{"id":1107,"date":"2016-07-29T13:01:29","date_gmt":"2016-07-29T21:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.checkworks.com\/blog\/?p=1107"},"modified":"2016-07-29T13:01:29","modified_gmt":"2016-07-29T21:01:29","slug":"onboarding-can-make-or-break-a-new-hire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/onboarding-can-make-or-break-a-new-hire\/","title":{"rendered":"Onboarding Can Make or Break a New Hire"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Multi-Cultural<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By MJ Plaster<\/em><\/p>\n

Businesses go to great lengths to recruit the right employees<\/a> for their workplaces, but that\u2019s only half the battle. The first day on the job is often as unsettling for new employees as their first day of school was. They\u2019re entering foreign territory, and they may feel like an interloper until they get their bearings. They\u2019re hoping to blend in as quickly as possible\u2014just like the new student who enters a new school in the middle of the year. Employers can help to make the new hire welcome and ease their transition into the workplace. And you don\u2019t need us to tell you how important it is to have a happy workforce.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A Tale of Two Onboarding Experiences<\/strong><\/span>
\nI have held two \u201cjobs\u201d as an adult, and I had two strikingly different back-to-back experiences in onboarding. The first was when I was in college, and I worked as a legal secretary at a law school. I walked through the doors, was assigned a desk, given a pay card and told I would be assigned \u201cmy\u201d professors\u2014and that was that. It was, \u201cSink or swim, baby!\u201d From day one, I counted the days until I could break free.<\/p>\n

My second experience was the polar opposite of the first one. May 5, 1976, was my first day at Breech Training Academy. Breech is where mere mortals earned the wings as TWA flight attendants.<\/p>\n

The first morning, the \u201cBreech Babies\u201d were herded into a large auditorium. When the lights went down and the curtain went up, the film opened with 747 lumbering down the runway at JFK for takeoff\u2014to the tune of \u201cUp, Up and Away (With TWA).\u201d In the film, the CEO, along with many TWA luminaries welcomed us to the company. By the end of the film, we knew we were part of a family, part of an experience that was reserved for a special few.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve interviewed many successful small- and medium-sized business owners, and the theme that\u2019s woven through all their stories is that their team is a family. These employers hire people who share their vision and goals, and they expend a lot of energy onboarding and nurturing their employees throughout their career.<\/p>\n

Onboarding in the 21st Century<\/strong><\/span>
\nMany people work for small-to-medium-size businesses where employee loyalty and longevity are valued. A partnership exists between the company and employees. Employees are valued, and the bond begins with the onboarding experience. Thoughtful onboarding is an investment in the business as well as an investment in the new hire.<\/p>\n

The first 90 days cement the new hire\u2019s career path. The goal of onboarding is to acclimate new hires to the company, its mission, goals and vision\u2014and to lay the foundation for the new employee\u2019s path to success at the company.<\/p>\n

The first day<\/strong><\/span>
\nJust as the prospective employee was expected to make a good first impression during the interview, it is important for the company to make a good first impression on the new hire. Make sure everyone (especially the receptionist) expects the new employee\u2019s arrival. Assign someone to shepherd the new employee through the first day.<\/p>\n

Note: Most of the tasks below must be accomplished during the first day or two, but the order may vary.<\/p>\n

HR paperwork must be completed. Instead of calling it \u201cpaperwork,\u201d you might call it a \u201cwelcome package.\u201d Review this guide to paperwork<\/a>; your state forms will vary. Include a FAQ in the package to address the most often asked questions before they\u2019re asked. Just as you anticipate your customer\u2019s needs, anticipating your new hire\u2019s needs is part of the onboarding process.<\/p>\n

After the HR paperwork is complete, a tour of the facility is in order. People don\u2019t want to have ask where to get a cup of coffee or where the restrooms are located. Now is a good time to show the new hire to his or her cubicle. Wouldn\u2019t it be nice to be greeted by cards and welcoming notes in your new cubicle\u2014something to say, \u201cWelcome; we\u2019re glad you\u2019re here\u201d?<\/p>\n

By now, it\u2019s probably time for lunch. Imagine it\u2019s your first day at a new job. It\u2019s lunchtime, and you\u2019re turned loose in the employee cafeteria\u2014by yourself. What could be more terrifying? Think back to the school cafeteria scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Arrange for one or more persons to accompany the new hire to lunch and to make introductions as appropriate.<\/p>\n

Set up a series of informal, welcome meetings with immediate supervisors, managers, etc. During these meetings, the new hire should learn how he fits in with the company\u2019s mission, vision and goals. He should come away from these meetings with a clear idea of his responsibilities, how his performance will be measured and at what intervals. It\u2019s important that the new hire understands that there is a career path available to those who desire it and merit it.<\/p>\n

The point is to make the new hire feel a part of the family from the minute he or she enters the workplace. A warm, personal touch goes a long way to putting the new hire at ease. If she goes home feeling good about her first day on the job, you\u2019re halfway to cementing the employer\/employee relationship.<\/p>\n

Onboarding Is a Journey<\/span><\/strong>
\nNew employees require training in procedures and processes. Whether it\u2019s classroom training or eLearning, the key is engagement. It takes time to reach the sweet spot where engagement and learning intersect. Evaluations help you gauge the effectiveness of your training programs.<\/p>\n

Lunch and learn programs are a good training tool for a number of reasons\u2014they last around an hour and offer bite-sized information, and everyone has to eat, so you\u2019re not \u201cwasting\u201d half a day with training. Make them fun, and people want to attend.<\/p>\n

When I was a freshman in high school, we had a buddy system. Each freshman was assigned a senior to help her adapt to the school. Companies have begun to use the buddy system as well as mentors to help new hires reach their potential. The beauty of a buddy system is that it\u2019s peer based, so there\u2019s no intimidation.<\/p>\n

If your company has in-house social networking, set up the new hire with an identity and password, and make sure you have a forum for new hires. That way, new hires can receive more peer support as well as mentoring support.<\/p>\n

Schedule one-on-one meetings between the new hire and her immediate supervisor during the first three months. Encouragement can be offered and corrections in course can be made early. Plan around 15\u201330 minutes for these meetings.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important that you don\u2019t overwhelm new employees with too much information or too much responsibility all at once. It takes time to absorb and internalize everything that\u2019s thrown at a new hire. Sure, you\u2019ll make mistakes, but one of them won\u2019t be hanging a sign that says, \u201cSink or Swim\u201d in the new hire\u2019s cubicle. By paying attention to evaluations, you can tweak your onboarding to perfection, and once you hit your sweet spot, you\u2019ll be thrill with the return on investment. A productive workplace is made up of a happy team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By MJ Plaster Businesses go to great lengths to recruit the right employees for their workplaces, but that\u2019s only half the battle. The first day on the job is often as unsettling for new employees as their first day of school was. They\u2019re entering foreign territory, and they may feel like an interloper until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1107"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1110,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107\/revisions\/1110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.checkworks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}