Yes! You need a formal Onboarding Program.
What is Onboarding?
A well-structured Onboarding Program must educate new employees on the organization and its mission. It should help promote new hires to full productivity levels and become effective contributors to an organization in approximately 90 days, depending on the complexity of the role. It’s a group effort that requires collaboration between HR, Hiring Managers and a Welcome Mentor to ensure you can successfully and effectively provide them support and feedback during their introductory period. It is NOT a pack of forms to complete or an office tour!
Do you have a formal Onboarding Program in place?
If you’ve ever joined a new company and been unsure of what to expect, you can appreciate the benefits of a good Onboarding Program. Think back to your first day at a new company-do you remember anything that happened? Was it chaotic and unorganized? Do you remember who you met or what was said? What forms did you sign? Did you learn something new about the organization? Was your manager available to greet and meet with you? Did you go home excited about joining that company? Probably not. Most organizations consider a meeting with HR to discuss payroll forms and benefits their ‘onboarding program’ and that is a big mistake. Anything less than a well structured Program is a missed opportunity.
What are the benefits of a formal Onboarding Program?
Don’t underestimate the benefits of new employees having a good Onboarding Program. An employee’s first day on the job leaves a lasting impression and it’s important to ensure you make a positive first impression that sets the tone for a productive and effective onboarding experience. If employees get off to a good start on day one with an organized and structured process, their levels of productivity will be higher, faster and they will be more engaged and motivated to do good work.
A good Onboarding Program educates employees on the purpose of their work and how it correlates to the mission and success of the organization. It sets the foundation to a consistent experience and ensures they understand the expectations of the job. You will be able to shorten their learning curve and quickly start their integration into the organization in an streamlined and effective manner.
For management, the benefits are even more measurable. They include:
- Better job performance, sooner
- Greater commitment to the organization and it’s goals
- Reduced stress and confusion
- Higher job satisfaction and engagement
- Better retention and associated cost savings with recruitment
Keep in mind:
It takes about 5 months of full-time employment to bring a new employee up to full productivity levels. Failure to properly onboard a new employee will cost significant amounts of lost time, money and productivity. It takes about 3 months to find the right candidate. Why risk losing that new hire to poor planning? Get and keep new hires engaged and motivated from day one!
I create and implement customized Onboarding Programs to facilitate an effective integration process from day one.
Let’s review the Onboarding format I recommend and review agendas for each time frame.
This chart provides a brief overview for each phase of the Program.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
- Do you have a formal Onboarding Program in place?
- How are you ensuring new employees are efficiently and effectively integrating into the organization?
- What tools are you using to measure potential growth and performance of new hires?
- Are you doing all you can to keep your new hires engaged?
Contact me for help!