A person has many reasons to get excited at the time of joining a new organization. There is a new role to play, new people to meet and many new skills to learn. The new employee also wants to leave the best impression from the very first day. However, the employee cannot integrate into your organization in a single day. People take time to get comfortable in new settings. So, make sure that your new employee gets experience-driven onboarding. You should keep the new team member engaged. The first experience can improve the retention rate.
Processes like paperwork and providing information about payroll, tax, leaves, policies and employee benefits are important. However, the true goal of onboarding is to integrate the new hire into the organization. Make the new employee feel welcomed and connected. This builds the desire to innovate and grow in the new environment.
Here are the onboarding mistakes you must avoid:
Delaying Onboarding
Delaying this process makes the new employee feel ignored. Start the process even before the first day at work. The first day at work should go smoothly. The new team member should feel valued. Using one of the best onboarding solutions can streamline this process for you. The new hire can access the list of required documents such as proof of residency. Onboarding solutions make information like dress code, lunch break etc easily accessible.
Ignoring Pre-Boarding
A new employee cannot read all the documents on the first day. It takes time to read and understand policies. Share these documents a few days before the employee is going to join at work. Meanwhile, the organization can make arrangements like ID badges, email accounts and workspace.
Lack of Preparation and Organization
If your organization is a startup, you may have a casual culture. It is good to have a relaxed workplace. However, when it comes to onboarding, you need a structure. You need proper preparation and organization to make the new team member a part of the culture.
Unclear Expectations
Don’t squash the new hire’s enthusiasm on the very first day. Make sure that the employee has the clarity of expectations and goals. There should be no misunderstanding on the very first day. The job description provides the basic idea of the role. If there is any probationary period, explain how the performance will be evaluated.
Information Overload
HRs share all the necessary information on the very first day. New employee has too much to process on the very first day. This makes it difficult for the employee to figure out. Give your new employee a week. Publishing a New Employee FAQ page on your intranet software is a good idea. The new employee can learn everything about payday, holidays, leaves, work from home policies, dress code, accounts, subscriptions and reports.
Not setting Goals
You cannot define success when goals are not clear and don’t even exist. If the employee is going to join the sales department, you must provide clarity of goals. Even when the employee is going to join some other department, the manager and new employee should sit together and discuss goals and dates.
No Feedback
The new employee needs to know if the management is satisfied with the performance or not. The new hire feels like working in a vacuum when no feedback is provided. So, provide feedback and recognize success.
Not Addressing Differences
People come from different cultural backgrounds. There can be generation gaps. Therefore, when you are onboarding, recognize these differences.
No Measurement
You need to measure to manage. Therefore, have some onboarding related key performance indicators in place. This will also reveal shortcomings and problems in your processes.
Online collaboration tools already come with these key performance indicators and other features you need for onboarding. All you have to do is to choose one of the best onboarding solutions for your organization.
