new staff members and set them up with the strongest start possible, you can’t overlook the importance of onboarding. As an introduction to your business, it can help employees transition to your ways of working, provide a foundation for job knowledge, and generally answer any questions they may have.

Skipping or rushing the onboarding process can leave employees feeling abandoned, unsure of what’s expected of them, and unprepared for their new role. Onboarding can be as much of a learning process for new employees as it is for existing staff. After all, current teams will need to learn how to work with their new team member.

In this guide, we’ll explore onboarding best practices, its importance, and other topics, such as onboarding remote employees.

What is onboarding?

Onboarding is the process of introducing a newly hired employee into an organization. It’s the perfect opportunity to get them clued up on your values, introduce them to the team, and make them feel welcome from day one.

Also known as organizational socialization, onboarding plays an important part in helping employees understand their new position and job requirements. It’s a process that helps new hires integrate seamlessly with the rest of the company.

Many businesses have a formalized approach to onboarding. They provide set information, often about the business, basic HR policies, and arrange meetings with all relevant points of contact. While it’s unlikely you’d ever discourage questions, the onboarding period is an ideal time for new employees to ask as many questions as possible as they get to grips with the business and their role.

Which strategies are suitable for onboarding?
There are several steps involved in the onboarding process, from receiving the job offer to team training and familiarizing your new employee with your employee handbook and policies. An effective onboarding process helps employees get up to speed quickly, with a consistent process that ensures everyone starts their role on the same footing.

Onboarding strategies can include:

• Pre-job admin: Onboarding can begin long before your new employee has accepted the new position. The job offer letter, any communications, and even the interview can act as an introduction to your business.

• Introductions: Essential to a smooth transition, the onboarding process should include getting to know the team. This includes the employees they’ll be working with, managing, and being managed by. Encouraging a team spirit early is never a bad thing.

• Perks and professional expectations: It’s probable you will have touched on this as part of the interview, but your onboarding should cover a basic rundown of the HR policies. This doesn’t have to be extensive, but it should cover the basic points. It can also be a good time to go over company benefits and holiday allowances.

• Understanding their role: As part of onboarding, it’s a good opportunity to explore the details of the role. You might not be able to cover everything in one sitting, but laying the groundwork early on can give new employees a greater understanding of what’s expected of them. It may be useful to assign new staff members an onboarding buddy, an individual who can act as a point of contact and answer any questions they may have.

Why is an effective onboarding strategy important?

An effective onboarding strategy can make all the difference in an employee’s experience of the workplace. By dedicating time to new staff members, you can set them on the right path. Below, we explore the importance of onboarding strategies.

Improved retention

It doesn’t take long for new employees to decide whether their new job is right for them. After all, first impressions count. A proactive onboarding strategy can remove uncertainty and demystify prior notions about the job, helping the new employee feel assured early on.

Increased team bonding

Whether the new hire is full-time or part-time, teamwork is essential to the new employee's role, and encouraging those workplace relationships as soon as possible can be a great help. Likewise, if employees know who to turn to and what’s expected of them, it can reduce friction on the team.

Create a better workplace culture

Every business has unique expectations of their employees. If you have a workplace culture you’d like to build or maintain, onboarding is the perfect opportunity to promote these values and encourage your new hire to buy into them.

Improved employee engagement

A risk with any employee is that their engagement will drop off, especially after their first few months in the company. One of the best ways to counteract this is with onboarding. Effective onboarding plans can help employees feel like they belong and give them a better shot at integrating with the wider business.

What does the onboarding process normally look like?

Onboarding begins the moment a candidate accepts a job offer and ends when the new employee is fully integrated and performing. The process can vary, but typically includes the following:

• Pre-boarding: The offer is accepted. Here, you can send a welcome pack and paperwork and start getting systems ready.
• Orientation: This covers the employee’s first day. Provide an overview of the business, culture, and policies.
• Training: Depending on the role, you’ll now have an experienced team member work with the employee to train them on the systems they will use. Consider either shadowing them or providing them with an onboarding buddy who’ll be on hand to answer any questions.
• Integration: Here, you can encourage relationships and bonding with the organization. Organize icebreakers and team lunches to bring everyone together.

What is relational onboarding?

Starting a new job can be overwhelming, and onboarding is most effective when it is spread out over time. This allows employees to better retain information by giving them time to process everything and ask questions as needed. Part of giving employees the time they need is focusing on relational onboarding.

Relational onboarding is an onboarding technique that focuses on building strong working relationships. It fosters trust among teams, cultivates connections, and prioritizes mental well-being over traditional onboarding practices.

The best onboarding processes will include relational onboarding, which includes, but isn’t limited to:

• setting expectations
• building relationships with other employees
• creating confidence and trust
• creating a clear definition of roles and boundaries.

A quick onboarding checklist

Revisiting your onboarding process or setting one up from scratch? We’ve rounded up a quick onboarding checklist for you to refer to that covers the key elements of this process for you to factor in and make your own:

What’s the best practice for onboarding remote employees?

We’ve established that poor onboarding can hurt an employee. Onboarding processes that don’t capture everything a new team member needs can leave them feeling disconnected from the team, undertrained, and undervalued.

So, when a remote employee starts, keep in mind that they won’t have the same interactions as those based in the office. There will be no team lunches, icebreaker challenges in a meeting room, or casual chats at the coffee machine. This is why having a separate onboarding process for remote employees is essential.

• Build a digital connection. Ensure there is a digital channel so they can reach out to other team members. Communication apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and others can provide a quick and convenient line of communication.
• Offer in-person support if possible. Whether it’s social events, seminars, or general training, inviting a remote employee into the office or a different location for in-person support can help them feel valued.
• Send a welcome email. Sending a welcome email can help a new remote employee feel a part of the team. Consider sending out a “getting to know the team” email chain with a mixture of background information and fun facts about the new employee so others can learn more about them.
• Use employee onboarding software. Ensure onboarding is as smooth as possible with the right onboarding software. The right platform can help you sort everything in one place, from organizing paperwork signatures to setting up important tasks for them to complete on their first day.

Onboarding best practices

How you choose to onboard your new staff members may vary from team to team, or even role to role, but the best practices for the onboarding process should remain the same. If you’re planning a new onboarding program, consider the following:

• Stick to a structure. It may be tempting to make things up as you go along and address things as they arise, but sticking to a structure means you’re less likely to forget something important.
• Be clear and consistent. The information you give must be clear and consistent with what everyone else has been told to avoid conflict, upsets, and mixed messages.
• Regularly check in. The onboarding process won’t always be smooth sailing. Regularly checking in with new employees can help you when an individual needs more support or any adjustments.
• Be open to onboarding feedback. Allowing employees to give feedback and share their thoughts on the process provides the opportunity to improve your process.
• Manager training. Think about who’s delivering the onboarding and ensure they’ve been provided with adequate training to be effective.

Perfecting your onboarding process

Creating an effective onboarding process, or even improving your current one, doesn’t have to be difficult. Initially, you can think carefully about what’s important to your company and how you’d like to shape the workplace culture. You’ll also need a plan that focuses on new employees, gives them space to ask questions, and understand their role without feeling rushed. Remember that the onboarding process is your best opportunity to set a strong foundation.

To take the stress out of onboarding, BambooHR^® offers everything you need for a seamless process. From handy templates to automated task management, you can streamline training and boost retention from the get-go.