Onboarding: Start Right For Maximum Employee Performance


The new employee arrives the designated morning all fired up and ready to do great things. You have to meet that enthusiasm.

WELCOME the New Person

Greet them when they arrive. Don’t be stuck in a meeting and keep them waiting for you to get around to them.

Have Everything Ready

Show the person to their office, a conference room, the HR department, or wherever they will start the onboarding process. Have the complete packet ready with all the forms they need to fill out, all the paperwork you need to give them, their email address, login in sites, temporary passwords, and anything else they will need. Give them a form or some other way to request anything they need that isn’t provided upfront.

Start Their Orientation

Do it yourself if you have the time. Otherwise, assign a mentor or a ‘buddy’ to introduce the person around and get them settled in. Depending on the size of your company, you may not need all these things, but consider the following:

• Show them to their office, desk, or work area

 Show them where your office is and where your team’s area is

 Give them a map or floor plan if you have a big building or lots of buildings

 Show them the location of the conference room they may be using

 Show them the lunchroom and the restroom location

Introduce Them to the Key People

They won’t remember everyone so concentrate on the people they need to know. Introduce them to the team, to your boss, and any other management people they may need to know. Introduce them to the support departments (HR, IT, Payroll, Security, etc.). And, of course, introduce them to anyone you encounter while you are on the tour. Note who you introduce them to because you’ll want to finish the introductions later.

Get Them Integrated

Make sure they are invited to all standing meetings (resend Outlook meeting invitations to them if needed). Go over the policies. Make sure they know their start time, work hours, lunch break, etc. Let them know about any upcoming company or team events that are coming up so they have an opportunity to join in.

Have a One-on-One Meeting with Them

Make sure they know what you expect of them. Find out what they need from you. Let them know about any standard reports they need to give you and when. Let them know what to do about timesheets or other methods used for tracking their work.

Have work ready for them as soon as they finish orientation?

They shouldn’t have to sit around and wonder what to work on. You’re busy, that’s why you hired them. Don’t overload them, but make them feel needed and part of the team from the very beginning.

After The New Employee Has Started

You’ll want to over-communicate with the new person at the beginning. Keep track of how the onboarding, orientation, and integration is going. Address any problems right away.

Have Quick Check-Ins

Talk to the new hire as the end of their first-day approaches. Answer any questions. Let them know what to expect tomorrow. This is an opportunity for you to just do a quick temperature check and make sure everything is going smoothly. Do the same at the end of the second day.

Have a Short Meeting after a Week

Take a half-hour or so at the end of their first week for a meeting. The purpose is the same as the quick check-ins, but the longer time gives you a chance to ask more questions and provide more detailed answers. You’ll be able to identify at this point whether or not the individual is going to fit in. It may be too early to tell how well they can do the job, but you should have an idea. Address any concerns in this meeting to keep problems from getting larger.

Celebrate

At the end of their first month (set a reminder in your calendar so you don’t forget), have a quick team meeting. Just acknowledge the new person as a part of the team. Highlight any successes they have had by that point. Just let them know they are a valuable part of the team.

The Importance of Educating New Hires About Employee Benefits

Getting a new job is an exciting time when many people look forward to learning new things, meeting new people, and growing as professionals. Unfortunately, too few employees understand and have the resources available to sign up for or use their new employee benefits. Instead of taking advantage of all the perks that a new employer offers, they may wind up being confused and lacking the information to make informed benefit decisions.

Almost half of all employees don’t understand their company employee benefits

How serious is the disconnect between what companies offer and what new hires think about their benefits? An ADP survey indicated that as many as 40 percent of employees do not understand what their benefits can do for them, and in a survey conducted by Corporate Synergies, 84 percent of HR professionals said that “their employees don’t understand how their behaviors and choices in using health care benefits impact costs.”

For this reason, it’s critical that companies put as much effort into educating and communicating with employees about their benefits as they do into training them to be productive members of the team. After all, without access to health and financial wellness, employees may not be able to produce the level of work expected of them – hurting the company’s bottom line. Here are some helpful ways to educate your newest additions to the company with an employee benefits educational program.

Create Marketing Around Employee Benefits

The company can help to support awareness and education about employee benefits by creating smart marketing around this topic.

Placing posters in employee break rooms, developing printed flyers that highlight employee benefits, and holding regular staff meetings to talk about the benefits program can all be ways to accomplish this.

Include Benefits Awareness on the Company Career Portal

Another way to market and educate new hires (and all employees) about the benefits offered is to develop messaging on the career portal. Include testimonials from employees on what they have accomplished as a result of taking part in the company benefits program. Add contact information to educate employees where they can enroll and find out more.  

Review Benefits During Recruitment and Onboarding Phases

Use your benefit marketing materials to educate candidates during recruitment efforts, and during new hire orientation and onboarding. Have a member of your benefits team present to explain the programs and answer any questions from new hires. Give all new hires a timeline for enrolling in their group coverage and a reminder of when open enrollment starts.

Schedule Meetings with Employees During Enrollment Periods

In most companies, benefits may not start right away for new hires. There is a typical 30 to 120-day waiting period to enroll in benefits. Therefore, the HR team will want to schedule follow up meetings with new hires to ensure they get enrolled in time for their active benefit period.

Understand How Employees Use Benefits and Work with Trends

Once new hires are enrolled in their employee benefits, take the time to understand how and when they use them. This can help spot trends in non-use of certain benefits, which gives another opportunity to educate employees about getting the most from their benefits. Share inspiration from success stories of employees who have reached their personal health goals, to encourage new hires to make the best use of all the benefits.

Provide a Total Compensation Statement to Employees

At least once per year, or once per quarter, send out total rewards or compensation statement to all new hires. An opportune time can be at their 6-month mark, when they may be unsure of their progress at the company. This educates them on what they are actually earning at the same time as understanding how they may be getting more from the employee benefits offered by your organization.

Bottom Line

The sooner the new employee is at their most productive, the sooner your workload gets easier. So get them on board as quickly and as well as you can by following the process above. Beyond the government and company requirements, the whole purpose of the onboarding process is to make the new hire feel valuable and wanted. Do that and your onboarding will have been a success and your team will continue to function at its top levels.

About the author: Emma R Holt is an experienced writer at the lab report helpOpens in a new tab. EssayMap. She produces articles and short stories on different topics. It helps her keep up with new tendencies of copywriting/editing/publishing. Besides, Emma is working on writing her book.

Steve Todd

Steve Todd, founder of Open Sourced Workplace and is a recognized thought leader in workplace strategy and the future of work. With a passion for work from anywhere, Steve has successfully implemented transformative strategies that enhance productivity and employee satisfaction. Through Open Sourced Workplace, he fosters collaboration among HR, facilities management, technology, and real estate professionals, providing valuable insights and resources. As a speaker and contributor to various publications, Steve remains dedicated to staying at the forefront of workplace innovation, helping organizations thrive in today's dynamic work environment.

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