How to Onboard New Employees
What Does Good New Hire Onboarding Look Like?
Much of the discussion around the Great Resignation has been around people leaving jobs, but what about when those people start new jobs or begin new careers?
One of the topics I’ve been thinking about lately has been around onboarding new employees. At some point, we’ve all been the new kid at the company, and had that sense of excitement and jitters about starting something new. While this is natural, companies aren’t doing themselves many favors when it comes to onboarding new employees.
In a study from Bamboo HR, a HR software platform, 31% of workers reported having quit a job within the first six months. We also know turnover costs quite a bit of money, not to mention time. This is perplexing because recruiting and hiring costs time and resources, why do you want to leave that on the table?
Over the course of my career, I was fortunate to work at two companies in particular that I thought did a great job of onboarding. I also believe in this so strongly that one of my firm activities at Deloitte was to onboard new analysts (undergraduates) and SCs and Managers (MBA hires) and facilitated new hire training for over 800 new hires over the course of six years. Seeing the impact and meaning that people got from being able to meet their peers was really powerful. Furthermore, consulting is very much it’s own beast with a unique way of working, so being able to give people “sets and reps” early on to get their sea legs was really important. Also, having a massive state of the art training facility didn’t hurt either, and did a lot for morale and engagement.
Fun Fact: There is an HBR Case Study on Deloitte University, TLDR: would you invest $300 Million Dollars at the crest of the Great Recession?
At Salesforce, onboarding was their jam, so much so that they built an entire brand and product around it. One thing they did particularly well was being able to truly welcome people into the company from the very beginning. Using their own technology products, leading up to what they call “Day 1” was a drip email campaign full of information and communications for the new hire.
(The time two of my friends serendipitously got placed in the onboarding training I was leading)
Once they got started, Salesforce did an excellent job of helping new hires understand the culture and ways of working of the company. Sure, most employees came in with at least some idea of what it could be (it’s probably why they decided to come work there to begin with) but through various speakers and events in the program (ex: you do a volunteer activity with all the new hires to illustrate their value around giving back) new employees got a sense of “the way things are done here,” which not only provides context but in many cases excites and motivates employees about what’s to come.
What should Employee Onboarding Include?
When I thought back to the onboarding experiences that I saw at Deloitte and Salesforce but also took a look at some of the research out there, I tried to come up with a few elements that are critical to bringing on a new employee. They are:
Culture - New employees get a sense of the culture (working definition: company culture refers to the attitudes and behaviors of a company and its employees) when they interview for a role, but they don’t really get to see and experience it until they start on the job. Salesforce did a wonderful job of not only creating a sense of welcoming, but really introducing you to the values and the culture of the company, and showing you what it means to be a part of the Salesforce family.
Context - One practice I have seen multiple managers use is a document which outlines the details around why the new employee was hired in the first place. Claire Lew refers to this as a “Day 1 Note” but I’ve heard it called a bunch of other names. The message here is that when an employee knows the context and details for why they were brought on and what they are going to be doing, it provides more clarity for them to work toward those desired goals. It also is a great way to articulate, as a hiring manager, the skills and expertise you really valued in your new employee, so they know they can flex that in their role.
Context also refers to the one thing that is really hard to glean from the outside, and doesn’t solely have to come from the manager. Molly, one of my friends who recently had to onboard two new employees told me about a practice they use called “OTJs” - these are short videos made by other team members, about specific things about the role, the company or the nuances to the processes and systems that they wished they knew, or that took them a long time to learn. This is a great way of being able to codify tacit knowledge, and to help people understand what they are walking into.
Coaching - Whether it's through a formal mentor program or by assigning an onboarding buddy to the new hire, giving your new employee the chance to ask questions and learn from peers, teammates, etc who have been there before is critical to helping them learn, build trust, and get comfortable. I do think there are obvious benefits from doing this in person in an office, but with the technology tools that are available today I think there are many tech enabled ways to make this happen.
Check-Ins - Good managers know that regular check-ins with their reports are critical to helping employees stay on track, but doing these early on are especially important to help build trust and to have a sense of where your employees are in their onboarding journey.
Clear Measures
(I had to cheat on this one to keep the C’s theme going…)One recommendation is to design what the first month of the new hire will look like from a project and assignment perspective. What is a project that they can work on and be responsible for, and how can you ensure they have a clear outcome on it? Ideally, you want something that helps them get familiar with the company and the role, but also, upon completing it, gives them a feeling of accomplishment and mastery, wWhat will they be responsible for, and what’s the ideal outcome? This allows for the new hire to get their feet wet, but to do so with some guardrails in place as they learn the job.
Connection - Part of why we work is to foster connection and belonging with other people. Being able to give new hires a chance to get connected with their peers on a personal and professional level is critical to engagement and overall well-being. Larger companies (ex: Salesforce and Deloitte) were so great at this, because they typically batched new hires together, so you always had the chance to meet other people. But getting embedded with the other people
Conclusion
With COVID-19 turning onboarding into a virtual endeavor and the rise of remote or hybrid work, I think there’s even more room for improvement to onboarding to come. If you have any recommendations, or want to share what’s working for you, drop me a note or reply in the comments.