Congratulations, your new employee has accepted your offer of employment. You have agreed on a start date. What happens next?

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You have made a great first impression as an employer, so how can you ensure you don’t fall at the next hurdle (induction or onboarding)? In this article, we will share with you some top tips for delivering a great employee induction.

Despite its reputation as being dull and policy and process-driven, employee induction is even more relevant today than it has ever been before. Thankfully, induction practice has come a long way over the last decade.

The modern induction is often referred to as ‘onboarding’, the name describes a process that starts communicating with your new team member before their first day, through to them understanding the business and becoming effective in their role in the first few months.

Done properly, the onboarding process is time-saving, engaging and productive; reducing turnover, and absenteeism, and positively impacting your employer brand.

Here are our top tips for getting this critical element of your new employee’s experience right.

Before they start

Your new hire may be on a long notice period from their previous role, so it is important to keep in touch with them during this time to keep them engaged. Modern-day technology can facilitate this stage perfectly.

Providing them with information about your company vision, mission, values, their team, their role and work environment will all contribute to their engagement before they start.

You can also save valuable time by providing your new employee with a copy of the company handbook, completing right-to-work checks and having all key documents signed upfront. Uniforms, work equipment, business cards etc. can be ordered before the start date.

Inviting a new hire to attend a team meeting either in person or virtually is a great way of introducing them to colleagues and projects. It will instil a level of certainty for where they sit within their teams, giving an understanding of team dynamics, communication style, etc.

First day and transition period

This stage can take anything from a couple of days to a couple of months. It is important to balance your need for them to be contributing as soon as possible, with the need for them to have time to assimilate information and understand their new role and environment.

Give your new hire a ‘welcome file’, providing essential information regarding computer access, contacts and itineraries etc for the first few weeks and other pertinent information will ensure new employees have all the information they need to kick off their role with your company, starting with an informed and productive first day.

If they have not already met their team colleagues, then now is the time to do it. Some type of team activity is a great way to help your new hire integrate with their colleagues.

Spending time with each team member is also an invaluable way to help the transition by introducing your new starter to the culture and custom and practice within your company.

Allocating some work tasks sooner rather than later will help with engagement and confidence and provide a sense of purpose. Using a ‘buddy’ to support them throughout their transition will facilitate quicker learning and consistency of approach.

Follow-up and adjustment

Following up with your new hire and their colleagues is as important as the earlier stages but is often missed.

Frustration, feeling unsure about expectations, and health and safety concerns can all contribute to an early exit or disharmony within the team. This can easily be prevented by regular reviews and making a few adjustments.

You can assess the effectiveness of the general onboarding process through questionnaires, discussions and surveys. Involving employees in this way will support engagement and, ultimately, company productivity.

Whichever option you choose, you should contain enough broad questions to ensure you cover any issues that may have arisen during the onboarding process of previous new hires.

To find out more about onboarding, for support in designing a programme for your new starters, or to gain feedback on how to improve your current onboarding process, please get in touch with us at MAD-HR today.