Onboarding is the first impression your new starter has of your organisation. It going well is of paramount importance so here’s onboarding best practices you need to put in place.
Organisations with a strong onboarding process see a 82% increase in new hire retention and a 70% improvement in productivity.
Additionally, 69% of employees are more likely to remain with a company for three years if they experience effective onboarding.
So clearly, there’s good reason for a well-structured onboarding process. It’s essential for fostering employee engagement, productivity, and retention. .
Keep reading to learn:
- What onboarding is
- The 9 steps to take to improve your onboarding
Let’s get started.
What is onboarding?
Onboarding is the process of integrating a new employee into an organisation, encompassing everything from the initial welcome and orientation to providing the necessary training and resources for them to become productive team members.
The goal is simple. Focus on the employee, not your business.
Related: Easy ways to onboard new hires
9 onboarding best practices to improve your processes
Effective onboarding is crucial for setting the foundation for a new hire’s success within an organisation.
A well-executed onboarding process not only helps new employees acclimate quickly but also boosts their engagement, productivity, and retention.
We’ve spent a lot of time with lots of different organisations setting up their onboarding processes, so we thought we would share some of the best tips we’ve seen.
Our nine onboarding best practices:
- Start before day one
- Create a structured onboarding plan
- Focus on company culture
- Provide comprehensive training
- Facilitate meaningful connections
- Incentivise engagement
- House all of your learning content together
- Remind users about their to-dos
- Gather feedback and reiterate
Start before day one
Onboarding should begin before the employee’s first day.
Preboarding activities can help new hires feel welcome and informed.
Send a welcome package that includes essential information about the company, team introductions, and what to expect on the first day.
Providing access to digital resources, such as an employee handbook and company culture videos, can also help new hires get acquainted with the organisation early.
Action steps:
- Send a personalised welcome email with necessary details about the first day.
- Provide access to online onboarding portals with company information.
- Share a schedule for the first week, including meetings and training sessions.
Create a structured onboarding plan
A structured onboarding plan outlines the objectives, timelines, and activities for the new hire’s first few months.
Related: Create onboarding checklists for each stage of the process
This plan should cover various aspects such as job training, introductions to team members, and cultural assimilation.
Clearly defined milestones and goals help new employees understand what is expected of them and how they can succeed.
Action steps:
- Develop a detailed onboarding schedule that spans at least the first 90 days.
- Include specific tasks, training sessions, and checkpoints for progress reviews.
- Assign a mentor or buddy to guide the new hire through the onboarding process.
Focus on company culture
Understanding and integrating into the company culture is crucial for new employees.
Culture fit significantly impacts employee satisfaction and performance.
During onboarding, emphasise your organisation’s values, mission, and cultural norms.
Encourage participation in team-building activities and social events to help new hires feel part of the team.
You can even create this sense of community online too.
Action steps:
- Organise culture-focused sessions where company values and mission are discussed.
- Plan team-building activities and informal gatherings.
- Encourage new hires to participate in company-wide events and meetings.
💡 Pro Tip
With a tool like Totara Engage, (this actually comes part of core Totara now) you can create spaces for your employees to collaborate. Build forums, share content and start conversations to create a knowledge-sharing environment.
Learn more about Totara Engage
Provide comprehensive training
Effective training is a cornerstone of successful onboarding.
Tailor the training programme to cover not only the technical aspects of the job but also soft skills and industry-specific knowledge.
Utilise a mix of training methods, including hands-on training, e-learning modules, and shadowing experienced employees.
Action steps:
- Develop a comprehensive training curriculum tailored to the role.
- Use a combination of training methods to cater to different learning styles.
- Schedule regular check-ins to address any training-related questions or challenges.
Facilitate meaningful connections
Building relationships is key to employee satisfaction and retention.
Help new hires establish connections with their colleagues and other departments.
Introduce them to key stakeholders and facilitate networking opportunities within the company.
One thing to really consider is mentoring opportunities. When you have a new starter, you could set them up with a buddy to help them get familiarised with the company, and have a friendly face they can count on.
Mentoring can have huge benefits for mentors, mentees, and of course, the companies implementing the programmes.
Action steps:
- Schedule meet-and-greet sessions with team members and other departments.
- Encourage participation in cross-functional projects and committees.
- Set up regular check-ins with managers and mentors to provide support and guidance.
Incentivise engagement with gamification
Everyone loves a little competition.
One great way to up onboarding engagement is by adding gamification elements to your checklist and learning content.
Related: New to BuildEmpire – points and leaderboards
Whether that’s as simple as quizzes, or more complicated content like animations and games.
With this at your disposal, you can more easily engage your new starters from their first day.
Related: The importance of competition in learning
House all of your learning content together
When your new starter begins, they will need to complete a range of statutory and mandatory training to become compliant.
Related: The best onboarding software on the market
With all of this learning content, it’s easier to put it all in one core dashboard in your LMS.
In fact, you will want to highlight this content on your LMS homepage for your new starters.
But the issue is, your current employees won’t want the same content as your new ones.
But with the right LMS, you can create custom homepages for particular demographics in your organisation.
Doing this means you can place all the right information in the right place at the right time.
Action steps:
- Create an onboarding checklist
- Build a custom onboarding homepage
Remind users about their to-do list
When you start a new role, you’re usually inundated with tasks; meeting your team, getting initiated with your job and more.
With all of these tasks on their plate, keeping on top of key actions becomes tricky.
But you can set up reminders and notifications to keep employees on top of their to-do list.
Action steps:
- Build a clear onboarding process
- Automate reminders to employees
Gather feedback and iterate
Continuous improvement is essential for an effective onboarding process.
Solicit feedback from new hires about their onboarding experience and use this information to make necessary adjustments.
Regularly review and update the onboarding programme to ensure it meets the evolving needs of the organisation and its employees.
Action steps:
- Conduct surveys and feedback sessions with new hires after the onboarding period.
- Analyse the feedback to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
- Implement changes based on feedback to enhance the onboarding experience.
Wrapping up
A well-structured and thoughtful onboarding process is crucial for the success of new employees.
By starting the onboarding process early, creating a structured plan, focusing on company culture, providing comprehensive training, facilitating meaningful connections, and continuously gathering feedback, organisations can ensure their new hires are well-prepared, engaged, and poised for long-term success.
Investing in effective onboarding not only boosts employee morale and productivity but also enhances overall organisational performance.
By implementing these best practices, you can create a welcoming and supportive environment that helps new employees thrive from day one.
Sometimes we make acronyms for no reason, but in this case, it’s justified.
For us, the 5 C’s of onboarding are:
– Compliance
– Communication
– Clarification
– Collaborative
– Coherent
Pride yourself on the journey and hit all of the C’s mentioned above and you can be sure you’re building a positive onboarding process.
Effective onboarding is crucial for setting the foundation for a new hire’s success within an organisation.
In simple terms, onboarding helps a new starter acclimatise, but it also boosts their engagement, productivity, and retention.
Onboarding is critical for both the new employee and the organisation, as it lays the groundwork for long-term success.
Research indicates that 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experience great onboarding, while companies that excel at onboarding see a 54% greater new hire productivity.
And that’s not all. Organisations that provide a structured onboarding experience enjoy a 50% higher retention rate among new employees than those that don’t.
Effective onboarding helps new hires feel welcome, reduces time to productivity, and significantly impacts employee satisfaction and engagement, making it an essential investment for any forward-thinking organisation.
Preboarding is what happens before an employee’s first day. It’s how you get them set up to hit the ground running and covers everything from getting their tech set up, to sorting paperwork and admin.