Done Correctly, Onboarding can create fully engaged employees in a matter of weeks.
“Nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not strategies.” Lawrence Bossidy, former COO of General Electric
Before we get into onboarding can we look at what our goal as business owners is?
We want to make a profit in the most efficient way possible. If we can have fun doing it then it’s a bonus. It takes a new employee 6-12 month to get up to full speed and producing at 100%. So you are paying the salary and benefits of someone producing 50% in their first year. This is not a good outcome. Let’s shorten that time.
A Quick Example.
Imagine you go to a networking event where you do not know anyone. You walk in the door and look around at a sea of strange faces. Then you quickly look for something to drink or something to put in your hand so you feel somewhat comfortable and you stand there until someone comes and acknowledges you. You are grateful that somebody here is talking to you but it’s still awkward because you don’t really know them. Then at some point that conversation is going to end and you’ll back to square one and feeling pretty disconnected from the environment.
Now imagine that you are at a networking meeting and somebody is there who you know. You walk in the door. You look around, you see a familiar face. You’re immediately comfortable. You walk right over to them, you say “Hi”, shake hands, and you start engaging in whatever conversation they’re in. They introduce you to other people, you start talking to other people and it’s a very profitable experience for you. This is because the environment felt familiar.
The same thing can happen, and needs to happen when a new hire walks into your doors for the very first time. It’s a brand new experience, brand new building, new office, new coworkers, and they’re going to feel awkward for quite a while. Let’s do something about that.
Companies have this massive disconnect when it comes to understanding how people make big decisions and the feelings and thoughts they have after making those decisions. Employees go through buyers remorse, just like when they make a big purchase. They’re not sure if they made the right decision and businesses need to help them know they made an excellent choice.
It’s pretty simple, after they’ve accepted to congratulate them and be excited for them. Don’t only share the next steps of where they need to go to fill out paperwork and what documents they need to bring on their first day. Encourage their new boss and teammates to reach out to them. Maybe get the CEO to e-mail them too!
If you have a very long lead time, then you may want to put something in the mail which says, “Congratulations on your decision. We wanted to celebrate with you. Here’s a gift card. Dinner is on us!” This immediately lowers the anxiety and lets them know they made the right decision.
Additionally, creating an expectation and fulfillment loop build trust quickly. Email them something small and then follow up in the time you said it will take. This could be 3-7 emails which build concrete trust during onboarding. Trust building brings the anxiety for a new hire way down. It also shows professionalism and instills a sense of expertise that the company knows what it’s doing and has a process.
It can be this simple:
Send an email saying congratulations and when they can expect to hear from you again.
Send an email on who else might be emailing them.
Send an email on what the status is of the background paperwork or HR paperwork they need and when they can expect to hear form you again.
Then send an email letting them know where to park and what time to arrive.
Wrapping this point up, create trust by telling them what is happening, when they will hear back from you, and then reaching back out when you said you would. This gives them a roadmap of what is coming next so they do not get cold feet or anxious.
If you can have their boss and other coworkers email them, this will provide, on their first day, the equivalent of seeing someone familiar when you walk into a networking event.
Here’s a bonus: One thing we like to do on their first day is to send out a welcome email, introducing them to the company and we ask the company to reply to the email saying hi. This means, when they finally get to their desks and open their email, the first messages they will see from the company will be positive, welcoming ones.
We encourage new employees to give us a picture to show their personalities when we introduce them in the welcome email on their first day. I’ll never forget, one manager we hired gave us a picture of him on a Harley wearing a pink piggy helmet. It was bizarre, it garnered a lot of attention, made people laugh and people loved it. He was immediately welcomed into the culture. So you can take this idea as well.
Another very important part of onboarding is having a roadmap for the new employee. This is a four week or more look ahead, typically developed by the hiring manager. It is given to the new employee on their first day. It should detail things such as what they need to learn or get up to speed on and who they’re going to go to lunch with. It is important to have them take their lunch, whether it be out of the office or in the office, at least four or five times with their managers or coworkers. This will establish relationships and get them comfortable quickly.
Additionally, you want them to know who they will be shadowing and learning from in those first few weeks. Set the expectation by the end of this time they should be operating at 90% or 100%. The lesson here is if you don’t define this for them, then they will not know. Remove ambiguity and let them know they are making progress. Otherwise they will be floundering thinking, “I’m not as far along as I’m supposed to be.” You do not want a new employee to be stressed out. They learn slower, they operate slower and they work less efficiently. You want to build them up quickly into the culture and this is how to do it.
Conclusion
Onboarding done right saves time and money by getting the new employee up to speed quickly. They get connected to the company and their teammates faster making them feel right at home. This lowers anxiety and distractions which make for more output in shorter time frame.
Remember:
- The Goal is to shorten the time it takes a new employee to get fully up to speed.
- Remove buyer’s remorse by sending multiple welcome emails. Send them a gift card congratulating them on this decision.
- Have a couple of teammates reach out to them prior to their start date. Build
- Build trust. By providing. Multiple email updates and do what you say you are doing to do.
- On the first day. Have current employees e-mail the new employee welcoming them.
- Have a road map set up for the first four to six weeks. To include: Lunches, Projects, To do lists, where supplies are located, trainings needed.
Implement this on your next new hire to see higher retention and faster max output saving time and money.
