Onboarding

What is onboarding?

Onboarding is the process of getting a new employee up to speed at an organization. It includes everything from setting up key accounts to choosing benefits, receiving role-specific training and materials, completing new hire paperwork, having meet-and-greets with coworkers, participating in office tours, and more. 

Example: As part of the onboarding process, all new hires received access to the employee handbook to read and review in their first week.  

Why is the onboarding process important? 

Onboarding is an integral part of company culture at any organization. After all, onboarding new employees sets the tone for their tenure with your organization. 

A thoughtful onboarding program can have the power to set up strong collaborative relationships from the first day and help employees hit the ground running with important tasks. This increases job satisfaction for new hires as well as trust in the organization, which can result in higher employee retention, productivity, and long-term success.

How to build an effective employee onboarding process 

Regardless of your industry, an effective onboarding process should allow your employees to feel confident and prepared and understand any performance expectations for their role. Ensure that your onboarding experience allows employees to seamlessly transition into their new roles, giving them access to key processes, documents, and coworkers from the start. 

An initial orientation period in the first few weeks where new hires can interact with other employees can be helpful to establish a sense of community and belonging and ensure they have ongoing support from coworkers.