Alohia Hall
| USA Today’s Special
Starting a new job should feel exciting, especially after a few months of searching. It’s time to set up your laptop, meet up with colleagues, and start learning your role.
However, if strong onboarding best practices are not in place, that excitement can quickly fade away. For many workers, the onboarding process can have a major impact on perceptions of new companies.
According to onboarding reports from Talentlms and Bamboohr, more than a third of employees did not feel they belong to the job for a month.
The report found that “onboarding felt like the beginning of a 65% of employees’ continuous learning journey, but 39% rethinked their new job during the process.”
“I want people to be excited during the interview phase. That excitement should not go away when onboarding happens. That’s usually done when it’s confusing,” says recruiter Jalonni Weaver.
It raises an important question for employers: What separates a successful onboarding experience from a bad experience?
To find out, we asked Weaver to share her biggest DO and DOS.
Put your employees in the loop
One of the easiest ways to build trust with new hires is through consistent communication, which starts before their first day.
Bamboohr’s research shows that more than a third of employees can express their complaints during the long onboarding process, leaving them out or bored.
“When I make an offer, I tell the candidate, “My onboarding team will take over. But if you have a question about what you feel from the loop at any point in the process, you can always reach out to me,” she explains.
She said, “I don’t want them to think about it, ‘Hey, I got this offer, and am I still working for three weeks from this company?”
If you’re looking for ideas on how to improve communication during your new hire experience, Weaver suggests calling your manager. This call is simply about sharing the excitement of getting your team to join.
Then they think, “Hey, my manager just called me. They’re excited I’m the first one.”
For employers, staying in touch shows that they are valued and prevents silence that quickly erodes excitement about the role.
Does the setup have a dedicated day?
Setting up new recruits for success is provided from providing the time and resources needed on the first day, or through comprehensive orientation days.
This may seem like you’ll give them a day to show them the facility, meet their team, and sometimes cast a shadow over a colleague, Weaver explains. There are also times when you solve kinks or simply set them up.
New employees may spend that time working on filling out profit information, doing technical things, or logging in.
“We have a dedicated day that we use. The first day looks at profits, technical issues, questions. We know that the first day is rough, so we help people through it,” she said.
For employers, it is dedicated to getting a day, indicating that the company has been organized and invested in the success of its employees from day one.
Check in for new hires
Even after the first day or week, new hires will benefit from ongoing check-in. A normal touchpoint shows you that you are investing in their success and will help you identify the issue before it becomes a bigger problem.
Weaver emphasizes that once a candidate signs the offer, support should not end.
“We usually check in with new hires for about 30 days to see if we have feedback or if there are any questions we couldn’t answer during onboarding,” she says. “I’ll tell them during the interview too. Don’t be afraid to raise your hand. If you don’t know (something), then maybe someone else doesn’t know.”
It is important to create a sense of safety in order for new hires to feel confident about their decision to join the company.
“A lot of people want to come to a company that feels like they’re supported, and the company is prepared for them,” Weaver points out. “They want to feel welcome and the communication is clear.”
For employers, regular check-in not only enhances support, but also helps new recruits to engage in their roles and gain confidence from the start.
Don’t misrepresent your role
The bad employee onboarding process is often the candidates say one thing about the role, but on the first day you run into something very different.
The new employer said, “I applied for this job. The recruiter explained this. Now I’m in this job. There’s nothing they’ve explained.
Their responsibility is no surprise.
As a recruiter, it is important to be transparent about what roles entail, and make sure that your manager conveys the same expectations. If there is an amputation, it could be reflected in me inadequately and lead to losing employment, Weaver explains.
Do not dump information to employees and run it
One thing to avoid when onboarding candidates is overloading them with everything you need to know in the first week.
It’s best to throw everything away to candidates and employees at once, then leave Weaver stocks without guidance.
When you do this, the employee says, “Okay, I didn’t keep this information.” Instead, it’s better to make sure they absorb the information and really understand it.
“I think the quiz can really measure how someone is doing, so I think it helps people set up (for success) people,” Weaver said.
Without that, you’ve thrown them into work and wondering why they’re not successful.
Key takeout
Overall, onboarding can build or destroy candidate experience in a new company. Weaver explained that when employees have little experience in onboarding or training, it often happens that people often think “this is not for me.”
By keeping communication consistent, spending time setting up and being transparent about your roles, employers can create a strong, supportive onboarding process.
Conversely, overloading new hires with information, leaving them without guidance, or misrepresenting their work can quickly invade excitement and lead to early and expensive turnover.
A well-planned onboarding experience is not just a form, it’s an extension of recruitment, and an important opportunity to show employees that they’re important, supported and set up to succeed from the start.
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