Every new employee is a stranger in a strange land for their first few weeks on a new job. They’re likely commuting to a new part of the city, they’re working in a new building, they’ve got a whole lot of new lunch places to try out – and they’re surrounded by a group of people who know each other well but don’t know them. Transitioning someone from a fish out of water to a valued new cog in an established system is a pirouette that needs to handled gracefully, or a new employee can become a bad hire and then a contributing factor to low retention rates. So in the spirit of smooth transitions, here are six tips for onboarding a new employee with style.
1. Keep in contact before their first day– Don’t be a stranger between the time they come in for the final interview and their first day on the job. The minute you know they’re going to be part of the team, treat them as such: put them on e-mail lists, get them necessary materials to read, let them start hacking through all the paperwork. And give them a sense of how their first week will unfold: don’t let them piece together what their new life is going to be like based on only their imaginations, because even the most confident person can be apprehensive about new environments.
2. Pace it out– No need to overwhelm them on that first day. Get the paperwork rolling before they come in. Give them some time to acclimate to the new experience. And don’t expect them to be up to speed on the first day or in the first week. To the best of your ability, let their first day approximate what a normal day at the office will be like. If you can, make sure their desk is welcoming and ready for them, and give them a little time that first day to decompress.
3. Assign them an onboarding mentor – And it doesn’t have to be a hiring manager or a HR rep or their direct report. You know your staff, so pick someone you think will match well with you new employee and have them be that new hire’s point person going forward for all things to do with onboarding, especially the little stuff – like where the printer is or which carton of creamer in the fridge is for sharing.
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4. Explain the culture– Every workplace has its own atmosphere made up of organic processes, short cuts, exclusive terminology, and running in-jokes. At first, it’s all going to sound like gibberish to foreign ears, so get creative and have one of your clever employees write up a “cheat sheet” full of things that new hire will need to know about their new job in a unique workplace that’s been developing its own methodology and language for years before your new employee’s Day One.
5. Schedule meetings for them with important coworkers– Let them know you’ve scheduled a steady stream of meetings for them over their first ten days of employment, a series of short one-on-ones with the people they’ll be working most closely with. This will reassure them that there’s a structure for their onboarding that doesn’t vanish after the first day.
6. Stack the deck for an early success– Okay, this one is a bit of a cheat, but there’s nothing better to encourage a new hire like a small work success during their first week. So set them up with a pitch they can knock out of the park, and it’ll give them (and their new coworkers) a reason to feel like they’re off to a great start – which, if your onboarding game is good, they will be.
