Successful Employee On-boarding - Do It The Right Way!

Often, we come across HR professionals who grapple with so much at work (firefighting) that naturally shift their focus from ensuring a successful on-boarding. In my personal experience I've always emphasized the importance and thus practiced it as a routine.

Many young HR professionals I talk to share that they are not aware of how the On-boarding should be and what forms part of it and some are generally not aware of its purpose nor the impact. This blog is aimed at throwing some light on the concept and practice as it will guide behaviors at work. By and large On-boarding  must follow a sequence and it doesn't differs greatly thereby I'm busting the myth that that it differs from industry to industry and company to company.

As you are aware, the success of a recruitment function lies in hiring the most suitable resource to fulfill a requirement within the organization and enormous efforts and much time is invested in the activity which is anchored end to end by the HR. Essentially, On-boarding of the hired resource is equally important as that of recruitment, failing which could prove disastrous.

So what's the purpose of an Employee On-Boarding, Let me give you a definition for the process that would set the tone for the more elaborate process to follow

“On-boarding, also known as organizational socialization, refers to the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective organizational members and insiders.”

A sound Employee On-boarding benefits the organization in follows ways,  

• Enable new employees to become productive earlier in the employment relationship
• Scale the business to meet growth objectives. 
• Address a skills gap present in the workforce. 
• Improve employee morale and engagement by creating personal development opportunities. 
• Reduce employee turnover. 

Ideally, a new employee will go through the following steps in On-Boarding and the following phases are based on my experience and what is commonly followed, 

Phase 1 

Pre-Boarding 

Exemplary Employee On-boarding starts even before the employee joins the organization. The tasks that entails pre-boarding would include,

1. Write an email to the candidate with the checklist of documents so the employee comes prepared on day one. 

2. Sharing an email address, arrange work-space, Order business cards, location pointers for the venue,  parking slot saves a lot of time and aids the employee. There are occasions where the organization has lost key resources on the first day of their joining due to non availability of a parking space. 

3.Provide a copy of complete job description and responsibilities

4. Call new hire prior to start date to touch base, set expectations and prevent any first day jitters.

5. Invite new hire to complete a personal fact sheet so that others in the company can get to know him/her.

You can also add up few more to the list depending on the size of the organization and what you feel would help the new hire feel comfortable before day one. 

Phase 2 

1 Week later 

It is very crucial for the new recruit as the employee would join the organization and his first week stay in the organization determines his stay and will impact his emotions directly. Man is full of emotions and it is an outcome of experiences in life. Organizations may make or break in this therefore, HR professionals consider this to be an important aspect,

1. Invite the new recruit by stepping out to the gate.

2. Allow him time to settle, strike a conversation explain details of the organization

3. Take tour of the office space with the new recruit and point out pantry, restrooms, work-spaces.

4. Taking inputs from the employee, send a welcome mailer to all the employees. 

5. Pair new hire with a peer mentor who will help introduce him/her to various activities and opportunities within the organization and would support during the first week.

6. Meet with employee to have a discussion about your employment culture. Give details about the events and “ways of doing things” that define your office environment. 

7.Invite new hire to optionally follow/like your company’s social media pages.

8. Give the new recruit information relating to organization systems, process and procedures and allow time for him to understand it. 

9. Engage in productive conversations to clarify any doubts or queries from the employee. 

Phase 3 

30 Days later

This is not a hard and fast rule, as there are organization that also follows 90 days and 1 year duration. 

1. Invite new hire to complete a survey to offer feedback on the new hire on-boarding process so far. Discuss results and ideas for improvement.

2. Have a one on one personal interview for a pulse check and to assess his understanding about the company and his role.

3. Clarify any doubts, apprehensions and give details of career growth in the organization.

4. Take time to explain various employee benefits and the incentives plan.

5. Have a questionnaire in place to gauge or evaluate the candidates at the completion of first month.

6. Elaborate the company's performance goals and appraisal process and the feedback mechanism.

Your comments and feedback would encourage me to write more therefore share a few points below.,

Enough of Reading, Its Time to Execute!!