Managing a new employee can be a challenge. A newcomer doesn’t know your company’s environment, routines, or do’s and don’ts. They’re hungry for validation, and you’re likely too busy to offer much. You have work to do, and getting another person up to speed adds more weight to your load.
That’s why it’s best to do the heavy lifting of onboarding before a new hire arrives. Here are some key ingredients to integrating new staff into your processes and work culture.
HAVE A MOTIVATIONAL GAME PLAN
First, recognize the need for an emotional game plan for all new hires. How will you pave the way for motivational success? Develop a systematic emotional structure. For instance, schedule an onboarding meeting soon after the individual’s starting date. This interaction should address the two “why” questions running on a loop in the new employee’s brain: Why do they want me? Why should I want to be here?
Onboarding is when those two “whys” roar the loudest in a newbie’s mind. Too often, managers treat onboarding as a one-way information dump on an anxious newcomer. There’s a long “learn this” operational checklist with any new job, and stress is a natural part of confronting the unfamiliar. That’s why a manager’s checklist needs to include an upfront big-picture session with the new hire that addresses motivational “whys” before proceeding to task execution.
ESTABLISH VALUE AND VISION
Express gratitude to the new hire for choosing your organization. Highlight why you hired them. What unique skills, experiences or perspectives made them stand out? This isn’t about stroking their ego; it’s about helping them understand their value to the organization from day one. Ask what excites them about this job. What are their aspirations? Talk about professional development opportunities within the organization.
After that, address why this organization matters to you personally. Why did you buy in to what this is all about? Talk about what social significance it holds and what problems it solves. Explain your company’s core values and how the team lives by them. Talk about your customers and clients and how your team’s work improves their lives. Tell the new employee about your team’s accomplishments over the past year and say why that matters and why you’re proud of it.
SET ACHIEVABLE GOALS
Talk about the challenges your team faces over the next year, how the new employee will help the group rise together to meet its goals and how each individual win is also a team victory. Conclude that meeting by helping the new employee envision a win in their new role: something challenging but achievable. Direct them to go earn that win and report back when it’s done—and when they’ve met that goal, praise them and ask them to document how they achieved the mission.
New hires need to see the big picture: why they matter, why the business is valuable and how to get their first win. Solid answers to these questions put new hires in a good position moving forward.
SOPS ARE YOUR COMPANY’S PRE-ONBOARDING HOMEWORK
Now to the nuts and bolts of onboarding: logistics. Ninety percent of this happens before the new hire arrives. Examine your standard operating procedures for each position. Could a newcomer show up in any role and operate with 80% efficiency? That should be your goal. This requires periodic review of your team’s SOPs. At least once a year, have each team member detail their tasks from start to finish. You want them to imagine their first day on the job. What did they not yet understand, and what’s the best way to transfer that know-how to another person?
Review these reports and ask questions for clarity. This activity is organizational glue: it helps hold quality in place if you have departures. When possible, have a new hire work with a senior member of your staff and go through tasks while following along with the SOP. The more employees can see and not hear about a process, the better it will stick.
Also, consider setting up an SOP for the onboarding process itself. It could include a day-by-day guide for the first week, instructions for setting up necessary accounts and software, an overview of key company policies and procedures, a checklist of required training modules and guidelines for introducing the new hire to team members and other important contacts.
CONTINUOSLY IMPROVE YOUR ONBOARDING PROCESS
SOPs shouldn’t be static documents. Fresh eyes often spot inefficiencies or areas for improvement that long-time employees might overlook. This insight can improve your processes and help new hires feel valued and heard. Don’t overlook the value you can gain from new perspectives.
Also, review metrics for onboarding success, such as new hire satisfaction scores and retention rates for employees past the 90-day mark. The more refined your SOPs are, the better your metrics will be.
There’s always power in anticipating others’ questions and preparing your answers. Ultimately, when your employees see answers to their “why” questions during onboarding, you’ll have fewer transitional headaches, better retention and a more productive staff.
