If you’re not on-boarding properly, you can end up with new employees who don’t know what they should be doing, and who may never fully engage with your company. We know that disengaged employees don’t stick around for long.

Some facts about on-boarding:

• Over 32% of new hires report that they had little or no on-boarding support
• 17% of employees who quit within the first 6 months say its because they didn’t receive sufficient training.
• 15% said the lack of an effective onboarding process contributed to them quitting or considering quitting the job,
• and 52% said that receiving ‘organized, relevant and well-timed content’ is the most important aspect of the on-boarding process

So it makes sense to put some time and effort into making the On Boarding process an outstanding experience for all new hires – don’t save the cake for the day they leave – celebrate their arrival!

Here are a few things that need to be part of the onboarding programme:

1. Before new hires come on board, set up their desk, computer and phone. Make sure they can get to all the information and files they need and they’re not stuck spending their first day with tech support. Explain your company policies, complete any paperwork and show them around the office so they feel right at home from day one.
2. Make introductions to team mates and key people in other departments. Encourage your people to connect with new hires – a great way to start is to schedule lunches with different teams over the first week or so or you can set up a WhatsApp New Recruit Group for the new hires if there are a few starting together so that there is shared learning and orientation happening from each other. It might also be a good idea to have a WhatsApp Team group for each of the teams – so that the new guy becomes part of the team as quickly as possible.
3. Explain your culture, vision and goals, and make sure new hires know who they’re reporting to, what their responsibilities are, and how their performance is measured. Be sure they understand your expectations, and know who they can turn to if they need help.
4. Management has the greatest influence on whether a new-hire orientation is effective or not
5. Help new employees work with their teams to deliver better results faster: offer training, give them early and regular feedback, and recognise their achievements
6. Development is the number one thing people look for in a job. One of the simplest ways to set new hires up for success is to make sure they’re getting the on-the-job training they need