Blog

July 7, 2023

Fortifying Your New Employee Onboarding

schedule 3 mins
Fortifying Your New Employee Onboarding

Great employee onboarding can improve retention by over 80% and productivity by more than 70%. This shows the significance of an effective onboarding process, which is key to the success of an organization. Employee onboarding efficaciously sets the stage for what will happen and the relationship the organization will have with the new employee. Increased employee engagement and productivity, mitigated employee turnover rate, and fewer work-related errors constitute the underlying benefits of structuring a strong employee onboarding process.

Here, we look at a few components of employee onboarding that help strengthen your organizational socialization.

Improving the New Employee Onboarding Experience

Compliance

During new employee onboarding, HR managers should start their onboarding proceedings by making the new hires aware of the company’s policies and rules. There are organizational and legal standards your new employees must be enlightened about. Assure them that the organization gives utmost importance to moral values. Compliance deals with discrimination in the workplace and other issues too. Offer the same working environment to every worker without compromising on the rules and standards. In a uniform and impartial environment, everyone can enjoy work opportunities equally. Besides, conduct all the confidential paperwork, such as insurance policies, forms, non-solicitation agreements, etc. Tick off all the boxes in your employee onboarding checklist at this stage.

Clarity

In this component of the employee onboarding program, employees should learn about their job expectations and responsibilities. The HR team and the line manager inform employees of their key result areas (KRAs). You should also address the uncertainties of your new hires and find solutions to them. Allow them to ask questions about their KRAs. Collaborate with leaders to help your employees fulfill their roles diligently. The goal is to accomplish business growth and success, which is possible only when employees do their tasks efficiently.

Confidence

Confidence is closely related to clarity. They are two sides of the same coin. Confidence demands giving new hires the support and tools they need to succeed. Build role confidence through relevant, engaging training. Your new employees should receive training personalized to their department and position. You may also assign a mentor to let the new hire feel more confident. An onboarding mentor takes their newest hire under their wing professionally, aiding them to grow and develop their skills.

Connection Building

Partner with other team members and senior authorities. You, being a manager, see to it that you have a good connection with your newly hired team. When you have an amicable relationship with your employees, they are enthusiastic enough to complete their tasks. Schedule meetings, 1-on-1s, seminars, and lunches to connect with your teammates. Understand where the employee is performing well and what challenges they are facing. Using an employee experience platform makes your job easy. The aim is to make the newly hired employee adapt to the organization. You should also recognize their efforts with appreciation and rewards. The “Praise Wall” feature in employee engagement software lets you recognize your team members with badges.

Culture

Your organizational culture shapes the way new employees integrate into your organization. It lays down a foundation for shared values, behaviors, and norms, assisting employees in understanding and embracing the organization’s identity. When there is a strong cultural onboarding process, there promotes a feeling of engagement, belonging, and alignment with organizational goals. New employees learn about the company’s customs, communication styles, and rituals, alleviating smoother integration and minimizing potential conflicts. Organizations can build a unified and inclusive workforce by prioritizing culture in new employee onboarding. If you are an organization that conducts culturally immersive onboarding programs, your employees contribute effectively, furthering teamwork and increasing overall organizational productivity.

Checkback

Checkback in with your new hire at crucial moments during the new hire journey. They should be healthy, happy, and thriving in their new role. Through checkback, the HR and the manager course correct while recognizing areas where a new hire performs excellently and areas for improvement. A few effective checkback methods that you should use during new employee onboarding include:

  • Managers catch-ups weekly;
  • Manager feedback sessions weekly;
  • Quick-fire surveys at critical moments during onboarding;
  • Bi-weekly HR check-ins; and
  • Routine digital pulse checks

A checkback succeeds only when new hires can offer their feedback. Send out anonymous surveys to new hires, soliciting their feedback about the experience they had during onboarding. You can thus gain valuable, real-life insights into your company’s onboarding process, making improvements and assuring new hires are heard and involved.