On boarding-vital to a new hires success!

Providing a positive new hire on boarding and employee transition experience is essential to helping your workforce remain motivated, satisfied and productive.

The concept behind employee onboarding is best defined as a systematic and comprehensive approach to orienting a new employee to help them get "on board."  There are two high-level goals of the onboarding process:

1. To make new employees feel welcome and comfortable in their new surroundings
2. To minimize the time before new employees are productive members of their new workgroup.

Building an Onboarding Program

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A good onboarding program must address:

Company / Departmental Overviews

•          Corporate and departmental overviews generally includes going over items such as the vision / mission statement of the company or department, along with organization charts and value statements.  The purpose of these onboarding activities is to give the new hire a feel for the overall mission of the company, and to introduce them to the objectives and goals of their particular department.

Job Expectations

•          These are the very specific job expectations of the new employee.  This can include any training they might have to go through, job descriptions and expectations, and the company's performance management or appraisal process.

Policies and Procedures

•          The policies and procedures section can range from items like hostile work environments and affirmative action policies, all the way through employee compensation guidelines.  If you have a fit-for-duty program or a system to resolve complaints, these policies and procedures should be shared with the employee early on.

Administrative Housekeeping Items

•          Although these administrative "housekeeping" items might also sound like policies and procedures, these are generally less formal matters that still need to be reviewed such as normal work hours, overtime pay, and inclement weather practices.  This section should also include contact numbers (both at the company) as well as contacts outside the workplace for the employee.  For example, telephone numbers of relatives in case the employee becomes ill at work.

f     Follow these simple guideline and you will ensure a smooth on boarding.