Onboarding
Importance of Onboarding
The cemployee onboarding is best defined as a systematic and comprehensive approach to help a new employee get "on board" and acclaimated to the organization and their department as quickly as possible.
There are several high-level goals of the onboarding process:
- To help new employees feel welcome and comfortable in their new surroundings.
- To become familar with the organization's culture.
- To minimize the time before new employees are productive members of their new workgroup.
Make Employees Feel Welcome
Studies conducted by the Corporate Leadership Council indicate that it's important for new employees to quickly acclimate to their new work environment. It's also important for these employees to start building rapport with colleagues so they can begin to assimilate into existing workgroups.
One way of help employees become activated is to assign a buddy or peer mentor to help them during the first few weeks.
Minimize the Learning Curve
Onboarding can help minimize the downtime that occurs when a new employee joins the department. The manager should meet with the employee right away and discuss performance expectations. Setting 30-90 performance goals can provide a significant reduction in the time to get an employee up to speed and reduce misunderstandings which lead to frustration and even the premature departure of a new hire.
Objectives of Employee Onboarding
Finally, from either the employee's or employer's perspective, the high-level objectives of a good onboarding program include:
- Help the employee to identify with their new employer, coworkers, and leadership team.
- Allow employees to understand some of the company's values and priorities.
- Building an optimistic attitude towards the company.
- Avoid misunderstandings and reduce new employee anxiety.
- Help the employee feel valued.
- Encourage socialization and create a sense of belonging.
- Establish performance expectations and development needs to decrease the learning curve.
- Help build relationships they need to be successful can reduce new employee turnover.