So, you’ve started your business and now you’re ready to hire a team and start delegating tasks. How do you begin the process of onboarding new employees to your company? It may be one business process to which you’ve given little thought. After all, the excitement of even just seeing your business begin to take off is enough to distract you from focusing on more mundane, but completely necessary tasks. I mean, you’re Superman or Superwoman, right?
Well, not exactly.
Once that initial excitement wears off, it’s time to get down to the work of finding and onboarding new hires to carry out your business processes. After you’ve sent that offer letter to the new hire, what comes next? The onboarding process can be a bit overwhelming—and not just for the new employee. Having steps in place to ensure the onboarding process goes as smoothly as possible is a crucial part of hiring new talent. If the onboarding is successful, your employees will have the tools and education they need to work for your company, and you’ll have peace of mind along the way.
Five strategies to successfully onboard new hires are:
Orientation is the most logical first step in the onboarding process. It’s where you get to introduce your company’s vision to your new hires, as well as your company’s values and what you stand for. In this step, you’ll introduce them to the “why” of your organization. Why does your company exist? What problems do you solve for your potential clients?
Because a wealth of information is being presented to the new hires during this phase, the orientation process should be spread out over several weeks so as not to overload them.
New hire training involves training your employees on the every-day processes needed to run your company effectively. For instance, software training and call system training would both fall into this category. New hire training should be task-oriented and comprehensive. Filling it with written exercises and role play opportunities will fully equip employees with the tools and knowledge necessary to fulfill their roles within the company.
After the initial orientation and training phase, pairing a new hire with a more seasoned employee can be beneficial because it bridges the gap between having a head knowledge of how to do the processes, and actually gaining experience by performing the tasks. Many people are kinesthetic learners, which means they learn best by doing rather than hearing or seeing. Having a mentor during this phase can solidify what new hires have already learned through orientation and new hire training. It builds confidence for the new hire, and he or she will appreciate the help of a mentor while getting acquainted with all the new systems.
This may seem like a new concept, but asking for feedback from new hires is crucial in getting them to fully enjoy their new role. They’ll appreciate the chance to communicate their concerns and it keeps the channel of communication open between employer and employee. Another benefit of asking for feedback from new hires is that it allows your company to strategically track how effective your onboarding process is, and it will pinpoint problem areas in the new hire process that you need to address and rethink.
Create a comfortable and personable atmosphere where your new hires feel relaxed and at home in their new roles. You want them to stay for the long haul; after all, you’ve invested money, time, and resources into their onboarding. Some ways to make the experience more personal to your brand-new employees are to observe each one’s strengths and weaknesses and tailor their training specifically to their needs. They need to know the value of the impact they’re going to make on the company. It’s not just your company; it’s theirs too.
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Copyright © 2023 The Aepiphanni Business Catalyst Group, Inc.
