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10 Onboarding Best Practices to Turn New Hires into Lasting EmployeesPortions selected from article written by:?Brian Westfall?Software Advice Website at?“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”?— H.P. LovecraftNo matter how confident you are now, at some point in your life you started something new—and it was?utterly terrifying. Maybe it was transferring to a new school, trying out for the softball team or becoming a parent.This fear of the unknown might explain why?more than half?of all U.S. employees leave a new job within their first year.To ensure your new hires stay—and succeed—here are 10 onboarding best practices:1. Reach Out to New Hires Before Their Start Date2. Make Their First Day Memorable3. Keep Their Schedule Tightly Structured (at Least to Start)4. Form a Cross-Departmental Onboarding Team5. Spread Out the Paperwork6. Get the Whole Company Involved7. Set Expectations Early and Often8. Allow New Hires to Give Their Own Feedback9. Communicate the Culture Early and Often10. Don’t Expect New Hires to Hit the Ground Running1. Reach Out to New Hires Before Their Start DateThe telling stat:?83 percent of the highest-performing organizations in one study began onboarding before the new hire’s first day (Source:?Aberdeen Group).If new hires are getting the silent treatment between accepting your offer and starting the job, you’re already sending the wrong message.Maybe it’s an email from HR walking them through that first day, or a phone call from their new manager for a brief introduction. Whatever the medium, you should reach out to new hires before they begin, so they’re not going in completely blind.2. Make Their First Day MemorableThe telling stat:?Nearly?4 percent?of employees leave a new job after a disastrous first day (Source:?SHRM).“How was your first day?”It’s a common question, and you don’t want new hires to answer with, “I spent all day filling out paperwork.” You don’t get a second chance at a first impression, so make sure day one is a positive experience.Here are some suggestions for starting new hires on the right foot:Have their desk already set up with everything they need (ID badges, forms etc.).Give them a welcome package that includes gifts or messages from office mates.Schedule a lunch with some of the new hire’s coworkers (and pay for it).Send a company-wide email about your new hire to introduce them.Don’t be afraid to ask your current employees what they did or did not like about their first day, either. They’re key to making your new hires feel confident about their decision to work for your company.3. Keep Their Schedule Tightly Structured (at Least to Start)The telling stat:?Employees in a well-structured onboarding program are?69 percent?more likely to remain at the company after three years (Source:? HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" Wynhurst Group).Scheduling a new hire’s entire first week or two ahead of time has a couple of benefits. For one, they’ll never be left wondering what’s next.Perhaps most importantly, it also gives the right impression: “Trust us. We know what we’re doingUsing a shared calendar managers and HR users can create task lists and schedules for new hires, so they always know where they need to be and what they’ll be doing.Even scheduling tasks as vague as “set up your computer to your liking” give new employees direction, so they can dive in instead of twiddling their thumbs.As new hires get assignments and start ramping up, you can make their schedule less rigid to allow them to get work done at their own pace.4. Form a Cross-Departmental Onboarding TeamThe telling stat:?56 percent?of new hires say having a buddy or mentor is important to them when starting a new job (Source:? HYPERLINK "" \t "_blank" BambooHR).HR knows compliance; management knows performance expectations; coworkers know the day-to-day; and IT knows how to get equipment up and running. Forming a small team with members from each of these departments helps ensure everything is covered for new hires before they even walk through the front door.Assigning a buddy or mentor who works in the same department as your new hire is also a good idea. The new hire gets a point person to direct any questions, comments or concerns towards, and the mentor gets an opportunity to demonstrate leadership.5. Spread Out the PaperworkThe telling stat:?80 percent?of HR administrations say onboarding paperwork is completed in person at a desk or in a conference room (Source:?ADP).I-9s, employee handbooks, payroll forms, non-disclosure agreements—there’s a reason onboarding is often associated with a ton of paperwork. But if you drop all of the necessary forms on your new hire all at once, they could become disenchanted, or worse, overwhelmed.Instead, spread the paperwork out and give new hires some autonomy in completing it on their own time. You can put all necessary forms online and assign due dates for completion.6. Get the Whole Company InvolvedThe telling stat:?86 percent?of employees blame a lack of collaboration for workplace failures (Source:?Fierce, Inc.).The saying goes that “it takes a village to raise a child.” It also takes a whole company to get new hires integrated and up to speed.Schedule some one-on-one time between new hires and veteran workers in every department during their first few weeks, including job shadowing (when possible).This will allow new employees to see how their role fits into the big picture at your organization. What’s more, it can also foster vital interdepartmental collaboration: You never know, for example, when your new salesperson will have a brilliant marketing idea.If departments end up working together in the future, everyone will already be familiar with each other.7. Set Expectations Early and OftenThe telling stat:?60 percent?of companies don’t set any milestones or goals for new hires (Source:?Allied HR IQ).When it comes to role responsibilities and performance goals, vagueness is the enemy. Setting defined (but realistic) expectations for new hires from the get-go—and communicating them clearly—can allow workers to evaluate their own progress and prepare for what’s to come.Set short-term and long-term goals, then have managers check in regularly to see if new hires are meeting them (and why or why not).For example, a short-term goal might be, “finish 50 percent of the sales training videos by Friday,” while a long-term goal could be, “complete 10 projects within the next six months.”After a couple of months, a?formal performance review?should be scheduled to give new employees honest feedback on how they’re doing. And of course, don’t forget to heap praise on those who deserve it.8. Allow New Hires to Give Their Own FeedbackThe telling stat:?81 percent?of employees would rather join a company that values open communication over one that offers perks such as great health insurance, free food or gym memberships (Source:?15Five).Are new hires going to tell you something about your company is awful on their first day? Probably not. But if you leave avenues for honest feedback open, workers will be more inclined to present solutions to problems you may not even know you have..9. Communicate the Culture Early and OftenThe telling stat:?89 percent?of hiring failures are due to poor cultural fit (Source:?Forbes).Unless your recruiters failed to adequately examine their skills, your new hires probably aren’t going to fail because they don’t know how to do their job. More likely, they’re going to fail because their work habits and personality don’t mesh well with your company culture.Even after applicants become employees, a concerted effort should be made to communicate your organization’s culture.So, how do you know what your culture looks like? Start by asking yourself the following questions:How do you conduct meetings, if you conduct meetings at all?What is valued more: analytical thinking or creativity?Do employees hang out together outside of work?Is competition encouraged or discouraged?Presenting an honest view of your company culture can help new hires decide if it’s a match, or if they need to find an employer more aligned with their style.10. Don’t Expect New Hires to Hit the Ground RunningThe telling stat:?It takes?eight months, on average, for a new employee to become fully productive (Source:?Allied HR IQ).While it can be tempting to speed up onboarding and training so your employees can start producing, this can actually be detrimental to worker development and retention in the long run.In a study by Aberdeen Group, new hires in the longest onboarding process reached full productivity?34 percent faster?than those in the shortest process.In this case, slow and steady really does win the race.ShareShare 10 Onboarding Best Practices to Turn New Hires into Lasting EmployeesLike10 Onboarding Best Practices to Turn New Hires into Lasting EmployeesCommentShareShare 10 Onboarding Best Practices to Turn New Hires into Lasting Employees ................
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