The HR department plays a critical role in finding the best talent for a company. While HR professionals often become engrossed in the recruiting process, they should also prioritize the onboarding process equally. It is the next crucial process that helps new hires to become productive and efficient. The employee onboarding process is the first interaction of a new employee with the company after going through the lengthy hiring process. Employee onboarding is the first interaction of new employees with the company, making them feel welcomed and prepared to work successfully in their roles. Before you implement the onboarding process, it is necessary to know what it is.

Employee Onboarding

This process, known as organizational socialization, assists newly hired employees in acclimatizing to their job’s performance and social aspects. It introduces the new hires to the environment and culture of the company. Employees obtain the necessary behavior, skills, and knowledge, required to become effective and productive members of the organization. The main objective is to simplify the transition of employees into their jobs and secure a good, productive, and long-lasting relationship.

Even though the employee onboarding process is mostly similar, it differs from one company to another. The complexity of the tasks involved and the time period make the process different. In some organizations, the process is just a day affair, while in others the process may continue for 18 months. Most organizations start this process after sending offer letters to potential employees. Good employee onboarding is necessary for companies to obtain benefits such as improved employee productivity, increased employee retention, and good employee engagement. It helps employees to get more clarity about their job roles, objectives, and the organization. They can get confidence and be ready to start the job at the end of this process.

If the onboarding process is done poorly, it can lead to disastrous effects. A bad onboarding hinders employee efficiency, changes the outlook of newly hired employees towards their organization, and makes them fail in doing their job successfully. So, it can cost hugely for the organization. That’s why it is important to make the onboarding process effective. There are certain key steps that can improve the process and make it successful.

Here are some key onboarding process steps to follow for effective onboarding

Put everything in writing

You need to start the onboarding process even before the hiring begins. Identify and document the key objectives and goals of the process in a well-written manual with actionable steps. While handling each employee differently, the manual should establish a practical standard approach. Managers can use checklists to ensure the completion of all essential and repeatable steps in the process. It should also include tasks like setting the company email address of the newly hired employees and giving access to things required for doing the job easily.

Prepare other employees to welcome the new employees

Prior to the first day of the new employees, you need to announce to other employees the welcoming of new hires, either through emails or in person. The announcement should cover details such as the role and experience of new employees, and what they are going to do in the company. It should also encourage other employees to welcome new employees. The main objective is to prepare the existing employees in advance so that they can easily assist the new employees on their first day. It also makes new employees feel comfortable and welcome.

Keep the workstation of new employees ready

Setting up the workstation for the new employees before their arrival is quite important. It gives the new employees a good impression of the company. Not having the required tools for doing the job can restrict new employees from performing their duties successfully. So, it is important to set up each employee’s email, phone number, computer, and other tools ahead of time to help the new hires to give their best.

Ensure that new employees get access to any essential programs

Apart from the workstation, it is important to make sure that the new employees get easy access to any necessary programs, electronic files, software, or tools from the first day. If this step is skipped, it can affect the outlook of new employees on the company, stunt their training, and even affects their ability to work effectively.

Allow some time for making introductions

It is important to give some time for the new hires to meet all the main people and visit various departments in the company. This step gives them an idea about where to go for their needs to get the work done. Such introductions can make them understand the working process of the company and what role they have to play in the overall process.

Within the first week, you should organize a team lunch meeting or a get-together after working hours for new hires and other team members. This step can allow all the members of the team and their new colleagues to know each other both on a professional and personal level. Even new employees can feel valued and are more likely to stay around.

In the first week or later the new employees need to concentrate on their training. The employees may have done the same job function at some other places, but still, they can be some changes in the functions of the companies. So, it is crucial to give plenty of time for the new employees to focus on their training programs. The training should focus on company rules, procedures, processes, and expectations.

This is quite an important step that is often overlooked. It gives you a chance to know what the new employees think about your onboarding process. With the help of feedback, you can identify the things that need to be changed in your onboarding process.

To reduce the workload of HR professionals, most of the onboarding process can be automated. Companies can either choose reliable onboarding software or HR payroll software with features that make the onboarding process easy. Such software can reduce paperwork, minimize manual intervention and errors, save time, and provide various other benefits.