Growing your team can be overwhelming. Employee success is vital!
Onboarding is key to it all. It’s all about building an environment where your new employee feels supported, confident, and ready to tackle any challenge that lies ahead.
You’ve identified and hired a star recruit who is navigating a new environment, with unknown expectations and rules. They’re looking to you to help them manage their entry into their team, keep them engaged and supported in their first few weeks. Are you ready to set them up for success from Day One?
Without a robust and supported onboarding experience, your new hire won’t recognise the supports around them and start exploring other opportunities. So, what makes an onboarding process successful?
Here are five tips to consider and critical questions to ask yourself throughout your onboarding process.
1). Reinforce the future.
During the recruitment process and the first few weeks, your candidate is looking at your company, their new team and this exciting role, hoping it will meet their expectations. They’re asking themselves … Is the work-life balance, right? Do they feel they’ve been prepared and set up for success in their role?
Yes, they are shaping and evolving their thoughts about what the future holds.
It’s time for Managers, like you, to be taking a hands-on approach. In the first week, ensure each new hire has an in-depth schedule outlining all meetings and training sessions. Ensure they meet with key stakeholders, and are aware of how their success will be measured in the first few weeks. Not only will you be setting expectations and getting on the same page, but you’re showing your new hire you are there to help them set priorities, get focused, and support their passions for the future.
The question to consider: Did your new hires’ initial expectations match what they’ve experienced in the first week (or month)?
2). Identify the Champions
Having success linked to us makes us all feel like we can achieve anything we put our minds to.
Not only are you helping your new hire see what they could achieve, but you are also opening them up to the possibilities of the leadership journey ahead.
The question to consider: Would your top performers agree that the skills new hires have emphasised to them in their first week or month are the ones that make them successful in their role?
3). Relationships are the Foundation for Employee Success
Success rarely happens in a vacuum.
Cultivating an environment for success is all down to skills and collaboration. How do you ensure your new hire understands and embraces the power of collaboration in your workplace?
Not only is it essential to form strong bonds with those around them, but understanding how everyone’s workload supports the company’s success can be a real motivator for many. Sit down with them and get clear on what this looks like for you both. It’s these moments of understanding that create prosperity and make us not only feel welcome but part of a team.
Ensure your new hire understands how their work fits into the success of the team and ultimately the business. Keeping them connected to the broader company goals, fosters motivation and the drive to succeed.
The question to consider: What does the future hold for your team and organisation? How might that affect your new hires’ perceptions of their fit within the future?
OR
If your new hires perform their job well or poorly, do they know how it will affect other people on their team?
4). Keep Your New Hires Focused.
In the first week, how are you keeping track of their success?
Measuring success can be a subjective process. In the first week of a new role, many unknowns can create anxiety, overwhelm and uncertainty in new team members. Are they meeting the expectations of their team? How do they know they’re meeting your priorities?
The best way to sustain focus is by knowing what to focus upon. Is this being communicated to your new hire and do they understand how this will be measured? Get proactive and set regular 1-2-1 meeting each fortnight to keep track of projects, support them to stay focused, and discuss the challenges they may be facing.
The question to consider: Are your new hires focused on mastering the right things so they can pursue other challenges in the future?
5). Re-assess everything.
Everything is going great. Your new team member is excelling in their new role. They’re meeting the targets you set for them. However, is the new team member engaged, inspired and focused?
Make sure you set a three and six month 1-2-1 meeting with every new team member. Check-in with how are they doing. Do they feel supported? Is their role what they envisioned during recruitment or in their first few weeks? Asking these questions will give you a holistic and critical understanding of your onboarding processes. This critical understanding will help you continue to readjust and evolve your onboarding processes well into the future.
The question to consider: Is long-term success likely to materialise for this employee?
You have dedicated a lot of time, effort and resources to recruiting the best candidate and helping them feel supported in their new role. A focus on quality onboarding builds the foundation of success for your new employee, their team and the entire company. Now is the time to get it right.
Are you ready?
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