Every business owner knows the importance of employee onboarding. New hires are the future of your company. As such, when designing your new employee onboarding template, it's important to devise a strategy that will help you integrate new staff quickly and allow them thrive in your business. This article provides an effective onboarding template which will scale as your organisation grows.
What is the new role you are onboarding?
Each employee onboarding process must be tailored to a type of role in order to increase its success. For example, roles which require specialist expertise will require training whereas roles which require collaboration will require individual meetings with the new employee's team members. To facilitate these sessions, a hiring manager should prepare a checklist template of all the training sessions a new hire will need to complete and the people they will need to meet for a given role. The employee onboarding checklist should also include any equipment required by the role so that they can be sourced before the start date. The IT department should also be informed by the HR team about the new starter so that they can create the appropriate emails. Moreover, to increase retention, the employee's new role and job description must have been clearly explained to them during the hiring process and in their employment contract so that they know what to expect before starting their new job.
What to communicate before the start date?
To take stress away from new hires, communicate to them well in advance what to expect on their first day of work and share any information they need to know about what time they should come to the office, who they will meet and if there is a dress code or anything specific to the company culture they should be aware of. The company policies and employee handbook should also be shared in advance to give the new hire as much time as possible to read them. For remote employees, ensure that you've shared workspace log in details and send the appropriate video call links ahead so that they are not locked out of your organisation on their first day. By listing all these items on your new employee onboarding checklist you will streamline your onboarding process which will allow you to hire more quickly.
What to do on the first day
It is essential that your company sets a great first impression on your new employee's first day whether this is in person or remote. You can prepare a welcome letter or welcome email which should detail an agenda for the day and contact details of key team members and times for meeting them. At the end of day one, the new employee must be given a plan for the next week, month and 6 months to help them grow into their role and to allow the hr manager to monitor their progress. Check ins and performance reviews should be scheduled as often as is required to ensure your new employee stays on the right track.
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What to do at the end of the first week?
At the end of the first week, schedule a session with your new employee to go through your new hire checklist and review what went well and how the onboarding experience could have been better. Make sure that the new team member has met all the relevant stakeholders and if not schedule meetings for as soon as possible. Make sure that the new employee is onboard with their plan for the first month and for the remainder of the onboarding period.
When is a new employee onboarding complete?
A new hire onboarding process usually lasts six months but there is no set duration and it can be as short or as long as is required to bring your employee up to speed with their role and your organisation. Onboarding programs should be tailored to roles and should evolve with market conditions to increase the likelihood of your job offers being accepted. Leverage apps and automation where possible to streamline your human resources department but make sure that your onboarding process remains human. Finally clear and robust employment contracts are essential for a successful employee onboarding. To offer paperless and professional employment contracts to your new hires, sign up to legislate today.
About Legislate
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The opinions on this page are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal advice on which you should rely.