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On-Boarding New Employees

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their entrances and exits.” William Shakespeare probably didn’t know how often those lines would be quoted (and not always on the stage), but these words certainly apply to the process of bringing new employees into your organization. Whether you call it new hire orientation or on-boarding, how you bring a new hire into your organization is critical to that person’s success and his or her contribution to your growth and success. The goal of any on-boarding process is to ensure the new hire is as productive as possible in the shortest amount of time and knows he or she has made a great choice to join you.

According to the article “The Race for Talent: Retaining and Engaging Workers in the 21st Century” by Frank Finnegan, “Innovative employee on-boarding processes have more impact on both retention and engagement than tuition reimbursement and competitive vacation/holiday benefits.”¹

New employees are usually excited about the new job but don’t have much of a clue as to what lies ahead of them. Most likely, they know a lot about your organization through their research and the interview process, but most of the time they were in interviews with your firm they were doing their best to “sell” their talents so that you would offer them a job. As their first day approaches, they are looking forward to working with and for you, but have a lot of questions and concerns. That’s where a well-crafted on-boarding process can make or break the relationship.

As soon as the applicant accepts the job, the on-boarding process starts. Both HR and the hiring manger play a role here. HR should send the new hire paperwork, including information on benefit plans, and the hiring manager should consider sending a welcome letter or email as soon as the acceptance is received. There is a difficult time between the date the employee accepts and the start date he or she may still be getting offers from other organizations. You don’t want the new hire to decide the other offer is better than yours, change his or her mind, and reject your offer; so, keep in touch. If you’ve already received a signed confidentiality agreement, include the new hire on department emails and send copies of company announcements and newsletters. It is ideal if the hiring manager calls the new hire at least once to welcome him or her and respond to any questions.

In the welcome letter, you can also include some information to help the new hire get connected with your organization, including:

    The latest employee newsletter.

    Recent press releases.

    Bios of company leadership.

    A list of items to bring to complete the I-9 process.

    An employee benefits summary and enrollment forms.

    A company t-shirt, pen, or other branded gift to link new hire to your organization.

Here are some ideas to welcome a new hire:

    Decorate his or her office with welcome signs, merchandize bearing the company logo, a plant, or flowers.

    Have a welcome coffee or lunch to introduce the new hire.

    Send a press release to local media.

    Announce the new hire on your website.

    Have the new hire participate in planning and executing an event in his or her first few months so the new hire gets a chance to bond. Assign him or her to a task force so he/she can get to work with others in your department quickly.

Although your business does not exist to create a social life for your employees, research has proven that having friends at work is a great on-boarding and retention tool. Buddy systems can be effective in some organizations. Ask for volunteers, and then carefully select people who you’re sure will do a good job of welcoming a new hire and who will “sell” the good points of working for your organization. Consider having training for buddies and some sort of reward program for them if you don’t compensate them. They can provide valuable assistance to a new hire; people are more comfortable asking questions of a peer than a manager.

Waterfilters.net has all new hires participate in their monthly “grill day”—a company-funded activity. New hires are paired with existing employees to plan the menu for the entire company. They shut down for an hour and all associates eat together.

Before the First Day

Carefully prepare for the new hire. There is nothing worse than a new employee arriving to find the manager has taken the day off or has done nothing to get ready for the new hire’s first day! Not being prepared for a new hire sends a message that he or she isn’t valued, and that’s not the way you want to get started. Your organization probably has a process developed for on-boarding new hires that includes notifying your IT department to provide the new hire what he or she needs to be productive quickly.

Set up the work area. It is extremely impressive for a new hire to come in on Day 1 and have his or her work area (be it a cubicle, workstation, office, or whatever) ready, complete with the appropriate technology, paper, pens, paperclips, stapler, and/or whatever else will make him or her productive. If your organization has company mugs, pens, or other merchandise, have these available for the new hire, or be sure they are given out at orientation. If possible, have a welcome gift, such as a plant or book that would be useful for the new hire to read, already placed on the new hire’s desk.

Here is a suggested list of items you should have prepared and ready for any new hire. Some of this may be covered in your orientation program, but be sure it is available at some point on Day 1:

    Payroll information (date of first check, regular pay schedule, payment process [i.e, direct deposit, hard check, etc.]).

    Instructions for how to set up computer and voice mail.

    Strategic plan, mission statement.

    Parking details.

    Building security processes (including keys, key cards, or whatever is used in your organization). Be sure to include details on what to do if the employee loses a key or key card and how to enter your facility after hours or on weekends.

    Emergency contact information for manager and others in department.

    Company disaster plan.

    Job description.

    Who to call for specific help with expense accounts, payroll, HR, administrative support, IT, reception, and so on.

    Employee handbook.

    Information on your employee referral program (if applicable).

    Neighborhood information (restaurants, dry cleaners, grocery stores, service stations, etc.).

Orientation Programs

Most organizations hold new-hire orientation as often as necessary. It is usually conducted by HR with assistance from other key players, including payroll, accounting, leadership, office administration, IT, and safety officers. However, research now shows that new hires prefer to get their information from their manager rather than from HR, so consider how you might make that happen. Orientation should be designed with new hires in mind. What do they need to know and when do they need to know it? The mistake most organizations make is to assume that the half day or whatever time they allot to orientation is all that is needed.

Consider how much information new hires can absorb at one time, and then think about how you might spread out your on-boarding activities to ensure that new hires get what they need. Some organizations consider the first year to be the on-boarding time period and spread out learning experiences throughout the year. This may be more than you can afford, but be careful not to assume that if HR does a quick benefits orientation and new hires fill out the payroll and benefits forms, they are up-to-date and can be productive.

Elements of a Formal Orientation Program

    Organizational history. This is where you reinforce the idea that they made a good decision to join your organization!

    Bios of leaders, with photos if possible. Or, have the leaders come to orientation to be introduced or have a video presentation to showcase the CEO and other leaders.

    Overview of benefit programs. New hires should already have had the benefits information sent to their home, so this can be just a quick summary.

    Policies and procedures focused on the employee handbook, with emphasis on EEO commitment, harassment, safety and security, disciplinary policies, time off policies, and other key policies specific to your organization. Each employee should receive a hard copy of the handbook or a link to where they can retrieve it. Each employee must also sign a document that they have received and read the handbook. This document then goes into each employee’s file.

    Payroll procedures. This is where employees fill out their W-4 and other tax forms, and payroll tells them how time is kept in the organization and their role in maintaining accurate pay records.

    Employee referral program. This is an ideal time to ask if they know of anyone who might be a good employee for your firm. It is ideal to have one of your star recruiters come in to orientation to let new hires know about the hard-to-fill positions and to explain the ERP.

    Location-specific information, such as emergency exits and procedures.

    Department- or division-specific information. This can be effective if your organization has a wide variety of positions. Ask the managers of divisions to come in to tell what they do, or split up the group and have new hires meet with their specific leader and then return to the group for the wrap-up.

    Frequently asked questions. Compile the list based on questions asked in previous orientation sessions, and keep adding to it.

    Evaluation. Ask “Did you get what you needed from today’s session?” This information should be used to tweak the process to ensure success.

    Tour of the facilities. Ideally this should be done by the hiring manager so introductions can be performed.

Do’s and Don’ts for New-Hire Orientation

    Don’t overwhelm new hires and try to get everything done in one day.

    Don’t hand out a lot of paper. Let them know where they can access information.

    Don’t make everything so serious. Lighten up if you can.

    Do involve managers in the process.

    Don’t have only one presenter. Vary the speakers to keep it lively.

    Do use technology. Show videos of organizational activities like the holiday party or a celebration for a new contract, and so forth.

The Manager’s Role on Day 1

First, be available. It is amazing how many managers don’t think about when a new hire will be joining them and take a day off or are on vacation, or assume that the new hire will be busy with other people so they book back-to-back meetings all day. What a mistake! The new hire really wants to spend quality time with his or her new manager and the first day is so important to that bonding experience. Yes, the new hire will probably be tied up in orientation for part of the day, but when he or she is finished, it would be great for the manager to take the new hire to lunch, either the two of them or with key members of the department. Managers need to make it comfortable for the new hire to ask questions and to get a sense of how things work in your organization.

Checklist for Managers

    Does security know the new hire is starting?

    Does the employee know when and where to report on Day 1?

    Is the work area ready with computer, phone, supplies, and welcoming items? Is everything hooked up and ready to go?

    Does your staff know when the new hire is arriving?

    Do you have a plan for the first day and beyond?

    Does your schedule include time for the new hire?

    Does the new hire have a copy of his or her job description?

    Does the new hire have a copy of the organization’s strategic plan and mission statement?

    Does the new hire know what to do in case of an emergency in the workplace (fire, bomb threat, and so on)?

30-Day, 60-Day, 90-Day Check-Ins

We recommend that you have a process for monitoring the progress of new hires for at least the first 90 days. This responsibility can be divided up between HR and the manager. The 30-day check-in can be done through the use of an On-Boarding Evaluation form (see page 100) whereby you ask the employee a series of questions. This can be done in person by HR or by asking the employee do a quick online survey. As with exit interview data, individual comments should be kept confidential, and HR should analyze any trends that emerge from the analysis.

Then, at or around the 60-day mark, the manager should do a brief check-in to see if there are any work issues. This gives the new hire time to get up to speed on job responsibilities. If the employee shares organizational issues, the manager should notify HR.

A great idea at 90 days is to do a one-page performance evaluation to let the employee know how he or she is doing and to raise any issues or concerns. If your organization doesn’t do a 90-day evaluation, HR or the manager can do another quick check-in to see how the employee is progressing.

Each of these check-ins sends a clear message to the new hire that the organization is focused on helping him or her succeed.

When new employees at Northeast Delta Dental reach the 90-day mark, they sit down with HR VP Connie Roy-Czyzowski. They affectionately call it “20 Questions with Connie.”²

Executive On-Boarding

It is even more critical that newly hired senior leaders have a smooth transition into your organization. Consider how long you searched for just the right person, and the time and money you expended to land just the right person at this particular time. Now the new leader is finally arriving to start work.

It is a common assumption that senior leaders don’t need any special help to assimilate. After all, they are, in fact, senior leaders. They’ve worked in other organizations and they know their job; that is why they were hired. It is critical to put together a well-crafted process for on-boarding a new executive that will provide him/her with the information needed to be successful as quickly as possible. Think through how you will:

    Introduce the new executive to your existing staff.

    Announce the new executive to the business community.

    Provide a warm welcome.

    Integrate the new executive into your existing management/leadership team.

    Introduce the new executive to his or her direct reports.

    Orient the new leader to organizational policies and procedures.

    Get the new executive signed up for benefits.

Discussion Questions

1.    What are the two reasons to spend time to on-board new hires into any organization?

2.    Name four to five things a new hire needs to know before Day 1.

3.    Why is it important to keep in touch with a new hire between the time he or she accepts the job and when he or she starts?

4.    What are some of the ways to keep in touch with a new hire?

5.    Name four or five things a manager should do before a new hire starts.