For many companies, onboarding is a rather simple process. It consists mostly of giving the new employee a company handbook, explaining the policies, procedures and benefits programs, filling out forms and making a few introductions. And all this is fine as far as it goes. But it doesn’t go nearly far enough.
Onboarding is a much more important process than many believe. It can help the new employee get off to a great start and develop real job satisfaction, or it can leave the employee with more questions than answers. The real purpose of onboarding is to show the new employee what a great company they are joining and to make them feel that they made a good decision. Here are a few areas that a good onboarding program should cover.
1. The company structure
The new employee needs to know how they fit into the overall structure of the company. The person should be given an organizational chart showing who reports to whom and how the system is set up. Naturally, the person also needs to know the company policies and procedures as well. As part of the onboarding process, the company should also ensure the new person has everything they need to hit the ground running, such as the setup of their phone, computer and email.
2. Explain the mission and values
The new person needs to know the guiding principles of the company – what leadership considers to be important. The new person needs to know about the culture of the company and what its values are. This is an important part of onboarding. Studies have shown that an employee’s success or failure with a company depends to a great degree on how the person fits with the company culture.
3. Set clear goals and expectations
The new person needs to know exactly what is expected of them as far as performance. Clear performance standards and goals need to be set up at the very beginning. It might also be helpful to assign a mentor to the new person, someone whom the person can go to if they have questions.
4. Make the new person feel welcome
You want the new person to feel a sense of belonging, that they are a part of something larger and are now a part of a team. You should take the new person out to lunch for the first few days. You should introduce the new person to everyone they will be working with. And you should send out a company-wide email introducing the new person to everyone at the company and encouraging everyone to welcome and help them.
All of these best practices are part of a good onboarding process, one that will help a new employee to be productive and one that will help increase employee satisfaction and retention.
If you are looking for staffing in the Inland Empire, Arrow Staffing is the place to go. Arrow is one of the premier staffing agencies in the Inland Empire, working to establish strong relationships with everyone on of our job candidates, to help them find the right job. Give Arrow a call today!
