Essential Steps of Onboarding System

Posted by silkroad7 on June 8th, 2019

Employee onboarding is a common process being practiced in every organization and entails various processes like recruiting and orientation. Employee onboarding is a process that integrates new hires into the workplace in such a way that secures employees and is designed to improve productivity, which can in turn help to grow your business. While recruiting is partly hiring an employee, and orientation is typically a one-day session, employee onboarding can last for almost a year. The process of employee onboarding is so complex and prolonged that it becomes imperative to strategize the process to provide the organization with higher employee engagement, performance, and retention. Compliance, clarification, culture, and connection are the four major components that should be covered in a good employee onboarding strategy.

Keep on reading to understand the essential steps of an onboarding system that covers the previously mentioned components.

1- Spend time on planning- It is beneficial to dedicate some time planning the entire onboarding process from when and how a new employee is hired to what projects they will be working on.

2- Welcome the employee- By simply using ‘welcome’ emails or ‘welcome’ message on digital media, a company can make the new hire feel welcomed from the very start.

3- Divide the paperwork- Despite saddling the new employee with a bundle of paperwork, it is important to divide the paperwork into manageable chunks and not overload the new hire with reading, filling out forms, and signingseveral documents at once.

4- Introduction meetings- Organizing mid-morning meetings and special planned lunches that also include supervisorscan help the new employee build relationships within the workplace.

5- Orientation- Inform the new hire about the company’s mission, values, culture, and policies, and monitor the process of performance evaluation, and how a given employee’s performance impacts the organization. 

6- Explain the office’s protocol- Describe to the employee office protocol as to who signs off on the decision making, video conferencing practices, and how internal employees communicate and share information.

7- Provide the right tools- Keep everything at hand that a new employee will need from the first day, fromthe computer station, their designated desk, phone functions, software logins, email accounts, and security badges.

8- Job shadowing and mentoring- Assigning a mentor who will help the new employee learn their job role with shadowing within the department they work as well as in other departments that may be relevant, further helping them understand the functions of the organization in anoptimal way.

9- Tracking- Tracking is important to check whether the new employee is becoming more productive as the training program proceeds or if they are struggling in any areas.

10- Ask for feedback- Collect feedback from the new employees about their input on the organization’s onboarding process, also collecting feedback from the manager about the said employee’s progress.

11- Post-boarding activities- Money isn’t the sole factor for retaining employees.It is important to offer post-boarding activities like work that challenges, appropriate work-life balance, and developing strong relationships with colleagues to improve employee retention and satisfaction.

Once, an organization invests in this thorough onboarding system, it can cause higher employee engagement and retention in the long view of employment.