Effective On-Boarding

After weeks, sometimes months, you have finally found the candidate that you feel is the right “fit” for your organization. You have extended the offer and the candidate has accepted it. Now the first day for the new employee is right around the corner. As an organization, you'll never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Any good on-boarding program should start prior to the new employees first day of work. Effective on-boarding will allow the employee to learn his/her job quicker, reduce their time to competency and become engaged sooner. On the "human" side, you want to make the new employee feel comfortable in their new role thereby reinforcing their decision to join the company. (A good on-boarding program may increase retention rates by as much as 25%.) Below are a few basic on-boarding steps I recommend.

Prior to the first day of work:

1. Send out a general introduction email to all employees announcing the new hire and his/her role in the organization.

2. Send a welcome letter to the employee and communicate how glad you are that they are now part of the team. Enclose a meeting agenda for the new employee outlining their schedule for the first week. Also provide information such as where the employee should park that first day and who they should ask for upon arrival to the office. Ensure the new hire understands your dress code to avoid any embarrassment on the first day. As a nice touch, perhaps enclose a copy of their new hire announcement.

3. Ensure the workstation is ready and the employee has everything he/she needs to complete their duties. Have business cards prepared and/or a name plate on the door.

4. Arrange for training, where necessary, on computer hardware/software, phone use, email, fax machine, Internet access. Ensure the employee has passwords, log-in information and any other necessary instructions.

The first day of employment finds a new employee often overwhelmed with names, faces, paperwork, boring orientation discussions and/or lectures. Takes steps to lessen the stress!

The first day of employment:

1. Assign a mentor to help the new employee with the transition. The mentor should be the first person the new employee meets that morning. Or perhaps consider job shadowing. (Take any steps necessary to provide the new employee with a network of support.)

2. Provide the new employee with a workplace tour. The first stop should be their own workspace. Take the time to introduce the new employee to his/her co-workers. Provide the new employee with an organization chart as a reference tool. It will assist them in understanding their role in the organization and to remember faces, names, etc.

3. Celebrate the arrival of the new employee by a group or department luncheon. Have this pre-scheduled!

4. In the afternoon, have the new employee meet with HR. Use this time to discuss the company's mission and values, products and/or services. At this point it's very important to avoid information overload! Rather than overwhelming the new employee with paperwork, have a new hire package prepared for him/her. Allow him/her to take the package home for the evening and review it's contents. Have a follow up meeting to finalize the paperwork as well as to discuss policies and procedures, benefits, compensation etc.

5. Provide the new employee with a written set of objectives and responsibilities. Ensure they have a copy of their job description.

6. At the close of the day, allow for an informal chat with senior members of the organization. *One CEO made it his habit to meet with every new hire at the end of their first week. This allowed him to obtain feedback on how the employee was integrating into the organization as well as to ask "is there anything I can do for you?"*


At the end of the first week:

1. Complete all the new hire paperwork.

2. Ensure training, where required, has been successfully completed.
3. Follow up with the employee to see how they are doing.
4. Gather information on the on-boarding process. Was the on-boarding successful for the new employee or does the process need fine-tuning?


Here's a couple of closing thoughts for you:

Thought #1
At many organizations the new employee is overwhelmed with paperwork associated with their on-boarding. Where financially feasible, the organization should consider automating this process. Develop a "Welcome" link for new employees. Allow new employees to access and submit forms via a centralized source versus the manual approach. With a Web-based employee on-boarding system, key new hire information can be presented to the employee immediately upon acceptance of the job. This would allow the employer to post orientation schedules, company information, benefit forms, payroll forms, etc.

Thought #2
On-boarding (re-boarding) should also encompass new employees that join the organization via a merger or acquisition. Additionally consider re-boarding employees that may never have been on-boarded. It does happen!