Top 5 Tips for Brilliant Onboarding
Getting your Onboarding right matters.
Here are my Top 5 Tips for Brilliant Onboarding, based on what I’ve learnt from experience as a new starter and an experienced leader in the People Profession. If you follow what I’ve set out, then you be on the path to a brilliant onboarding experience.
Tip 1 - Stay Connected
“Hello, Stranger”
Get your pre-onboarding right by avoiding a gap between your recruitment process and day 1.
You’ve landed a great person to fill an essential role in your organisation. Then you’ll want them to keep that excitement through to day one.
When they’ve accepted the offer and a start date is agreed upon, it’s time to build a strong relationship with that new starter. This applies whether they’re new to your organisation, an internal mover or someone returning following an absence.
Notice periods can sometimes be lengthy, and building this rapport and connection, especially in this volatile talent market, makes it much less likely that you will lose them to another offer. You have emotionally invested in them before you technically have to, and they will have started that too. This opportunity to build rapport before day one will reduce the nerves for that first day, as they have already begun to develop relationships and connections with you, their team, and the organisation.
Yes, it takes effort. Yes, it takes planning, and yes, it means you have to be deliberate about what you are doing, but it will pay off.
Looking to up your pre-onboarding game, you’ll find lots of ideas to inspire you in my Guide to Brilliant Onboarding, which you can access at the end of this blog.
Tip 2 - Get the Basics Right
“Sorry, your laptop isn’t ready yet.”
Get the basics right, make everything as easy as you can.
To help someone connect and engage early on, make sure the kit they need is ready from day 1. If they are starting from a remote location, ensure everything arrives at least a week before. This includes ensuring that the programmes and systems they need to get to work are loaded, working and ready to go.
Not having what you need to start work from day 1 is frustrating and will likely cause some questioning of the quality of your organisation (or you), especially if there is an extended lead time due to a lengthy notice period.
They have their kit; check! Next, make sure they have clear, quality instructions they need to get started themselves. This empowers them to take control and start bringing the skills you recruited them for instead of spending 3 hours with the IT helpdesk (as lovely as they might be).
This tip also applies to the other basics you need to get right, such as the new starter processes working well, being easy to follow, and being ready to go from day 1.
Having Apps or other software to aid this will make for a smoother experience. Therefore, if you have funding for improving the employee experience journey, this is an excellent place to invest those funds. If you haven’t got this type of funding available, you need to provide a ‘one-stop shop’ guide for all the valuable information, processes and systems new starters need to get their heads around.
Getting the basics right increases a new starter” confidence in themselves, you, and the organisation. Don’t let them question if they have made a mistake joining you because of essential systems, processes or preparation that is within your or the organisation’s control.
Tip 3 - Orientation Matters
“Get someone to show you where to get a coffee; see you later.”
Helping someone to feel safe, comfortable and connected is essential, and you must lead them through their orientation.
Remember when you were left at the desk to start our compliance eLearning on day 1 when you hadn’t been introduced to anyone properly, and quite honestly, you needed the toilet? It doesn’t feel great!
A practical orientation matters for every new starter and that doesn’t mean just those starting in the office that day or for those new to the organisation—a significant orientation matters for remote workers and those taking an internal move.
For those moving internally, please don’t assume they are comfortable with the surroundings because they’ve worked for the organisation for five years. When I worked at British Gas, there were several times that I’d show up at a new building that I’d never been to before, and I’d feel like a stranger, even though I’d worked at the organisation for years.
For remote people, make sure you take care of the physical orientation. If there is a physical workspace, ensure they have the orientation on the first day they attend. Still, orientation goes beyond “here are the toilets and how to use the microwave in the communal kitchen”, and it is more than a physical introduction to a working space.
If you want to take your onboarding orientation to the next level, you’ll find lots of ideas to inspire you in my Guide to Brilliant Onboarding, which you can access at the end of this blog.
Tip 4 - Set Them up For Success
“You’ve got what you need, right?”
Time for the detailed and strategic part of brilliant onboarding. Giving them access to everything they need to be successful in their new role.
My definition of successful onboarding is: “giving someone access to the information, resources, relationships, insights, support, and development they need in a way that will enable them to perform their role successfully.”
On that basis, you need to think deeply and prepare for your new start. That means you must have thought through what they might need and organised access to that so they can succeed.
You can start by considering some fundamental questions and detailing your responses. This will be the starting point for creating an onboarding experience that can be regarded as exceptional.
Alongside providing access to what new starters need to be successful, it is critical that line managers are clear about what they need from their new starters and can articulate this as part of the onboarding process. This will also help determine the priority information, resources, relationship, insights, support, and development they need.
Taking the time to do this well will enhance the experience of the new starter, but there will be business benefits to getting your new starter up to speed more quickly. There will be less time wasted trying to figure things out or risk them becoming frustrated because it feels challenging to do their role.
Involving the new starter in pre-onboarding in that early engagement phase will be important too. This is particularly important for the support, development, and well-being requirements, giving them a sense of involvement and support.
Making sure they have the skills and development they need will enable them to feel supported, reducing the chances of you losing them and being faced with the need to recruit again. This is particularly important for new and returning Leaders, who are expensive and difficult to recruit and retain.
Considering a personalised approach to their leadership capability and development will enable them to feel supported in the best way possible. I can help you with that with my Leadership Onboarding Experience – Boost.
Tip 5 - Accountability Where It Belongs
“I thought you were doing that?”
The line manager's ownership of onboarding is critical, but People Teams need to lead the strategic importance of onboarding as part of the employee experience.
The line manager is entirely responsible for ensuring that the onboarding experience of their new starter is brilliant. They need to own the recruitment of that person, their relationship and performance from then onwards, and with this, successfully onboarding them.
From experience, this can be challenging. Line managers have demanding jobs, but it is their responsibility to ensure that this brilliant person they’ve appointed is engaged and excited to start and that they are enabled and empowered through a brilliant onboarding experience to integrate and perform successfully.
Too often, the onboarding programme is left to a PA to sort out, arranging meetings with key people and finding the links to the eLearning compliance modules, and as we know, that just won’t cut it. The onboarding needs to cover tips 1-4 to be in a space to be effective and moving to brilliant, and that is where the People Teams need to lead on the strategic importance of onboarding.
People Teams need to clearly articulate what a great onboarding experience should consist of in their organisation, recognising and perhaps curating the consistent aspect of the onboarding, e.g., bringing to life the organisation, but also highlighting the importance of personalising the onboarding experience to meet the needs of the role and the new starter.
This means partnering with leaders to recognise the value of effective onboarding and providing the support they need to create an onboarding experience that will enable their new colleagues to be successful.
This is especially important when the new starter will be leading teams. This is where the People Team have a vested interest, as that new leader will be responsible for the experience of their team. Ensuring that this new leader has the support and development to lead their team success will be essential to the success of that leadership appointment. They will significantly impact the employee experience that the organisation is developing and embedding.
Onboarding is a critical and meaningful activity that mustn’t be done as an afterthought or a standalone exercise. Onboarding must be considered part of the employee experience and a vital component of any successful recruitment activity.
It is a joint endeavour for People Teams, as the experts in employee experience and Line Managers, as the expert in the team and the ones responsible for the new colleague.
I’ve created a Guide to Brilliant Onboarding which will inspire you to create a brilliant onboarding experience for new, promoted and returning colleagues. There is also an editable preparation template to help prepare these brilliant experiences – enter your details here to access the guide and template.