81% of employees feel overwhelmed by onboarding. Avoid the mistakes.

New year, new chances to make a great first impression. Understanding the importance of onboarding is crucial. Employees starting new jobs already have first-day jitters. It’s up to HR to ease them into their environment while also making sure they get a sense of how the place works. No small task. This week, we cover the many ways you can make onboarding easier on employees and yourself for long-lasting success and satisfaction.

Developing an effective employee onboarding program is a critical component of a company's talent acquisition efforts. After all, new employees should feel confident that they accepted the right offer from the very first day. The onboarding phase of an employee's tenure at an organization sets the tone for their performance and expectations. An ill-planned experience can be demotivating and may even be the catalyst for deciding the job's not for them. HR can prevent a new hire's dissatisfaction with the onboarding experience by planning each step of the process thoughtfully. One of the main things to decide is how long the onboarding process will take. From there, building an onboarding timeline is essential.

The onboarding experience that incoming employees have can make or break their loyalty to your organization. Poor onboarding can result in negative first impressions and decrease productivity and retention. Even if they don’t leave right away employees with a bad onboarding experience may be less likely to commit to your business’s long-term success. To help you get the most out of your hiring process from start to finish, consider some of the following strategies to improve onboarding.

1. Make a strong first impression.

A common complaint among new employees is information overload or a lack of specific performance objectives during the onboarding process. This can overwhelm and cause some new hires to freeze or quickly second guess their decision to join your company. You want to provide a good first impression that will make them feel confident in their employment decision versus other employment possibilities. Even if you need new hires to hit the ground running, don’t try to make them lace up their sneakers on the first day. This can create an experience that feels very demanding and causes a sense of unease. You want them to feel like they’re fully engaged with the company before you ask too much of them.

2. Foster meaningful relationships.

Once onboarding begins, try to help your new hires foster meaningful connections with their coworkers and managers. The human element of this process is often the most valuable, especially when people take extra effort to make new hires feel welcome, comfortable and included. It’s a good idea to provide your existing workforce flexibility to allow them to connect with a new employee.

3. Don’t rush the process.

An effective onboarding experience should be an ongoing process. While it’s tempting to give the new employee everything they’ll need to know about the company on the first day, it’s more constructive to introduce policies and procedures gradually. The concept of time-released onboarding helps employees feel like their company cares about them and their progress. It shows employees that they value quality over quantity and aren’t operating in a rushed environment. Breaking up information about company policies also helps reduce the likelihood that new employees miss something important because of information overload.

This checklist simplifies the hiring and onboarding process by covering the following essential areas: 

• Complete HR paperwork and documentation: From offer letters to tax forms, we’ve got you covered.
• Effective training and equipment setup: Seamlessly integrate new hires with virtual training and proper tools.
• Smooth orientation and integration: Help your new team members feel welcome with structured meet-and-greets and organizational insights.

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