1. Start the onboarding process even before the first day at work.
Arrange for a welcoming package, an onboarding schedule, and a contact or buddy who helps the new colleague familiarise themselves with the new working environment.
2. Link the onboarding process with the entire organisation.
Make sure the new employees not only get settled into their new job, but also make sure that they understand what their colleagues do to contribute to the success of the organisation. Make people feel they are part of the whole.
3. Onboarding is a process rather than an event.
It takes time for people to get settled into their new job, feel at home in the culture, and build a network in the organisation. Therefore, onboarding should not be a one-off event, but should be spread across a longer period. The onboarding period can also include some fun activities. These will lead to extra motivation.
4. Involve as many people as possible.
Onboarding is not only intended for new employees. The colleagues already at work at the company want to get to know these people and they want to know what it is like to work with them.
5. Building a network.
New colleagues should be given an opportunity to develop a network right from the start. Give them a buddy who can be their contact in the first onboarding stage. They should also be introduced to other colleagues and be given a chance to work on realising business objectives together with their own team and other employees.
6. Use blended learning.
Combine online and offline learning during the onboarding process. It is nice if people can start their onboarding process via e-learning. Arrange for workshops and meetings with other (new) colleagues too, as well as a buddy or coach for personal guidance. In this way, new employees can build their network, ask questions, and receive feedback immediately. Besides, people learn better via a mix of online and offline activities.
7. Make the onboarding process scalable.
By offering e-learning, you can offer any number of new employees (100 or 10,000, it makes no difference) all over the world the same onboarding process. This is both easy and cost-efficient. Regardless of when somebody’s employment commences, the onboarding process is easy to update, and new colleagues can start the process at any moment.
Source: TinQwise and Root Strategy Execution
