9 Tips That Will Help You Form a Better Onboarding Process

Hiring a candidate can be challenging; sometimes, it can take lots of work. After months of trying to find the right fit for your company, you finally found it. Now, it’s the beginning of the onboarding process, the most important phase of the hiring process.

In other words, the onboarding process is the first impression. It’s what makes or breaks your chances of long-term success. Statistics show that companies that fail during the onboarding process will make 20% of new hires leave after the first two months and 33% after six months.

Let’s not waste any more time because in this article we will learn the nine tips for helping you form a much better onboarding process.

9 Tips for helping you create a better onboarding process

1. Foster strong relationships

The onboarding process is all about relationships and for most employees, the most valuable element of the onboarding experience is forming relationships, meeting people and learning from other teammates.

New hires want to be part of relationships that make them feel supported and respected. They value feedback and communication, particularly from higher powers in the company. New hires want to meet new people and ask questions. You and the team must be there to show them you care.

2. Use employee onboarding software

Employee onboarding software is an onboarding tool that allows you to make new hires inside your company from the first day. It organizes and manages the document process, forms and ensures that new hires always stay with the flow.

For instance, let’s take Freshteam as an excellent example of an employee onboarding tool. It allows you to collect documents and forms online before newcomers start on the first day. Using an employee onboarding tool is especially effective once you are working remotely.

3. Make your new hires feel welcomed

Pre-boarding is the process of welcoming new employees to your company before they begin working at your company. This includes sending out information about your company or providing informative links newcomers can read from.

The pre-phase of a new hire matters a lot. It’s the phase where new expectations are set and the moment when the new hire's mind is eased from the first day. Include the agenda and any special rules newer hires need to know, including the type of dress code they’ll need to have throughout working days. Additionally, include the agenda for the first week, so they’ll get a hold of what’s expected to happen.

Providing enough information before the first day allows employees to feel prepared and ready for what’s yet to come. They’ll feel less nervous and more prepared to learn new information and training.

4. Assign a mentor

Mentors are the best guidance you can have in an onboarding process. Assigning a mentor to new hires will help form relationships with other coworkers and foster better relationships. It’s the same scenario as if you were to start a new position. It’s quite challenging to do everything on your own, so having a mentor will make things easier and make you even feel more confident.

If the new hire has any questions or needs help, they always have someone to refer to. Additionally, a good mentor can directly contribute to the long-term success of new hires. This is all part of the onboarding process because if the first impression isn’t good, the new hire might struggle to learn. After all, the faster they learn, the better it will be for you and the business.

The onboarding process is about making the learning process easier and not complicating anyone by any means.

5. Present the company’s culture

f you’re serious about your business, use this opportunity to present your organization to new hires. It’s the same story when you onboard new employees. Tell them about the company’s history, achievements, team members, vision, goals, and anything else they need to know. The pre-phase is perfect for showing more about your company’s culture.

Moreover, this can help them feel more pride and happiness about their workplace. It’s an excellent way of connecting on a deeper level right from the beginning and giving newcomers enough time to see whether they are the right fit during their work journey.

6. Give them their space and time to process the new job

Newcomers have uncertainty during the first days they join a new company. It’s a great idea to balance things out by giving employees time and space to progress independently. Nobody wants to be pressured and when you allow employees to get a balanced approach, they’ll have enough time to process all the information.

Now, let’s face it, nobody wants to have to process large amounts of information and feel anxious when arriving at the workplace if they don’t prepare enough. Something you have to keep in mind is that everyone will process information differently and one of the best ways to make someone feel welcome is to give them enough time to settle in and slowly process the new role.

7. Schedule “Get to know meetings”

Whether you schedule to meet newcomers online or through a person (this will depend on the job you are doing), it’s nice to do this before newcomers start the first day at work and even during the first week. Provide some fun facts and even ask questions to make them feel like they are at home.

8. Clearly communicate the company’s goals and expectations

If you want to retain top talent, it’s always important to hire for success and you can do this by establishing clear objectives and goals. It often happens that rushed hires make newcomers leave their job a few months after being hired because they weren’t clear on the company’s goals and expectations.

The hiring managers should make this effort during meetups or the pre-onboarding phase. Goals should be clearly defined with scheduled follow-ups and check-in meetings for continuous feedback.

Sadly, statistics show that roughly 30% of new employees will leave their job within the first six months of joining. Most of the time, it’s evident that this is an onboarding issue and usually when hiring managers rush the recruitment process and fail to communicate the company’s expectations and goals.

9. Create a journey that is easy to understand

The way you structure and execute your onboarding program matters a lot. For many employees, how an onboarding process is structured and organized is what matters most, but for others, it might be how the training and orientation are provided.

Using the right onboarding tool might seem like the correct answer, especially in this era of online work. However, that isn’t always the case because the learning curve is steeper than you think.

There are organizations with perfect onboarding programs that heavily rely on analytics and will have highly structured onboarding processes. With the right type of data, hiring managers can structure their programs to meet the demand and needs of employees.

Always remember that onboarding is a journey and it takes longer than you think. Some employees might onboard quicker than others and some might even take up to one year. It depends on how easy your journey is and how fast they process the information you deliver.

Studies show that the onboarding journey lasts anywhere from three to six months, but 90% of these employees will decide if they want to stay at this job or not in this time frame.

The onboarding process matters more than you think

While many hiring managers don’t pay much attention to the onboarding process, it’s what makes newcomers feel more comfortable and joyful when settling in at a new workplace. After all, you must give everyone time to settle in and process all the new information.

Uncertainties are what make newcomers feel stressed out, so it’s your job as a hiring manager to make the onboarding process as easy as possible for them. The simpler you make it, the better it’ll be for you in the long term.