Employee Onboarding Best Practices

Onboarding employees is an integral part of the hiring process. By implementing effective and inclusive onboarding best practices, acclimating new hires into a company’s culture can be a seamless process, providing them with knowledge and resources they need to succeed.

And yet, research indicates that onboarding goes bad more often than well and best practices are rarely adhered to. In 2022, payroll company Paychex conducted a survey which found that only about half of new hires are satisfied with their onboarding experience. And a Gallup study finds that only 12 percent of employees strongly agree that their organization does a great job onboarding new employees. Failures when it comes to onboarding best practices may prevent new hires from integrating within companies and forming bonds with their peers. They also impact engagement and influence employee retention.

How should companies add more human connection to their onboarding practices and overcall culture? Let’s trace onboarding best practices recommended by some of the best in the industry.

Wow Your New Hires

A common mistake companies make is assuming that onboarding begins on day one. It’s useful to think of onboarding as a process that begins before day one, right when the job offer is accepted.

Sending along reading materials and paperwork right after the job offer is signed is considered to be an onboarding best practice. It includes administrative tasks like paperwork, setting up payroll, and other HR systems. New hires should be introduced to the team and the company culture – either virtually or through a simple email.

New hires can also be sent automated communications, introducing them to company culture and policies, and also asking them a bunch of hyper personalized questions that will make their integration seamless. These questions could include: What their favorite mid-afternoon snack is (and perhaps sending them that snack on Day 1), or how they like to take their coffee (and have the team make it for them on their first day), or even their work preferences.

Alternatively, it could be asking new employees to create profiles — like on Candor’s free profile feature — before their first day so people already have context on who new hires are as people, beyond their new job title.

These onboarding best practices show new hires that their company cares about them, and that they aren’t merely a cog in the machine. From an employee perspective, a good pre-onboarding experience also helps build enthusiasm and excitement, and counters anxiety and nervousness. It helps them feel welcomed and immediately appreciated, creating a strong sense of purpose and belonging.

Logical sequences > A barrage of information

Bombarding new hires with a barrage of information doesn’t help — in fact, it actually makes things worse. Studies indicate that effective learning is a gradual, steady process that requires more than a single session, or even a week. Longer, more intentional onboarding processes result in employees gaining better proficiency, because they’re able to build up on prior knowledge.

At the same time, it helps to be intentional: by providing structure to new hires, aligning on job expectations, setting up new hires with an onboarding buddy, establishing onboarding milestones, giving frequent actionable feedback, and providing a list of resources. According to researchers at Microsoft, new hires whose managers play an active role in their onboarding experience are 3.5 times more likely to be satisfied, and 1.5 times more likely to feel they’re contributing to their team’s success.

There are also several industry examples showing how an intentional model with defined learning objectives is an onboarding best practice. For example, a Harvard Business Review article cites an example of a fast food company that shifted their onboarding approach to a “continuous learning model.” New hires went through a focused training program, followed by quizzes on key topics several times a month. An intentional process helps companies retain more new hires, and creates a culture where continuous learning is a clear organizational priority.

Acknowledge Expectations and Encourage Dialogue

A clear understanding of roles is one of the most consistent predictors of engagement and job satisfaction. If employees don’t know what they’re meant to be doing, or whether they’re on the right path, it leads to uncertainty — which also comes with a significant mental toll.

In the absence of adequate guidance, new hires are often left floundering, trying to navigate a confusing labyrinth of uncertainties — which uses up mental capacity in unproductive ways. Issues that may come up include: unclear job responsibilities, a lack of information regarding task prioritization, deadlines, and obscure performance metrics. Often, this results in anxiety, stress, and diminished confidence for new hires, particularly if they fear asking for help or making mistakes.

Consider these onboarding  best practices to help new hires thrive and make meaningful contributions:

1. Provide new hires with a document that outlines realistic and actionable expectations and responsibilities for their role (and make sure it aligns with the job description). For example: to encourage cohesion and collaboration with teams, include details not just regarding new hires’ roles, but also, how their role fits within the broader team, as well as the overall goals of the organization. Also: Clearly indicate any responsibilities or projects for which the new hire will take the lead, as well as a breakdown of how much time will be allocated to various responsibilities.
2. Set realistic and manageable goals (both short and longer-term) during the onboarding process. Short-term goals could include things new hires can easily execute — for example, scheduling lunch once a month with someone from a different team. Examples of longer-term goals include: taking a public speaking class to enhance communication skills, leading a project in order to get leadership experience, or achieving X number of sales during the first year on the job. One way of doing this is setting regular 1-on-1 catch ups with new hires to make sure you’re both aligned on the goals being set and to track those goals over time. In parallel, encourage new hires to set a 30-60-90 plan — stating what goals they would like to achieve by day 30, 60, and 90, and a week-by-week plan to help achieve those goals.
3. Establish a sense of belonging from day one of the onboarding process. There is a real danger that new hires won’t integrate well if they’re worried about fitting into the organization, or finding like-minded people to connect with. Tools like Candor help break the ice and encourage informal conversations and chatter among new hires and existing employees. Another way to establish a sense of belonging during onboarding is to limit or eliminate the use of insider-jargon or acronyms without explanation. New hires are not necessarily in the know about terms like RCA (root cause analysis) or LOE (level of effort), and their lack of knowledge may lead to feelings of exclusion, apprehension, and inadequacy.

What happens after onboarding?

It’s important to not lose sight of what happens after the onboarding process is complete. Deviation from the energy generated during the one-week long onboarding event to the throes of day-to-day grunt work work can put an early strain on employer-employee relationships.

It’s important for onboarding processes to include a component that introduces new hires into the team and eases them into the workflow. Focusing on tactical work immediately after onboarding, or not meeting and receiving feedback from managers is often the norm at companies, not the exception — and that isn’t how it should be.

In an ideal world, companies should treat onboarding with the appropriate amount of enthusiasm equal to or greater than that of the new hires’. The time leading up to and extending beyond the first day on the job is all part of onboarding.

A successful onboarding experience that incorporates onboarding best practices boosts employee learning and readiness to excel in their new role, and it also enhances engagement, loyalty, and retention. Despite the undeniable importance of effective onboarding, many organizations (even well-intentioned ones) struggle to find the right balance. It is deceptively easy for an organization — perhaps keen to avoid under-training — to bombard their new hires with excessive information during onboarding. By adopting some of the onboarding best practices outlined above, organizations can work towards reducing cognitive overload, and providing the space, time, and mental resources necessary for employees to learn and flourish in their new roles. We designed Candor to help teams welcome new hires in an effortless, fun, genuine way and to create stronger relationships within teams — try it for free today!