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Why Onboarding New Employees is Important and How To Do It

How to make new people welcome in your company

James Douglas Burbank

November 29, 2016

Onboarding is the process that a company starts once they decide to hire someone. It starts with taking care of all the paperwork prior to the new employee's first day, as well as after it. It also entails welcoming the new employee, presenting their new workplace to them and easing them into their tasks and responsibilities. It may not sound as much, but it is the crucial step in an employee's experience with a company and as a business owner or manager, you cannot afford to make too many onboarding mistakes.

Why is Onboarding so Important

To put things as simply as possible, onboarding is the first step in getting the most out of your employees. If you do not take care about how your new employees are welcomed, they will take far too much time to reach their full productivity (up to 8 months according to certain studies).

Also, through great onboarding, you are reducing the chances of your new employee leaving you quickly. Employee turnover is a huge problem for small companies that are trying to get on their feet and through a structured onboarding process, you will minimize the chances of this happening to your company. You can find some truly amazing onboarding statistics here.

When to Start

Your onboarding process needs to start even before the new employee comes in for their first day. It should start the moment you decide to hire them. For example, you can send them a couple of welcome gifts and some literature on your company (nothing too heavy, though). You should also try and do as much paperwork in the period before they come over as possible. It would be best if at least some of it could be done digitally, without sending too many papers to and fro.

The Crucial First Day

The first day at a new company is usually an extremely stressful experience and with a great onboarding practice, you can definitely make it less anxiety-inducing. For one, your employees should be encouraged to be extra nice and warm to the newcomer. You should be there to welcome them and they should be able to take their place at their work station from the first day. There is nothing worse than having to mope around for days because the computer is not hooked up.

The first day is also the perfect time for them to get to know their colleagues or at least the people who will be in their team. You might also want to take them out to lunch and find out more about who they are. This way you can also talk to them about your company, their team and what you hope to get from them. Of course, you should not immediately start talking about their tasks and the "technical" stuff.

The First Few Weeks

During the first few weeks, you should be easing your employee into the minutiae of their job, their responsibilities and everything else that pertains to their day-to-day company experience. During this time, you will also have them go through the training that your new employees go through.

One big mistake that business owners make during the first weeks of their new employees' presence in the company is that they automatically think they are super motivated and eager to go above and beyond the call of duty. New people need employee motivation as much as your oldest team members.

Over the course of the first few weeks, you should regularly check up on your new employees and find out how they are finding their new workplace, their colleagues, their job and, of course, your company. If you think they are showing any signs of being unhappy, you should try to get to the bottom of it and clear out any early problems that may have arisen.

Closing Word

You do your onboarding right and you will get a hardworking employee who will stay with your company and help it grow and thrive.

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