Introduction:
In today's hyper-competitive job market, a well-executed onboarding process has become a key differentiator for organisations seeking to attract and retain top talent. Now, as the Head of Operations in a remote-first tech start-up, I've been exposed to a few different wild, weird, and wonderful onboardings in my career! Some good, some not-so-good... from being handed a laptop and a locker key rather unceremoniously, to a full week of shadowing the person I was replacing, there isn't much I haven't seen at this point. The great thing about this, though, is that it means I know what it takes to make a good onboarding work (and what doesn't!).
First, let’s explore the significance of onboarding
Onboarding plays a pivotal role in shaping the success and retention of new employees. It goes beyond just a routine orientation exercise; it sets the tone for the employee's journey and lays the foundation for their success within the organisation. A thoughtful and comprehensive onboarding experience not only equips new hires with the necessary tools, information, and resources but also fosters a sense of belonging, engagement, and alignment with the company's mission and values. It ensures that employees feel supported, empowered, and ready to hit the ground running, ultimately driving productivity and reducing turnover.
The Costs of a Poor Onboarding Experience
Having witnessed my fair share of subpar onboardings, I've seen first-hand the potential costs they can inflict on both the individual and the organisation. A substandard onboarding experience can leave new employees feeling disconnected, confused, and demotivated. When individuals are not provided with proper guidance, training, or clarity about their roles and expectations, their confidence and productivity can suffer. This, in turn, leads to decreased job satisfaction, disengagement, and, ultimately, a higher likelihood of turnover. Additionally, a negative onboarding experience can tarnish the employer brand, making it more challenging to attract and retain top talent in the future. It's clear that a poor onboarding process can result in increased recruitment and training costs, lost productivity, and diminished team morale.
By learning from both the successes and failures of various onboarding approaches, we have recently reshaped our process to try and create a truly first-rate onboarding experience for our new hires here at KOPE. Let's explore the strategies, best practices we used to transform your onboarding process into a seamless and impactful journey that sets your employees up for long-term success in a remote-first start-up.
Revamping Your Onboarding Process
Revitalising your onboarding process involves a comprehensive and honest evaluation, followed by a thoughtful redesign. Here are the key steps we took to revamp our process:
- Assess your current onboarding program: Review your existing onboarding materials, feedback from previous hires, and stakeholder input to identify areas of improvement and pinpoint pain points. Encourage people to feedback in an honest and open way and be open and committed to changing what needs to be changed
- Listen to feedback and take it seriously: Check in with some recent new joiners to get their honest feedback about what worked well, where the gaps were, ask them about things they feel they still don’t understand (make it very clear that this does not reflect badly on them).
- Define clear objectives: Determine the desired outcomes of the onboarding process and align them with your company's goals, values, and culture. Your onboarding process is the first exposure to who you are as a business, so show it off in the best possible way by making it honest and realistic.
- Design a structured onboarding roadmap: Create a detailed plan that spans the first few days and weeks of a new hire's journey. This plan should cover:
- essential information and IT set up
- time with their manager
- introductions to their team members
- introductions to various business units, even if not relevant to their role
- any specific training modules they’ll need
- an overview of company policies and procedures.
- Automate: wherever possible use automation to trigger as many of the steps and processes as possible, particularly for repetitive tasks that are always the same. A few hours of setting these up will save you many hours in the long run.
- Create a warm welcome: Send personalised welcome emails, keep the dialogue going with them between signing their contract and the date they start working. Send them some company branded merch along with their IT equipment and a nice welcome note.
- Foster connections: Encourage social interactions and relationship-building by creating a buddy system so they have a point of contact for their first few weeks. Ideally it would be someone outside of their immediate team to allow them to broaden their networking from day one. You can also organise virtual meet-and-greet sessions, team-building activities, and informal virtual gatherings in their first few days. Facilitate mentorship or shadowing opportunities by pairing new hires with experienced employees who can provide guidance and support.
- Provide resources and tools: Equip new employees with the necessary resources, including access to documentation, communication platforms, and training materials. Offer comprehensive online learning modules to facilitate self-paced learning. Create an agenda and a checklist of the need-to-know information as well as the additional content that might be useful for them.
- Communicate expectations: Clearly articulate performance expectations, roles, and responsibilities to new hires from the start. These should ideally be SMART goals to provide them with a clear understanding of their short-term and long-term objectives and establish regular check-ins to monitor progress and offer guidance. Keep a record of these goals and their progress.
- Continuous feedback and check-ins: Regularly solicit feedback from new hires and conduct check-ins to address any concerns or challenges they may encounter. This feedback loop is essential for their growth and adjustment to the organisation.
Optimising Onboarding for Remote Employees:
With remote work becoming more prevalent, it is crucial to tailor your onboarding process to meet the unique needs of remote employees. This will ensure they feel supported, integrated, and equipped to thrive in a remote-first environment. Remember, a well-structured onboarding program is a powerful tool in attracting and retaining top talent, fostering a positive company culture, and driving long-term organisational success.
Consider the following tips:
- Ensure equality: Wherever possible ensure they receive the same quality onboarding as local employees, give them access to the same or equivalent local benefits and opportunities.
- Leverage technology: Utilise video conferencing tools, project management platforms, and collaboration software to facilitate seamless communication and virtual interactions.
- Provide a digital welcome kit: Create an online welcome kit that includes essential information, company policies, and resources. Make it easily accessible for remote employees to reference and navigate.
- Pre-schedule virtual meet-and-greets: Organise virtual meetings with team members and key stakeholders to help remote employees build relationships and feel connected to the larger team.
- Clarify remote work expectations: Clearly communicate expectations regarding work hours, availability, and communication channels for remote employees. Provide guidelines for maintaining work-life balance and setting boundaries.
- Foster virtual collaboration: Encourage remote employees to engage in virtual collaboration tools, such as shared documents or project management platforms, to foster teamwork and facilitate seamless collaboration.
Revamping your onboarding process is a strategic investment that will pay off in the form of engaged, productive, and retained employees. It can be a bit of a meaty process especially if you have a lot of various systems and stakeholders involved, but by recognising the significance of onboarding, understanding the costs of a poor experience, and implementing best practices, you can create an exceptional journey that sets new hires up for success.
