Once you have hired a new employee, it is important to get them up to speed and on the job in an efficient way. Having an effective onboarding process means you can get new hires acclimated to their new work environment and start working with confidence. It also leads to better employee retention rates according to Zippia. With increased employee retention, you can lower costs. Here are three things you can do to streamline your onboarding process. 

Get the managers onboard

Your new hire’s direct managers are going to play a big part in their lives. Making sure they are ready for the new hire is just as important as making sure the new hire is ready for them. Spending more time training your managers with the things a new hire is going to need and making sure they are ready to accommodate is going to go a long way to making sure the new hires feel comfortable getting started. 

Their direct managers should be ready on day one to discuss their roles and responsibilities, introduce them to their teammates, and have a peer ready to step in and show them the ropes. From there, managers should be checking in one on one about once a month for the first six to eight months. That way your new hire knows what is expected of them, and who to talk to if something is not going well. 

Get the paperwork out of the way quickly

While you shouldn’t force people to do things outside of when you are paying them, it can be helpful to set them up with an employee portal, or an online onboarding tool to get their paperwork done before they come in. If they complete the paperwork ahead of time, you eliminate the time wasted completing the required onboarding documents; instead you can use this time for an orientation where the employee can get to know your company structure and culture. They also may have easier access to documents that they would need while they are at home. 

If you don’t have the ability for them to complete the paperwork at home, make sure the paperwork is prepared and let them know of any documents or identification they may need to bring with them that they might not think of. Don’t be afraid to communicate with them ahead of time. 

Let them start on projects

One thing that seems to happen a lot is that when a new person starts, they spend a lot of time getting trained by a manager or peer, and it is days or weeks before they are working on something the company would consider important. If you loop new hires into the team right from the start, it helps them feel welcome and included. They can start successfully finishing tasks which will give new employees a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie. 

This ties into our first two points nicely. If your managers have spent time thinking about how to best use a new set of hands and the onboarding paperwork is out of the way, they can jump right in and be a meaningful part of the team.

These three things are a good starting point for setting new employees up for success. How does your organization handle onboarding new employees? If you have any questions about how to make onboarding a smooth transition for everyone, we’re here to help! Contact us today to get started.