Onboarding Process

Preboarding 

Some organizations want to begin the onboarding process after the offer is accepted but before the actual start date. In these situations, employers may want to develop strategies to link new employees to the organization. Examples include the following:

• Facility Tour: Inviting the employee (and, perhaps, his or her family) to tour the facility (this visit may include a house-hunting trip and community tour if relocation is involved).
• Materials to Review: Mailing or e-mailing information to the employee regarding the organization, including benefits information, the organizational chart and company literature.
• Care Package: Sending a care package to the recruit. Care packages might include cookies, coffee, a coffee mug with the company logo or other logo wear.
• Onboarding Buddy: Matching the new employee with a buddy who connects with the new employee prior to the first day to answer basic questions (e.g., What is the dress code? What can I expect on my first day? Where do employees tend to eat?).

Orientation

New-hire orientation is a formal event to introduce the new employee to the organization's structure, vision, mission and values; review the employee handbook and highlight major policies; complete required employee paperwork; review pertinent administrative procedures; and provide mandatory training. This process can overload a new employee with information and is therefore best done over a few days or a week, if possible.

More Orientation Resources:

• New-Hire Orientation Checklist
  
• New-Hire Orientation Process
• New-Hire Orientation (presentation for employees)

Foundation Building

Throughout the onboarding process, an organization's unique pillars of culture, mission, employee value proposition, brand and other relevant foundations must be lived and conveyed consistently. New hires will not absorb this in the first week or first month; onboarding takes many months to learn and apply. Identifying the enduring values and aspirational goals unique to the organization will help guide the development of an onboarding program.

Gallup's Creating an Exceptional Onboarding Journey for Your New Employees suggests onboarding should take up the better part of a year. Gallup has discovered that there are five main questions asked during that time that, when addressed, lead to an exceptional onboarding program that sets up employees for success.

• "What do we believe in around here?"
• "What are my strengths?"
• "What is my role?"
• "Who are my partners?"
• "What does my future here look like?" 

The explanations and examples in Gallup's study provide detailed guidance on how an organization might provide answers to these pivotal questions that will support your onboarding foundations.

More Foundation-Building Resources:

• Create a Culture That Inspires: Onboarding (Gallup webinar) 
• How to Create an Effective Onboarding Program
• New Employee Onboarding Guide
• Onboarding Mistakes to Avoid and Some Creative Ideas to Adopt

Mentoring and Buddy Systems

Many organizations offer a formal or informal mentoring or buddy system to support the new employee during the onboarding period. Mentors and buddies may be volunteers or selected by the department manager or HR professional. In some companies, recent hires are assigned to be buddies, as they have firsthand knowledge of what has helped them most.

Generally, the role of the mentor or buddy is to offer the new employee a connection to someone who can guide them but is not in a position of direct authority or acting in an official capacity. The mentor or buddy may be responsible for such mundane tasks as giving directions to the restrooms or cafeteria or instructions on parking guidelines, or he or she may be involved in helping the employee understand the nuances of working in the organization (e.g., the hot buttons for those in executive leadership or getting projects approved).

Mentors and buddies may be teamed with a new employee for a day, week, month or even a year, depending on the length of the formal onboarding program and the personal relationship that develops, especially in more-informal arrangements. Learn more about the advantages of instituting a buddy system at your organization.