How much time do you devote to onboarding your new employees? The duration of a couple of presentations? A day or two?
The process for hiring new team members should not end with receiving a signed offer letter, nor should it be over after the Day-1 orientation. Management and organizational experts suggest that successful onboarding processes can last as long as 6 months. Now don’t think of this as an intense, daily program. While this process is, indeed, long-lasting, it can simply consist of regular check-ins, communicating expectations and giving feedback to your new hire over a period of months.
Read this infographic to learn about how a team collaboration app, like BroadSoft Team-One, can improve your onboarding practices and make a great first impression. And, don’t forget to download the infographic at the end of this article!
Problem #1: Generic orientation providing basic, one-dimensional information
Solution: First things first, set up an Onboarding Workspace for your new hire. In addition to the basics, upload content to this Workspace that is relevant to the new hire’s department, team and position. Use tags to organize the separate levels of content.
Problem #2: Overwhelmed, apprehensive new hires
Solution: Create and space out Tasks evenly, over a longer period of time. Add context to these Tasks with additional helpful Notes and Files. Choose a lengthier, meaningful onboarding process over a quick and pointless one. Use the Calendar function to visualize your onboarding timeline. Initiate chats with new team members and be responsive to questions.
Problem #3: No personal touch or face-to-face interaction
Solution: Showing around new hires in their new Workspaces can make a significant positive impact. For remote workers, a quick call or live meeting can humanize the otherwise formal process.
Problem #4: Dispersed information and resources
Solution: You can upload any document to Team-One -presentations, forms, even video files- to bring all your onboarding assets together. Or, thanks to our extensive integrations, you can drop in a link from popular storage apps such as GoogleDrive or Dropbox. New hires will be able to go to a single Workspace for what they need, indefinitely.
Problem #5: Lack of two-way communication
Solution: The best way to improve your onboarding process is to ask about your hires’ experiences. Encourage them to post feedback in their Onboarding Workspaces, or even create a separate, organization-wide Workspace for a continuous conversation about onboarding feedback.