Culture Club: All Aboard The Onboarding Train

The ‘Culture Club’ returns with our newest article on onboarding! Onboarding is a critical part of introducing new starters to your office, your culture and your ways of working.

Onboarding is the process by which employees are integrated into their new role, department or company. The first few weeks of a new job are arguably the most important for any employee. This time is usually spent learning the ropes of their role, adjusting to the practices of their new company, meeting the various people they’ll be working with and acclimatising to a new office culture.

This is the time when they will absorb a lot of what other people say and form long lasting opinions about their new job, the people they work with and the company they work for. First impressions are critical and anything which happens to someone when they start at a new job (positive or negative) will likely be remembered.

Why is onboarding important?

The perception a new starter builds about your company in their first weeks will likely stick with them during their whole time with the business. It’s difficult to change ingrained opinions and nobody starts a new job ‘bought in’ to a companies values and culture. As a result a positive initial experience is essential for engaged employees.

A good onboarding programme will result in employees who feel valued, supported and prepared. Most people have experienced starting a new job and having nothing to do, it makes you feel useless and like a burden. Above all else it’s boring!

Onboarding can also be used to teach new starters about their role and what is expected of them. There can be a lot to learn and training sessions can be a useful way to prepare them for what they will be doing. The sooner employees are trained up and confident in their role, the sooner they will feel useful and productive.

As employers or managers we should be aiming for happy staff. Your onboarding programme can be a key part of ensuring staff feel happy, engaged and equipped to do their job.

Improving your onboarding

Here are our tips for a few things employers / managers can do to improve their onboarding process…

• Get organised — Prepare for a new starters first day by having their desk set up with any stationery or equipment they may need. Plan an itinerary for (at least) the first week and make sure someone is on hand to greet them when they arrive. It will make a massive difference to a new starters day if they arrive feeling expected and prepared so they don’t have to sit awkwardly twiddling their thumbs.

• Buddy system— Appointing one person to run the onboarding for new starters is a great way to ensure things run smoothly. If lots of people have responsibility it’s easy to assume someone else will do the sorting. This person can act as a buddy so new employees have someone they feel comfortable coming to with any queries or concerns.
• Introductions —It’s important that your existing employees are aware of all new starters joining the business. Before anyone starts an announcement should be made to the whole office with details such as name, their job title and start date. Do this at least 1 week before they are due to start and then again on their first day so staff are aware of them starting. Depending on the size of your company, introducing a new starter to everybody in the office in person (or at least the teams they will be working closely with) is a great way to introduce them.

• A place for all information — Having one place for all internal resources will be useful for both new starters and existing staff. Trello or Google Sites are great for building an ‘internal internet’ where important info can be easily accessed by all staff. During quieter periods, new starters can read through at their own pace. We have found including a seating plan of the office and a ‘who’s who’ page (with pictures and names of all staff) are really useful for new employees.
• Information overload — Starting a new job can be overwhelming and there is a lot to learn over the first few weeks. Avoid overloading employees with too much information, there’s so much to take in it’s more than likely they won’t remember everything and may even lead to feeling of panic if they feel overwhelmed. Reiterate that they are not expected to memorise everything straight away and they can always ask questions if they are unsure. New starters should feel supported and comfortable.

• Onboarding starts before the first day! — Arguably, onboarding starts with the first communication between you and a potential employee. Any conversations which occur during the recruitment process will form a basis for the perception new starters have of your company. Make sure this is in line with the culture you want to convey.

So there you have it, our take on onboarding and why we think it’s so important. Hopefully you can take away some of our tips to implement into your own new starter programme.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next article in our ‘Culture Club’ series.