Hiring great employees is a major priority for most companies. The time, expense and effort that goes into the process makes it critical that you have a high success ratio when they walk in the door on the first day. But hopes are often dashed. Up to a third of new employees will quit within 6 months, forcing you to start all over again.
What We Want to Achieve
First, a definition of what we want to achieve. The onboarding process should:
- Integrate the new employee with the company and its culture
- Give the new employee the tools and information needed to be productive
- Let managers evaluate the new team member’s progress early on, gather feedback, and make adjustments before it is too late
How long should your onboarding program be?
A simple, inexpensive 30-day onboarding process can be highly effective for you, and your employees.
First, let’s get prepared.
Onboarding Checklist
Create an Employee Onboarding Checklist, organized into three “actions”:
- What you want to do before the new employee arrives (i.e. set up their email, phone, etc.)
- What the new employee can do before they arrive (i.e. complete benefit and payroll forms)
- What you want to do face to face (i.e. discuss policies, tour the office and make introductions, and start the 30-day onboarding process).
One employee should be assigned overall responsibility for completing the process. Other employees may be responsible for specific items.
Once the employee arrives, it is time to implement your 30-Day Onboarding Program.
30-Day Onboarding Program
Week One
- General Orientation, following the Checklist.
- Assign a coach, a person with the same responsibilities, for the new employee to follow. (56% of employees surveyed said this was extremely important in integrating them into the company. Do not neglect this!)
- Employee meets with HR or Supervisor on Friday.
- Employee is given “Company Culture Test #1.”
(What is a Culture Test? Anything you want to create, perhaps a multiple-choice test or essay that will show if they are processing what they have learned so far. This can be a great tool, especially if the employee is quietly overwhelmed).
Week Two
- Employee shadows other departments to understand what they are doing, and further socialize the new hire into the company.
- Employee meets with HR or Supervisor on Friday.
- Employee is given “Company Culture Test #2.”
Week Three
- Employee starts their own job under supervision.
- Employee meets with HR or Supervisor on Friday.
- Employee is given “Company Culture Test #3.”
Week Four
- Employee performs their own job under supervision.
- Employee is given a 30-day Performance Evaluation.
The benefits of the Onboarding Checklist and 30-Day Program are many:
- New team members will be properly welcomed and given the training and support they need
- It is a system that anyone can follow
- It is completely customizable
- It greatly reduces turnover and quickly increases the productivity of new employees
Interested in a proven onboarding process without having to manage it yourself? Schedule a free consultation with Aspire HR today.