OPINION
June / July 2008
Welcome Aboard:
Why Onboarding is the New Training Manual
By Scott Stoppler, President
Executrade
So, you’ve sought, interviewed, and chosen your perfect candidate. What’s next?
New employees are not much different from customers. They want to be sold on the idea that they made the right decision to join your team. First impressions made during the interview process are about to morph into a deeper exchange of expectations during orientation. A new employee orientation often entails a flurry of policies, procedures, and papers. While all of these things are important, they can become an information dump rather than perceived as valuable.
Onboarding takes a different approach. It includes elements of the generic orientation, but is not limited to them. The execution of a successful onboarding plan gives the employee the “big picture” of the business; for instance, it reflects company brand and identity. It has the benefit of communicating to new employees that they are an important asset of the organization, encouraging a positive emotional response. Onboarding can also save the company money and effort in the long run by speeding up new-employee productivity, and it can help with employee retention. Lastly, onboarding just makes people feel, well…welcome.
The onboarding experience you deliver should be unique and help you align your company message with your company brand, both internally and externally. For example, last year at Executrade we implemented “Executrade University,” a week-long course which teaches new employees some of the company’s “social graces” that make Executrade different from other recruitment firms. New employees learn the company language, how to interact with clients, how to present an applicant to a client, and so on. Not only that, it introduces new employees to the other departments so that there is a “big picture” understanding of everyone’s role in the company’s success.
An efficient onboarding plan should communicate to new employees that their arrival was planned for. When it is obvious that the orientation is organized, it leaves the new employee with a positive emotional take-away. Diana Oreck of the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain says of onboarding, "People don't remember what you said or what you did, but they always remember what they felt" (Lee, 2008). When describing their first day on the job to a friend or a family member, they are likely to discuss the people they met—did they pass out a warm reception? They might refer to the working atmosphere—was a company culture transparent or not apparent? Will they go home after their first day on the job feeling secure about their decision to join your organization and inspired by what they can contribute to the new environment? New employees want to feel invited, valued, and purposeful.
Texas Roadhouse, a restaurant famous for its family dining experience across the U.S., uses its onboarding program to help create that strong feeling with new employees. It uses videos of its company’s community participation to highlight how employees are valued and encouraged, as an organization, to find purpose outside of the work environment. One video shows a team of the restaurant’s employees building houses together for Habitat for Humanity. Such a video leaves behind a positive emotional appeal for the new employee and communicates that Texas Roadhouse is about lifestyle and friends as much as it is about livelihood.
Onboarding can also save company money. The time it takes for a new employee to become fully productive is reduced because his or her goals are set from day one. Leveraging each employee with the right information at the right time, so that each feels empowered rather than overwhelmed, allows a new employee to take ownership of his or her new position.
In the same breath, onboarding is also a helpful tool in reducing employee turnover. Preparing new employees with short-term and long-term goals not only allows them to become productive quickly, but also allows the unfamiliar to become familiar faster. If the integration process is slow, it can result in frustration and alienation of the new employee and an abandonment of the position to find something where they can feel successful.
Successful onboarding can accomplish three things:
- Helps bring your brand and key messages to life
- Starts a new employee off on the right foot to become a productive member of the team
- Encourages employee retention, shows an investment of company time and effort invested in the orientation and, in turn, its employees
The benefits of having a consistent onboarding plan in place far outweighs the alternative—inundating new employees with a bundle of paperwork and information they are unable to staple together into a positive orientation experience. Onboarding is not just about introducing the new employee to the office or work site, it is a tool used to retain the people you have spent a lot of time and effort finding and hiring.
Tips for your successful onboarding design include:
Before the first day:
- send a new employee preliminary materials so they have a head start for day one
- update employee training/orientation manual (online or paper) to something the individual can take and absorb away from the information overload of the first few days of a new job
- set up employee’s workspace and ensure it is tidy and organized with all necessary equipment and supplies
- inform current staff of new hire and encourage them to welcome him or her to the team
On the first day:
- provide employee with a schedule of the day’s activities
- leave ample time and opportunity for asking questions
- outline key policies and procedures on the first day to give the new employee proficiency/ability to have a successful second day on their own
- consider the message you are sending the new employee home with on the first day; what are they going to be excited about? What are they going to talk about with friends and family?
- provide a welcome card and a lunch buddy
- make it fun
Within the first 1–3 months:
- buddy orientation: have members of the team/organization introduce new employees to their own role/duties in the company so that they know where they fit into the larger picture
- touch base with new employees regularly within the first six months of them joining the team to make sure they are fully integrated
- make it easy for them to speak truthfully about what is working for them and what is not
Materials Sourced:
Lee, David. “Onboarding That Welcomes and Inspires/Secrets from Ritz-Carlton, Southwest Airlines, and Texas Roadhouse.”
