Onboarding process: successfully inducting new employees

Did you know that a good working atmosphere is 59% more important to employees than salary or bonus payments (54%)? The Meaning of Work study by Indeed emphasizes that the feel-good factor in a company prevails. This is hardly any different when new employees start. New colleagues want to feel welcome, integrated and taken care of.

All you need is a good and optimized onboarding process. We explain what makes a good onboarding process and how you can implement it in the best possible way.

What is onboarding? 

Onboarding means the "taking on board" of new employees. However, it is not just a simple induction, but much more an integration into the company. The term (which originates from human resources) refers to specific measures designed to facilitate the start in a new company.

‍

Good onboarding pursues the following goals: 

• Create a feel-good atmosphere: There is no better "welcome" than a successful and well-thought-out onboarding process.
• Induction training: quickly and safely introducing new employees to new tasks.
• Conveying values and processes: Bringing the corporate culture and internal processes closer.
• Connections: Establish contacts with colleagues.
• Honest exchange: Fixed feedback meetings with superiors.
• Retention: Onboarding has a positive effect on employer branding and reduces the termination rate during the probationary period.
  

The onboarding process is divided into different phases and begins before the first day of work and usually ends after a few weeks or months. Onboarding usually ends at the end of the probationary period - but can be longer or shorter depending on the company and the complexity of the position. 

‍

Why is an onboarding process important? 

We all remember our first days: at school, at university or at our place of training. First impressions are lasting and lasting. It's more than just about work and task allocation, but also about conversations and feelings that arise in this new environment. This integration process is always a very personal experience. 

Make these first days and weeks unforgettable for your new employees! A new employee's start at your company has a huge impact on their further development, motivation and productivity. Did you know that, according to the Haufe Onboarding Study, one in four employees quit within the first year because they can't identify with the corporate culture?

A good onboarding process binds "newcomers" to your company at an early stage and prevents premature termination. 83% of the companies surveyed stated that fluctuation in the first year was reduced by onboarding measures. An optimal onboarding process therefore helps to integrate new employees into the company quickly and retain them in the long term.

The importance of good onboarding measures has risen steadily in recent years. An increasing shortage of skilled workers, growing mobility and remote working have led to the onboarding process being given more and more priority.

‍

What does an onboarding process look like?

The onboarding process can be divided into three phases and can be standardized for most new employees. The integration process begins even before the new employee joins the company.

1. preboarding: before the first working day

The first step in getting new employees on board is, of course, signing the employment contract. It goes without saying that you should send the contract and other important documents on time. However, weeks or months can pass between signing the contract and the first day of work. New employees have enough time to reconsider their decision or look at competing offers. By strengthening your image as an attractive employer, you can ensure a good bond between employee and company even before the first day of work. Other onboarding options for phase one include 

• Create prior knowledge: Provide further information and, if necessary, work equipment. Prior knowledge, guidelines, information about processes, topics and projects give a good and secure feeling for the first days of work.
• Further information: Clarify the dress code and working hours.
• Contact person: Make sure that future employees have a personal contact person who they can get in touch with if they have any questions.
• Responsibilities: Ensure that responsibilities and accountabilities have been communicated within the team.
• Training: Organize employee training as needed if new colleagues require additional training in a specific area.
• First meeting: Offer a lunch with colleagues so that a relaxed first meeting can take place.
• Get to know each other digitally: If you prefer digital meetings, you can offer a "virtual kitchen chat" with your future colleagues. 
• Prepare the workplace: Create a clean, comfortable and fully equipped workspace before the first day of work so that they can hit the ground running on day one.
• Get attention: Prepare a friendly and appropriate welcome gift (flowers, chocolates, etc.)
  

2nd start-up phase: The first working days

First impressions are crucial for long-term and successful collaboration. It is not uncommon for employees to resign after a short time if they go home with a bad feeling right from the start. 

In contrast to the much-quoted phrase "get them in and get them working", the first priority should not be to complete work tasks in the first week of work, but to familiarize them with colleagues, company processes and the corporate culture. Prioritize making sure that the "newcomers" feel comfortable, integrated and welcome. Measures for onboarding phase 2 include, for example

• Involvement in the onboarding process: Explain the onboarding process to new employees so that they know what the coming days and weeks will look like.
• Presentation of the company: Offer a tour of the company and introduce the various departments and colleagues.
• Mentor: Assign a mentor to whom they can turn if they have any questions.
• Boss meeting: Schedule a short meeting with the boss to clarify the most important key points and mutual expectations.
• Welcome: Prepare a welcome within the team so that the new employees can quickly get to know all their colleagues. Ideally, a team lunch is planned right away.
• Welcome package: Prepare an employee welcome package with documents about the company, keys, business cards, induction plan, information about employee offers, parking and meal deals, etc.
• Company values: Communicate the core company values and also explain small details that apply equally to everyone: Home office rules, lunch, cigarette break, sickness, etc.
• Product presentation: Prepare a presentation of the products. A detailed product presentation is an important part of onboarding, especially for colleagues from non-product areas such as accounting or HR.
• Exciting projects: Arrange for the first exciting tasks to be assigned. Provide information on the status of the projects and involve new colleagues right away. If the first tasks are exciting, new employees will also go home enthusiastic.

3. familiarization: the first six months 

After the first successful week, the induction continues step by step, accompanied by structured onboarding measures. Over the coming months, the new employees get to know the company better, grow into their tasks and are given space for feedback discussions. The support is less intensive in phase three, but is nevertheless important for mutual success beyond the probationary period: 

• Regular feedback meetings: An initial feedback meeting should take place after the first few weeks, then on a monthly basis. The focus is on questions about the projects and the working atmosphere in a personal and open exchange.
• Objectives: Development steps and career prospects should also be discussed in the regular meetings, as well as how the goals can be achieved.
• Training and education: Are further training courses planned? Then draw up an induction plan so that your new colleagues know about it.
• Team building: Attractive team events and team building measures help with further integration, promote contacts and strengthen employer branding.

‍

Onboarding process checklist for download

What is the best way to proceed with the onboarding process? Once you have created a concept, you can use an onboarding checklist to easily work through the individual steps for each new hire without forgetting anything. Download our checklist as a PDF now. Also remember to agree on responsibilities and lead times and record them in the onboarding plan.

To download the checklist as a PDF, simply follow this link or click on the image.

The challenge of onboarding new employees

Early onboarding prevents rejections: The Haufe Onboarding Study found that at more than a quarter of the companies surveyed, newly hired employees had already resigned between signing their contract and their first day at work. This shows how important it is for a successful employee onboarding process to begin before the first day of work.

SME bosses need to find a balance: In SMEs, most employees are trained on a one-to-one basis. This is usually done by the managing director or a senior manager. However, it is important to strike a balance between productive work that generates revenue and the time used for induction. It may also be possible for better trained employees from your company to take on part of the induction.

Digital tools are becoming more important in onboarding: Digital tools and virtual platforms are becoming increasingly important in the onboarding process. It is not only the pandemic, but also the desire for more flexible working models among new employees that is making digital onboarding increasingly important.

How can an onboarding process be optimized? 

To bring new employees on board even more efficiently and train colleagues working from home or remotely just as efficiently, you can map your onboarding process in the form of an online course and train employees using a digital training platform.

The Memberspot software is suitable for all companies - from sole proprietorships to large corporations - to optimize and digitize a large part of the onboarding process! Not only does this save time, but "newcomers" can also access the information whenever they need it. In addition to digital meet-ups with bosses and team colleagues, employee onboarding can also be implemented completely digitally.

Set up digital onboarding: What should you look out for?

If you are convinced by the digital onboarding process, then you will no doubt be wondering how to implement it. In the following, we will give you a quick start to digital onboarding and tell you what you should look out for.

First of all, we recommend that you think about the ways in which you preserve and pass on knowledge. How do you want to and can you best pass on your knowledge to new employees and what formats should you use to do this? 

• Video content (such as screen recording)
• Audio
• Text formats
• Checklists for employees (to complete work steps in processes)
  

Each format has its advantages and disadvantages. To make the right decision, you should weigh up which points are relevant for your company.

Written form vs screen recording

Text formats

Advantages: 

• Particularly suitable as it can be quickly expanded and modified
• Can be quickly searched for keywords
• Particularly suitable for displaying a table of contents / structure

Disadvantages:

• Not every task can be easily put into written form (e.g. work steps in assembly or operation of software. 

• The content should be created for the user, i.e. the employee. Not every employee can learn well with text.
• Can be time consuming
  

Videos & screen recording 

Advantages: 

• Quickly made with zoom, loom, webcam and microphones.
• Complex things can be explained (software operation or with the recording and explanation of a PowerPoint presentation).
• According to studies, audiovisual learning has advantages.
• Employees do not feel lonely or isolated. Videos are more personal and easier to consume than texts, as long as the speaker has a good energy level and does not put them to sleep.

Disadvantages:

• If one small thing changes, you often have to re-record the whole video. 
• Videos are not so easy to search, unless you use keywords for a text search.
• I need a platform for secure video hosting.

‍

Conclusion: recommendations for your start into digital onboarding

1. A combination of text and video content is usually suitable for creating a digital onboarding process. 
   

2. Digital onboarding can be implemented with just a few tools. With Google Docs or Microsoft and a little time, you can create text content. For video content, YouTube is also suitable for the time being, where you can host your videos for free and share them easily. 
   

3. A digital handbook that collects all the instructions for carrying out a specific position in the company makes sense for employee induction. The structure and table of contents can be set up well in text form. Specific information is best conveyed in short video lessons (5 - 10 minutes long).
   

4. Store your knowledge and documents for the digital induction of employees in a secure and central location within the company where they are easily accessible. By the way: At Memberspot, your confidential data and information are stored securely and new colleagues can also access the knowledge conveniently on their cell phone while on the move.

Have fun trying them out!