You do have an employee onboarding plan for new hires, right? If not, then you should consider creating one because onboarding new people is one of the most influential parts of their experience at a new company. How employees are welcomed into your company sets the tone for their opinion of the company and how well they are going to perform.

So, why would you not have a plan for bringing in your newest employees?

Think about your company’s process for introducing a new employee. What is the purpose? What culture is conveyed? What do you want the employee to take away from the process?

Poor Employee Onboarding Costs, A Lot

Not having a solid plan for employee onboarding can cost you more than you think. Lack of a good plan will primarily affect you in three ways.

• A haphazard approach to onboarding means there probably is no way to tell if the employee truly understands your company’s culture and workflow. They also may not meet the key people in their department due to scheduling conflicts.

• A rushed, or seemingly unplanned introduction does not allow the new employee to get to know people or what their functions are in the company. The new employee also won’t know how their job interfaces with veteran team members.

• An employee who does not go through a thorough onboarding process is more prone to leave a company. According to a Labor Department study, the first year and a half are the critical years in determining how likely the employee is going to to leave a business.

To really see the impact of poor (or non-existent) onboarding, take a look at this infographic.

Here Is How You Create Engaged Employees

If you want to welcome an employee and immediately engage them, take these steps. Take care to design a program so everybody you hire goes through the same steps. This plan should cover executive level employees as well as entry level staff members.

According to a study published by MIT Sloan Management Review, employees said they gained the most from the following steps they went through in their onboarding programs.

• They were introduced to key people first, people they would continuously contact. Determine who in your company a new employee will need to see on a consistent basis.

• The introductions were informative, not rushed affairs. New hires were allowed to build a relationship, to get to know the people and bond with them. They also learned what the person’s job entailed and how it fit into the company. Employees said meeting these people contributed more to their knowledge about the company than printed material or audio/visual presentations.

• First assignments required the new employee to network with other employees. This allowed them to see how their position fit with everybody and taught them about the teamwork of the company.

• Mentoring is important, but what new employees need are buddies. People they can ask routine questions without feeling like they might look like the “noob” or feel embarrassed.

Employee Onboarding Is The Trailhead For An Employee’s Journey

The first days of an employee’s career at a new organization set the view and expectations about the company. Capitalize on this time to show them how serious you are about them and how they can immediately become contributing team members.

The degree of investment a new hire decides to put into a company develops at the earliest stages of a job. Don’t let the opportunity to forge favorable impressions escape.

What We Can Do For You

Equal Parts can help you strengthen and optimize your onboarding program. Contact us for a consultation to learn how your company would benefit from a formal, policy-driven onboarding program.