Far more than a “new hire induction” in which new employees are briefed on benefits, photographed, security badged and sent out on their way, an onboarding programme is a comprehensive way to fully immerse new hires. The process includes logistics, of course, but, more importantly, it involves showing the big picture to your new team member to accelerate broad understanding of high-level strategies, current projects, corporate culture and shared mission. It also kicks off familiarity with the people they will be interacting with.

It is critical to get the onboarding process right to set the tone for a high degree of engagement. Every step should be met by everyone on the team with an easy, pleasant confidence. You have to be buttoned down and prepared to pull this off ‘ which is often challenging when you’re just coming out of a week-long or months-long interview process that likely interfered with your own productivity.

That’s why a checklist is important. We have created this extensive list of all you should do to facilitate the type of onboarding that will serve to allow your new hire to hit the running ground while fostering relationships along the way. It’s also a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy: employees who were effectively onboard will pay dividends and do the same for their future hires because they know how well they’ve been set up ‘ and how great it felt. Furthermore, your company will build a strong reputation for employee engagement, which is never bad.

Employees who have been properly onboard also have a much higher chance of staying, which keeps your recruiting costs low and high productivity.

Now that we have established how important it is to set a great tone right from the start to ensure that employees stay happy, let ‘s look at exactly what to do and when:

You have all the paperwork completed:

• Reach out to tell you how excited you are that they will join your team.
• Go over options for parking and commuting.
• Let your new hire know when you would like them to come in.
• Make sure that they know who to ask for upon arrival and make sure that person is prepared to welcome you warmly!

Fulcrum Tip: A great way to reach out to your new starter is to send them a video from yourself outlining how excited you are that they are joining.

A week before the start date of your New Hire:

• Send your first week’s meeting agenda so they know what to expect.
• If you’re hosting a meeting-and-greet lunch, it’s a long way to ask in advance about food preferences.

Day one:

• Show your new staff member of your team to their workstation.
• Have a welcome card signed by members of the team waiting with some company swag such as branded notebooks, a mug and pens.
• Make sure that your new hire knows where the exits, bathrooms, and kitchen are, and they have access to a map showing meeting / conference rooms and other key destinations.
• Consider setting up a scavenger hunt to help new hires come together to learn their way around.
• Assign a work mate to help them get settled for the first few weeks. This can be someone on their team, or someone on another team if cross-functional working is crucial to their role.

Fulcrum Tip: Set a follow-up calendar reminder at 30, 60 and 90 days to ensure happiness and assess overall engagement.

During the first week of employment:

• Host a small or one-on-one meeting to learn about the history, mission and values of the company.
• Familiarise yourself with leadership on your new hire, and introduce different departments.
• Share a resource and group directory, whether on a Wiki or a Slack channel, that your new hire can join in faster to feel at home.
• Give an overview of the structure of the company, the function of specific teams and how your new hire could overlap / interact with each.
• Present an overview of your company’s product or service offering.
• Set up one-on-one meetings or meetings of small groups.
• Have your new hire meet with HR to ensure that the benefits are all properly chosen and answer any compensation or benefits questions.
• Go beyond perks, the time off protocol, sick days, etc.

Fulcrum Tip: Include from all levels and work groups in training sessions to establish new friendships and to allow new hires to meet and greet each other.

At the 30, 60 and 90 Days Mark 

• Request feedback regarding the experience of the interview and the overall experience to date.
• These touchpoints can be used to request feedback from new employees about how satisfied they are with the company and how confident they are that they have made the right decision to come on board.

Fulcrum Tip:Set up a survey to check in what is working/not working for your new hire. Set this up as an automated task for all new employees.

Happy OnBoarding!