ONBOARDING Onboarding is crucial because it is basically the first impression of your company. You might think that the interview process is the first impression. The interview is the candidate’s first impression. Onboarding is the employee’s first impression. It helps employees be better and it helps them stay. According to Perkbox, employees who attend a structured orientation program are 69% more likely at a company for up to three years. NONO TION TTION T A good onboarding has two elements: 1. Structure and relevancy 2. Individualisation to encourage people to bring their best selves to work. ALENT AALENT A STRUCTURE AND RELEVANCY There are lots of things you can do here: SS 1. Prepare a welcome kit. This familiarises new hires with the company brand and SESSES whatever else you put in the pack. 2. Give them a t-shirt/jumper and a personalised name-badge. This makes them SMENTSMENT instantly part of the culture and allows people to quickly spot the new person. 3. Make them the focal point of a company tradition. At Perkbox the newest hire pushes around the beer trolley on Fridays. 4. Departmental bootcamp. Set aside however long they need to get to grips with your current system, operations, inputs and outputs. Make them produce something on their first day. INDIVIDUALISATION Individualisation makes the employee feel valued and safe, which in turn is crucial to building trust. Trust is a prerequisite to enabling employees and fostering innovation. Starting a new job also makes people feel emotionally vulnerable and individualisation mitigates this. 1. Talk to them about their specific role Their manager should explain expectations and processes 2. Show them what success looks like A star employee can introduce the role and the company 3. Give them personalised swag Name badge, computer with a sticker, etc. 4. Best self activation Either get friends / next of kin (relational) or themselves to write about the employee’s best characteristics and share it 100100