Pathways & Progress: Onboarding
Onboarding
This is the third article in our "Pathways & Progress" series. Be sure to check out the other articles in the series:
Overview > Talent Attraction & Recruiting > Onboarding > More to come
The onboarding stage is critical in the employee lifecycle. It sets the tone for an individual's journey within an organization.
Going beyond mere orientation, it's an extensive process aimed at integrating new hires into the company culture, equipping them with the necessary skills and knowledge, and aligning them with the organization's goals and expectations. Here, we will dive into the high-level strategies that organizations should ensure that they focus on during the onboarding stage to ensure a smooth and effective integration of new employees.
Structured Onboarding Program (Overview)
A structured onboarding program should encompass a clear schedule and mentorship system. It's designed to guide new hires through their first days and weeks, systematically introducing them to their roles, teams, and the broader organizational environment.
Two key components are crucial to building an effective onboarding program and will steer the rest of the program: a structured schedule, and mentorship from experienced employees during the initial days.
- Onboarding Schedule: Develop a structured onboarding schedule that outlines activities and tasks for the first few weeks or months of employment. Try to think about what will be expected from the employee on Day 1. How will that change in 30 days? 60 days? 90 days?
- Mentorship: Pair new employees with mentors or “onboarding buddies” to help them acclimate to the organization and start to familiarize themselves with the organization’s internal structure.
Company Culture and Values
Introduce new employees to the company culture and values early. It is crucial for their alignment with organizational norms and expectations, and it fosters a sense of belonging and commitment. Data points to consider include:
- Engagement scores: This assesses how well they're assimilating the company culture and values
- Alignment surveys: Helps you understand how new employees perceive their alignment with the company values.
Job Training and Skill Development
Providing comprehensive job training and opportunities for skill development empowers new hires to perform their roles effectively. A strong onboarding program will offer comprehensive training related to the specific job responsibilities and required skills.
Additionally, regardless of the technical requirements for the role, training in communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and other soft skills will be important for the long-term success of employees. Data points to consider or gather here include skill assessments before and after training to evaluate the improvement in job-related skills post-training and training completion rates to track the percentage of assigned training modules completed by new employees.
Compliance and Policies
Ensuring that new hires are familiar with company policies and compliance requirements is vital for legal and operational reasons. Organizations should hold orientations to verify that new employees understand and acknowledge company policies, including those related to ethics, diversity, safety, and security as well as provide training on legal requirements, such as harassment prevention and workplace safety during their onboarding phase.
Data points to be tracking here include compliance training scores wherein the effectiveness of compliance is measured through test scores or practical assessments. Additionally, policy acknowledgment rates monitor how many new hires have read and acknowledged company policies.
Technology and Tools
Acquainting new employees with the necessary technology and tools is fundamental for their productivity and integration into the workflow. Equip new hires with required technology, access credentials, and training on company software and tools as soon as possible during the onboarding phase.
Additionally, cybersecurity training is a must wherein organizations educate employees on cybersecurity best practices to protect sensitive company data. Data points to track here include assessing new hires' proficiency with essential tools and software after training and benchmarking internal processes to monitor how quickly new employees are given access to necessary technology resources.
Benefits and Compensation
Clarifying benefits and compensation, including the enrollment process, is crucial for new hires' satisfaction and understanding of their entitlements. During onboarding, assist new employees in enrolling in company benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plans, and other perks and help them understand their entire compensation package. A strong onboarding program should track how many new hires complete their benefits enrollment on time and gauge new employees' understanding of their compensation package and benefits.
Feedback and Check-Ins
Regular feedback and check-ins with new hires are essential for addressing concerns, adjusting the onboarding process, and ensuring a positive experience. Schedule regular check-in meetings between new employees and managers to provide feedback, answer questions, and address concerns. Both during and after the onboarding process is complete, companies should collect feedback from new hires about their onboarding experience to identify areas for improvement.
Career Development & Goals
Discussing career development paths and setting initial performance goals with new hires can motivate and align them with long-term organizational objectives. Effective programs should help new hires with goal-setting and how they fit within the organization’s long-term picture. Data around the percentage of new hires who set initial performance goals as well as measuring how many new employees engage with offered career development plans will allow organizations to continually improve their program.
Remote Onboarding Support
For organizations with remote or hybrid work models, providing tailored onboarding support for remote hires is critical to ensure their successful integration. The program should be sure to gauge remote engagement scores where engagement and integration levels of remote hires are assessed. Designing and tracking virtual onboarding session attendance rates will also equip organizations with the necessary data points required to ensure the remote onboarding experience is robust.
Employee Handbook and Resources
Providing a comprehensive employee handbook and access to essential resources is a cornerstone of effective onboarding, offering new hires a go-to guide for company policies, culture, and operational procedures. Data points that an organization should be tracking include handbook access rates and resource utilization rates where monitoring the usage of onboarding resources and materials should be gauged.
Conclusion and the Value of Feedback Loops
Establishing continuous feedback loops with new hires and relevant stakeholders allows for the ongoing refinement of the onboarding process based on direct insights and experiences. By tracking and mapping data from the initial phase of onboarding through completion, organizations should be well-equipped to continually optimize each sub-process in the onboarding phase of the employee lifecycle.
Collecting quantitative day (i.e. the time to get new employees their equipment) and qualitative data (i.e. conducting employee experience surveys) allows for continuous feedback, implementation, and improvement.
Whether you’re operating at enterprise scale or in a lean startup, effective onboarding sets the stage for employee engagement, productivity, and retention. By incorporating these insights and programs during the Onboarding stage, organizations can help new employees integrate seamlessly into the company culture and become productive contributors to the organization.
