New employees are like new fish, you can’t throw them to the sharks. When they first join your organization you need to keep them safe by keeping everything fun and stress free. Onboarding could take weeks or months depending on whether the person is remote staff or local staff. In this post, we’ll go over a few ideas for onboarding new team members.
I am sure we all remember the first few days and weeks at a new job. You wander in in the morning and you feel insecure and a bit lost. Every company, however small, has its customs and its way of doing things. Some of this might be detailed in bumf given you by human resources but a lot you have to learn ‘on the job’. management consultants and business gurus have realised that if a new hire is ‘onboarded’ in a haphazard manner they are more likely to vanish quite quickly wasting all the time, money and energy to recruit them in the first place. So it is obvious to pay attention to tips and tricks that help a new employee become part of the team and forge a long relationship with your company.
Visit the Local Cafe Nero Together
We live in a vibrant coffee culture and we are surrounded by chains of friendly, inviting coffee shops. During a new hire’s first few weeks with your company,try to have them go for coffee with their new colleagues. This works especially well with SME’s, where relationships are vital. Relaxing with a coffee away from the office setting helps to take some stress off, letting a new employee chat freely and get to know your staff in a low-pressure setting.
Smooth onboarding: Get the Team Together Early On.
Once a new employee has gone through standard orientation sessions and completed obligatory paperwork you should sit them down with different teams so that each member can introduce themselves and explain how they contribute. This is a handy strategy in organisations with inter-relating work groups.New employees can simultaneously know who is who and gain an understanding of how each group works internally, as well as the overall function of the business.
Break Bread and Do Some Small Talk
Lunch can be a very bonding personnel experience. Outside from the workplace a new employee can open up about their ideas and their aspirations. Management can also gauge how staff are likely to operate together smoothly and maybe even iron out some possible problems areas before they arise. In a sales environment where a new employee is going to be socialising with clients and prospects it is useful to check that they handle themselves comfortably in restaurant or bar environments. Here at Hold Everything we deal a lot with sales people who are out on the road meeting customers and being the face of the company they represent.
Invest in Company Gifts
Give new employees something that they can associate with their new company, maybe some sort of gear or clothing that features company branding. If there’s a special laptop case or coffee mug that all employees use, make sure the new guy gets it. A cheap company ballpoint won’t cut the mustard. you want something that they will be proud to use and display . You don’t need to go the whole hog and give a company branded Rolex like many Arab state rulers do to their entourage but a mid-range company branded wallet would be perfect.
Introduce them to the ‘head honcho’
Onboarding should come from the top down.. Arrange for the CEO to meet with the new employee and welcome them personally to the company. Then, when someone asks them if they ever met the boss they can answer in the affirmative and give a more positive spin to the corporation.
Give them some immediate goals
Don’t put off too long before letting recruits get started in their new jobs. Give new team members some actual projects to work on and targets to meet. It doesn’t matter if these are smaller projects or part of a training program, new recruits will feel more active and productive if they have something concrete to do from the first day. It will also let you evaluate a new hire early on so that you can make any necessary adjustments to their business skills and methods.
If you put some work into your onboarding process you will benefit by not losing valuable staff through neglect. Being part of a team is very important to keeping staff working well within the family. In towns like London where there is intense competition to recruit the best staff it is in your best interest to let them see they have a great future amongst a welcoming and helpful team. This is even more important when staff are often working at distance for much of the time either at home or at a virtual office. So the start of their involvement with company is crucial.
