the onboarding process

Making sure the early days of the employment relationship are satisfactory helps form a lasting impression that a good choice has been made on both sides. Increasingly, organisations are beginning the induction process from the moment the formal offer of employment is made and bringing all activities together under the umbrella term of 'onboarding'. The aim of a successful onboarding scheme is to bring new recruits into the company and get them up to speed as quickly as possible.

welcoming platforms

Just as technology has changed the way we work, it is also streamlining the onboarding process. Dedicated online platforms and apps are replacing traditional methods that have proved to be too slow, inconvenient and often not in keeping with the organisation's style of business.

For example, creating an onboarding website that includes everything needed for the first day at work, including a video welcome from a senior director, gives new joiners a base-level awareness of the company, its principles, policies and some key information. It can also contain the offer letter and the contract, which can be accepted online, making the process faster and more reliable than a paper pack sent through the post.

An online information hub can provide all the information that new recruits need such as orientation into work, schedule, availability, payroll, work record, training records, employee benefits and news.

onboarding tips

Even when budgets are limited, the onboarding process helps new recruits start feeling 'at home' from day one.

Onboarding suggestions include:

providing new starters with basic information about the company, e.g. an organisation chart or a 'jargon' guide.

thinking about what new starters will need to know: e.g. the dress code; if you're in an out-of-town location let them know where they can get lunch or find local shops; and don't forget to let them know arrangements for teas and coffees

providing a checklist for what they'll need to bring on their first day

providing links to company social networking groups - that way they'll get to 'meet future colleagues’ before they start

providing access to the latest company news, it helps new starters to understand the culture

providing some way to enable new recruits to ask questions, either a dedicated feedback function or a 'buddy'

making sure any IT is setup – telephone, email, intranet, etc. - before they arrive

if you regularly use agency workers, sub-contractors and freelancers, extend the relevant parts of the onboarding process to include them 

tailor the process to your organisation by asking existing employees what would have made their lives easier, and implementing those suggestions.

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