January 2019 Newsletter

The First Impression Factor: Best Practices in Onboarding

One of the most important ways that organizations can maintain attracting top talent is through effective onboarding of new employees.

Every organization has its own unique onboarding process through which new hires learn attitudes, knowledge, skills and behaviors required to function effectively. The faster new hires feel welcome and prepared for their jobs, the faster they will be able to successfully contribute to the organization’s mission. Effective onboarding leads to higher job satisfaction and higher performance levels.

The recruitment process is where effective onboarding begins. The goal of recruitment is to identify desired candidates and to help them fit into the organizational environment. The recruitment process provides information and helps establish realistic expectations regarding both the culture and the job. JER HR Group’s Director of Executive Search & Recruiting Amanda Judd says, “Setting the right expectations for a new hire is essential to a happy new employee. The recruiter and hiring manager need to convey what the first few days of employment will look like, and what the work expectations are for the first few months. This should be done during the offer stage, and long before the employee’s first day.”

Assessment Tools in Successful Recruiting

Assessment tools can provide valuable information about your candidates before you hire, and help you learn more about how they would fit into your organization. These tools are designed to help you learn candidate strengths and weaknesses that you can’t discover through interviews or resumes. They also help you interview better, in that you can ask more detailed and targeted questions of the candidate in the interview.

Many of these types of assessments can help manage and enhance a current employee’s performance and maximize employee engagement through coaching and development. PXT Select^TM is a great example of one such assessment designed support your recruiting efforts.

Informal vs. Formal Onboarding

Onboarding programs may range anywhere from a structured process, to a checklist, or even a “hands off” passive approach. There are two main approaches to onboarding.

• Informal onboarding, which refers to the process by which an employee learns about his or her new job without detailed planning or structure.
• Formal onboarding, which refers to a written set of coordinated procedures that help an employee adjust to his or her new job.

Regardless of which approach is used, onboarding should always be proactive. Proactive onboarding provides ways to connect and build relationships, become accustomed to the company culture and review progress. The Society for Human Resource Management suggests the following tools in proactive onboarding.

Orientation

Orientation programs help new employees understand their jobs and the organization, including the company’s culture, values, goals, history, and power structure. Orientation programs introduce new employees to their co-workers, provide the opportunity to process paperwork and procedures quickly, and may include discussions, videotapes and written material.

Onboarding online

Some organizations use technology to deliver orientation programs, automate forms, and track progress to see when new employees may need additional support. Companies often use computer-based information systems and intranets to support new employees. This approach helps employees become active in their own evaluation process.

Coaching and Support Processes

The availability of support is crucial to successful onboarding. Mentors are a valuable resource to help new employees learn about the organization and manage expectations. A mentor can offer advice, help with job instruction, and provide support. A written support plan can help new employees succeed because it outlines what assistance they can expect and how to obtain it. Potential problems can be solved or avoided altogether.

Training

Employees need confidence, direction and skills to succeed on the job. Training for new employees should include hard skills, soft skills, and onboarding skills.

Feedback Tools

New employees will often give and receive feedback and guidance. Common approaches to employee feedback include:

Performance appraisals and 360-degree feedback: Performance appraisals can give new employees developmental feedback and helps new employees understand how others view them.

Employee-initiated information and feedback seeking: Information-seeking and employee-initiated feedback are proactive new employee behaviors, and communicate to others that the new employee is interested in learning the norms and performing well.

Onboarding Executives

Practices must be tailored to the type of employee being onboarded. For example, executive onboarding typically differs from traditional onboarding. Getting executives and managers up to speed quickly is important because these leadership positions are highly visible and influence the bottom line more clearly. These executives are typically brought in to help with specific strategic initiatives that may require change and are often are confronted with challenging situations that require unique solutions.

External coaches can be especially important for executive onboarding. An objective coach can help new executives by nurturing ideas, validating leadership approaches, and helping them navigate problems within the organization. The higher a person’s level in the organization, the more tailored and flexible the program will need to be.

Hourly Employee Onboarding

Onboarding hourly employees can be a longer process than executive onboarding, and often tends to be more passive. For more proactive onboarding of hourly employees, supervisors and co-workers should be involved. Proactive onboarding for hourly employees may also include job shadowing.

Regardless of whether a company goes with a formal or informal onboarding process, successful onboarding has several components that maximize effectiveness. The first is familiarizing the employee with basic company rules and practices, followed by ensuring that employees understand their new jobs. A third component is to provide employees with a sense of the organization’s culture—what is and is not acceptable within the unwritten context of business relations. A fourth component is to make sure a new employee has an opportunity to establish interpersonal relationships and information networks with co-workers. New employees need to feel socially comfortable and accepted by their peers and superiors. Knowledge of and fit within an organizational culture is essential. Understanding an organization’s politics, goals and values, and learning the firm’s unique language are all important indicators of employee adjustment and are associated with commitment, satisfaction and turnover.

How Can New Employees Maximize Onboarding Success?

1. Make time for social interactions with colleagues.
2. Take initiative and successfully complete assignments.
3. Participate in voluntary company functions.
4. Gather information and feedback.

Keys to Successful Onboarding Programs

• Use consistent, formal, written, and participatory onboarding programs.
• Be clear with new employees about Objectives, Timelines, Roles, and Responsibilities.
• Use technology to facilitate the process.
• Use milestones to monitor employee progress.