Where’s the Love? Revisit Your Onboarding Plan in 2017
Every new year creates a new opportunity to better your strategic onboarding plan. Onboarding is important.
Research shows that organizations with a standard onboarding process experience 54% greater new hire productivity, along with 50% greater new hire retention.
After doing some research, there might be a few minor updates to your current one or it might be beneficial to start with a whole new clean slate in order to get the most from your 2017 onboarding plan. A successful program will have three major outcomes: Getting employees adjusted, accelerating employee contribution, aligning specific role to achieve short term and long term goals of the company.
A simple orientation program is never enough. The orientation process should be a part of the overall onboarding plan. Give your new hire time to evaluate the tools they are given, what other tools they need, and what further skills they can expand upon. Include these important steps into your plan in order to easily transition your new employee into a valuable, long-term member of your company:
- Basic Orientation
- Company Knowledge Building
- Understanding of the strategy, structure, and core values of the business
- Internal Relationship Building
- System and Process Understanding
- External Relationship introductions (relevant to the role)
- Key Initiatives 30, 60, 90, and 180 day goals
- Feedback Session/progress review
- 3-6 Month Observation Report and why (for managers and executives)
If you want to really impress your new hires, take the time to implement these new 2017 trending strategies into your plan:
1. Get the Team Involved.
There’s really no better way for a new hire to learn than to let coworkers show them the ropes. New employees not only get an inside perspective but they also have a chance to quickly learn who they are working with as well as what areas they contribute to within a process. From the team’s perspective, this opportunity to teach also gives them a vote of confidence and a feeling of involvement within the company.
2. Start Strong.
Give your new hire a big project right off the bat. Let them show off what skills they have and allow them to get their hands dirty right away instead of simply showing them what to do during the first week. This gives them confidence and the ability to transition quickly but also gives comfort to the rest of the team in learning right away what the new hire is capable of.
3. Promote Training.
No matter how much experience they may come with, you want all of your employees to continually strive to be better. Incorporate training tactics for the necessary hard and soft skills needed for their specific focus areas. Start every new hire off right by providing access to tutorial videos and various programs they’ll need to be most efficient in their tasks. Create short job shadow sessions around other employees they will work with most frequently so they have an idea of who does what and when.
Maximize your investment in a new employee by implementing a strategic onboarding plan that will pay off notably. With expertise in every aspect of the hiring process, turn to a search firm like The Overture Group today to get the first major step of your onboarding plan started!