Let’s be honest, while onboarding process is essential, it’s by no means easy. It involves hours, days, weeks, and sometimes months of implementing processes in which new hires are integrated into the organization. It takes ages organizing new-hire orientation activities that allow them to learn about the organization’s vision, mission, and values.

Onboarding process is a crucial one that must be treated with utmost importance. You’ve avoided all the common hiring mistakes and hired the best talent out there. But the manner your organization onboards new hires can mean the difference between having dedicated and productive employees and going through the expensive and frustrating process of hiring for the same positions multiple times.

Key takeaways:

1. Engage new hires before they resume
2. Personalize the process
3. Extend the onboarding period
4. Make the onboarding process interactive
5. Request feedback from new employees
6. Conduct a performance review after 6 months

Your organization probably has an onboarding process already. Yet, it is imperative that you regularly assess its effectiveness if you intend to retain top talents and save resources—which is why we have mentioned 6 steps in this article that will improve your onboarding process.

Without further ado, let’s get into it:

1. Engage new hires before they resume
   

   Even if a candidate has agreed to work in your organization, you have no way of knowing how many other offers they have received, especially if they are remarkable talents, so it’s best to put your best foot forward and not wait until new hires show up to the office to start the onboarding process.

   Send welcome messages or emails to your new hires before their start date to make them feel valued. Include other valuable details like where to park, where to get the best food, what to wear, etc., in the messages.

    

2. Personalize the onboarding process
   

   Personalizing the onboarding process makes employees feel special and supported in their new role. You may present a welcome package with organization-related material, like a mug, beanie, or shirt. You may also assign an onboarding buddy to help the employee on the first days. This person becomes the employees’ go-to person when they need answers to questions. Ideally, this must be someone on their team who can answer their questions excellently and help ease their integration into the organization.

    

3. Extend the onboarding period
   

   One month simply isn’t enough time to adjust your new hires to their roles. Be prepared to commit to extending their onboarding programs to 6 months at least to provide more comprehensive onboarding and better knowledge retention.

    

4. Make the onboarding process interactive

   Integrate interactive training sessions by using video content mixed with other visual content such as infographics, charts, graphs, and live demonstrations, in addition to providing practice tests and assignments.

    

5. Request feedback from new employees

   The best improvements come from the feedback from hires that have gone through the onboarding process. Speak to them, request insights into what went well and didn’t, and make the necessary improvements. Consider using anonymous online forms or physical suggestion boxes to enable them to speak freely.

    

6. Conduct a performance review every 6 months

   Remember point 3? Great! 

   Twice a year, you must conduct a performance review of your new hires. Define your goals first, then access them. This way, you can effectively determine how effective your onboarding process has been and what areas you may still need to assist them in.

Final Thoughts on Onboarding Process

A remarkable employee onboarding is key to starting a healthy and productive relationship with a new hire. It is their first impression of how the organization works, activities run, and company culture works. A poor onboarding process, on the other hand, sends new hires away even before there is a chance to recoup the costs of recruitment, which ultimately affects the organization’s bottom line.