After hiring the perfect candidate, you want him (or her) to quickly become a loyal and productive colleague. Remember that a new hire will make up his mind about your organization in his first months. And … decide to leave you, or not. Therefore, a solid on-boarding strategy is key. Allow me to share with you some best practices from our Belgian community of Top Employers.
1. Start early
Practical information for car parking, on-site facilities, lunch hours, but also important information such as company values, insurance documents etc can be shared easily, even before the first workday. So, go ahead, give your new employee access to an online portal or an app with this information. He will be more engaged on his first day.
2. Take the time
No, a one day welcome is not going to give you loyal and motivated colleagues. It takes weeks or even months for a new employee to get used to his new environment and tasks. The best organizations are developing on-boarding processes with both general and job-specific information spread over time.
3. Involve your Board
No better way to get your new hires engaged than by showing they’re important. If a board member takes the time and effort to, for example, explain the company’s strategy or the company values to the newcomers, this will certainly have a positive effect on their feelings towards their new organization. Remember, they want to be reassured of having made the right choice.
4. Involve others
Motivate team managers to organize an informal lunch. Give peers the possibility to train or mentor new colleagues. Assigning a ‘buddy’ to the new employee acknowledges existing colleagues and helps the new one integrate faster.
5. Start a community
Organize regular gettogethers with all new hires or set up an online forum for this group to exchange experiences. These initiatives will be a great foundation for the later cross departmental network of the new hire to build on.
6. Measure
Set up clear objectives for your on-boarding process and measure results. Ask for immediate feedback in the first days, to check whether your onboarding process is ok. What is obvious to you, can be unclear for a newcomer. Repeat this after 6 or 12 months. Did he feel welcome? What can you do better for the next new employee?
Got inspired by this article? Download our full report on On-boarding and discover more insights and best practices.
