As an employer, you want your new employees to feel welcome, know exactly who to ask for help, and have the tools they need to be productive from day one. But employee onboarding can be overwhelming for even the most enthusiastic and prepared new hires.
A strong employee onboarding process is essential to setting clear expectations and making your newest teammates feel welcome. It’s essential to keep in mind that this process will, by nature, look different depending on what role and placement type the new employee is filling.
Employee Onboarding for Full-Time Employees
Do you have an orientation session for your full-time employees?
Get them started early by sending out the company handbook and an agenda for the day ahead of time including the mission statement and information on company culture. Giving new team members a clear idea of what they can expect in your work environment will make them excited to jump in and join the team.
After HR does its part with an excellent orientation session and streamlined document processing, it’s time to make a big impact on the first day with the team. Encourage your managers to have work ready for the new teammates to tackle. Assign a workspace and ensure some of the training can be done offline or with a coworker in the case that IT needs time to assign a laptop and phone.
With this in place, your new hires can actually start working on their first day and will immediately feel like a prepared member of the team.
Employee Onboarding for On-Site Contractors
If you’re bringing on on-site contractors for a project or on a temporary-to-hire basis, their onboarding will be different from the full-time employees, but many of the same considerations should be made.
They might not go through a full orientation session with HR, but the department manager should still have a mini-orientation with them on the first day. Again, they should have a workspace assigned, a list of key contacts for the project or department, and clearly defined tasks to get started right away.
Employee Onboarding for Remote Contractors
Remote employees are sometimes forgotten in the day-to-day office life. “Out of sight, out of mind” is not a productive onboarding strategy. And, with the growth of remote work, employers need to be prepared to welcome these contractors to the team.
Before you hire a remote employee, get systems in place for communication and project management. Create a list of the team contact info and let the new hire know who is responsible for each aspect of the project.
Typically, deadlines and deliverables would be discussed before hiring, but the first day is a good time to solidify and review each step of the process. Both parties need to understand the timeline for completion and feedback, as well as consequences for not meeting those dates. Have check-ins in place to ensure your managers know when the contractor can’t move on to the next step without receiving feedback from the team.
Remember – it never hurts to talk on the phone or schedule a video call, since emails can be easily misunderstood. That standing, all deadlines should still be agreed upon in writing. If you set a deadline over the phone, follow up with an email afterward confirming what was verbally decided.
Welcome Packages
Whether your employees work onsite or remotely, a welcome package of fun company items can go a long way in fostering team spirit and get them invested in your company culture. Why not hand out a promotional t-shirt each employee can wear in his or her home office or a branded hat for when he or she is out in the field?
Maybe your team relies on coffee to stay productive. Consider gifting new employees a company mug for their desks or distribute branded notebooks on the first day for note-taking during training and meetings.
While these items seem like a small gesture, they can boost morale when your new employees might be anxious about their first day and make part-time or gig employees feel like part of the team.
Finding a Partner to Simplify Employee Onboarding
Onboarding new employees can be an overwhelming process, but when executed thoughtfully, it provides a great opportunity to fully integrate your new hires with the rest of the team and set them up for success in their new roles. Small gestures go a long way in making a fantastic first impression.
It’s time to think forward with your hiring and onboarding processes.
According to Gartner, engaged teams achieve 21% greater profitability, 17% higher productivity, and 10% higher customer ratings. The ADAPTURE Talent Solutions experts not only connect top employers with top candidates, but we also help you build the engaged teams you need.
With extensive experience in the technology industry seeing firsthand how challenging it can be to source top talent, ADAPTURE has created a full people, process, and technology approach for our clients. Through our extensive talent network, organizations have access to technology, human resources, customer support, and finance talent needed to grow their business.
