6 Onboarding Strategies To Welcome Your New Hires

Why establish onboarding best practices?

These best practices create a welcoming experience that reinforces your new hire’s decision to join your company. It makes them feel comfortable and effectively introduces them to your company, the culture, and their team. 

An effective onboarding process sets the pace and improves confidence, skyrockets your employee retention rates, establishes mutual connections between your new employees and the rest of the team, and sets everyone up for success. Your employee induction process reminds the employee, especially the one working remotely, that taking your job offer was a good choice.

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Here are six steps to an effective onboarding strategy:

1. Set them up for success on day one

Effective onboarding helps a new employee understand how your company defines success and gives them a roadmap for getting there. The novice feels like a recognized member of the team.

The recruitment process should equip a new hire with everything they need to adapt quickly to a remote or hybrid work environment. A seamless preboarding and onboarding strategy should ensure that an employee's first day includes a clear overview of their role, tasks, and a schedule that helps them build momentum without feeling overwhelmed.

The onboarding program could consist of a digital employee handbook that outlines their schedule, expectations, and key resources right from the start. Be sure to cover essential information such as communication and reporting expectations, the remote collaboration tools and platforms used, virtual meeting protocols, and best practices for staying connected and productive. Plus, you might include guidelines on setting up their home office and details on accessing shared digital resources.

2. Make asking for help easy

Being the new kid on the block is tough, and that’s why having a buddy is great. For a rookie, a buddy is an invaluable tool. A buddy system makes the first time less nerve-racking and thumb-fiddling and gives the newbie a mentor. This will be their go-to person for questions, comments, and concerns. The buddy can be a peer mentor to guide them into their individual role or an experienced employee to help them navigate the organization and company culture.

The buddy system creates an accessible support system that shows newbies that you care about their success. The buddy could be someone in their department in a similar role who’s experienced and can pass on knowledge and advice. A peer buddy makes the induction process less tense, and the recruit is more comfortable reaching out to them during their first weeks on the job.

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3. Establish routine check-ins

During the onboarding process, communication lines have to be kept open. This ensures that the HR professionals and the newbie can clearly communicate on expectations and progress. Set aside time to discuss progress, challenges, and any additional opportunities. This will cultivate a positive and productive relationship between the rookie and the rest of the team.

Check-ins and feedback loops are a win for everyone; hires get much-needed support and guidance. On the other hand, HR & PeopleOps get valuable feedback on how their enrolling program is doing and what could use a refresher. Check-ins should be a regular thing and a habit baked into the employee’s routine as early as possible. 

Pro-tip: Remember to look out for any signs of burnout, especially in those working remotely. If you feel team members losing morale or running on empty, it’s time to consider tactics for recharging, like offering a mental health day or planning an engaging activity during the workday. 

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4. Celebrate small wins

When starting a new job, a starting employee feels intimidated, especially when surrounded by high-performing peers. As a newcomer, they’re eager to impress. And we think it’s worth showing appreciation for their hard work. 

Celebrating those first accomplishments builds employee confidence and sets them on the path to success. It’s like setting up signposts that track incremental achievements and allow the employee to feel good about their progress. 

Some creative ways to celebrate their small wins may be a small custom gift or acknowledging their success publicly in places like Slack. Giving the celebration a personal touch like treating them to lunch or sending a small gift serves as a great source of motivation and improves employee satisfaction. 

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5. Consider onboarding cohorts

You hunt better and are safer in packs, the same goes for cohorts. Newcomer cohorts allow people to go through the same hiring process, setting a foundation of closeness and comfort right off the bat.  

Onboarding cohorts provide the chance for rookies to learn from one another. Some may ask questions, while others fill in those knowledge gaps. They can help build upon benchmark skills thanks to their varied experiences and insights. Orientation cohorts also help HR professionals uncover potential training issues and establish which activities should feature in future orientations.

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6. Create workplace connections

While it’s great to have a strong working relationship, making connections past the regular office talk is invaluable. Knowing who a certain employee is when they are outside the office establishes a meaningful, lasting connection that influences their connections to the team and their overall job satisfaction and well-being. During their first week of enrollment and on the job, inductees will focus on creating professional relationships within the workplace, and meeting new work buddies will help. 

Break out some icebreakers in your team meetings to spark some fun getting-to-know-you discussions. Team building activities are another perfect way to introduce them to the fun side of the company's culture; does the sales team like to talk smack in good fun during your company trivia games? Is there a monthly step challenge they can jump into? Whatever you choose, host an event that brings your new hires into the fold as soon as you can.

How to get started 👉 Games are the perfect activity to acclimate your new hire to the group without putting them on the spot too much, and Confetti has plenty of games to choose from!

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Boost employee engagement from the beginning

Investing in your employee's onboarding experience eventually pays off. Efficient hire orientation is a work in progress that will set up your new hires for success, ease their transition into your company tradition, give your HR team insights on what works and what doesn’t, and lighten the mood around the office. 

Effectively bringing on a recruit goes beyond preparing hire paperwork and makes the rookie, and the existing team, excited to have a freshman join them. Effective enrollment makes the relationship and the employee experience work.

Add some Confetti to your new hire onboarding process! 

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