As a new joiner to a company, have you ever felt that the onboarding experience could have been improved? Maybe, someone could have put in a little more thought into your first day practices. Show you your new workspace perhaps? Introduce you to your new colleagues maybe?
As an employer or hiring manager, it is pertinent to realise that the onboarding experience is an important process to be set up. Recall how the new hire had put in significant effort into creating a good impression of themselves throughout the screening process? Well, now the onus falls upon you to ensure that you give a good impression of your workplace to them.
Some organisations have a particular SOP to follow through when onboarding a newly hired staff. Others take it more casually. However, the worst-case scenario is where a company has nothing planned out. Even still, there’s always room for improvement.
Where the Great Resignation Era is in full-swing mode and employees are transferring firms, here’s a timely article to check things off your “Are we doing things correctly?” list.
Here are 3 tips to improve the onboarding experience for your next hire.
A word of caution before we delve into the article: this written piece aims to function as a guide. It should not be read as a comprehensive or exhaustive list of advice when it comes to improving recruitment-related processes. The best way to find out what may work best would be by conducting ample research.
Browsing through this article could function as the first step you take into exploring different ways to improve the onboarding experience for the next hire at your firm. A little touch up can go a long way!
Without further ado, let’s get right into the article!
Connect with them beforehand
One of the first steps you can take to improve the onboarding experience for your next hire is by connecting with them beforehand. By informing them how to start their first day, the new candidate will feel more prepared. And thus, at ease.
A simple email or message on your company’s preferred choice of messaging platform is enough to convey a sense of confidence and calm to your new colleague.
Give them access to your firm’s IT necessities – like the email address they’ll be using, as well as other online tools that the new hire will need to get their job done. Personally, my manager had reached out to me on my first day of work to have a cup of coffee with her.
This helped me to get to know her better and build on our professional relationship before work had officially begun.
Find a way to connect with your new hire beforehand. This would ease the communication process and also make everyone feel more comfortable sooner.
Structured plans work great
The next step you can take to ensure your next hire goes through a smooth onboarding experience is by introducing structured plans with them.
Hold a session to share the objectives your next hire should have to meet in say, the next 3, 6 or even 12 months. You can also introduce both short and long term goals with them. Keep it friendly, and make sure it’s a discussion session. It should not feel as though you are instructing them on what and how they should go about doing their work.
Structured plans can help the new hire see their roadmap ahead at the new firm. It will help them see the bigger picture of how they will be contributing to the firm. Plus, it allows them the space to plan their individual career path at the firm.
Building structured plans can immensely help to reduce stress for the newly hired personnel too. After all, a structured plan suggests that prior thought has been put into the onboarding experience. That alone is quite reassuring!
Automate the process
Where technology is at the forefront of everything we do these days, why not make the most out of it? Automating the initial onboarding processes can help to alleviate some of the stress on your HR department. Especially so, if you’re mass hiring at your firm.
It will also make things easier for the new colleague joining your company. Set up notifications and alerts to inform the newly hired employee of the need to submit a certain document.
Imagine having to call the employee in to office. Then, taking the time to show them in-person to sign ‘here and here… and here’.
Why not use an online document instead? Tap on highlights or tags to indicate where signatures are required.
Besides, when you’re signing forms in person, some may feel the need to rush through the process. They may end up only skimming through documents. Thus, missing out on important points to take note of regarding their employment.
Automate the process and they can review things at their own pace. It also allow them the opportunity to get back to you with any clarifications.
Plus, think of all the trees you’ll be saving! 😉
I still recall my first day of work at an agency. I went in to work dressed all nicely and I was pumped to meet my new colleagues. But, most importantly, I was super excited to get some proper office work done.
However, to my disappointment, it was a really quiet day. My colleagues were all engaged in different meetings. I was tasked to just “get familiar” with my new work environment. It was a really underwhelming experience.
What could have been improved on? Well, for starters, it would have been nice if I could have actually had a meeting with my direct supervisor. She was packed with meetings the whole day and I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to speak with her. Preferably, I would have liked a chance to speak to her about my expected job responsibilities.
After that first experience, I made it a point to ensure that I had the first day of lunch with my new colleagues. Chatting over a meal is a great way to break the ice amongst people. You get to talk to them informally and feel more settled.
So, try to fill the first day with activities for your new hire. That way, when they go back home and think about their first day – they’d have much to share with others. It’s a fantastic strategy to build a positive impression for your new hires too.
What's next?
Discuss how these steps and more can be included into the onboarding experience at your company. Speak with the HR department to ensure that the process is streamlined. Doing so will also help to make sure that every new hire feels more welcomed to your new firm.
Need some career resources?
As was briefly covered above, GrabJobs shares career resources in the form of articles for people at different stages of their work lives. Our resources share details on how freshers can start to look for jobs more effectively, the best job interview practises, how individuals can grow their career and so much more!
These are just some of the topics we explore, namely.
Feel free to visit GrabJobs here for more information and interesting reads! We hope you find our resources helpful and useful 🙂
And there you have it – an article detailing 3 tips to improve the onboarding experience for your next fire.
We hope this article has helped provide you with some useful information on how you can build a more productive workplace. If you’re on the lookout for jobs within other industries that are nonetheless located in Singapore, here’s an article that shares with you the top 19 job portals in Singapore.
No matter the industry or the position, remember to visit GrabJobs to find a job opportunity in Singapore easily!
