April 14th, 2022 Read Time: 5 minutes
Jessica Farrelly
Jessica is a content writer with more than 8 years of experience covering SaaS and the tech industry. She has worked with both B2B and B2C publications across North America, Europe, and APAC and currently writes about IT Solutions or Electric.
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Welcoming new employees is an exciting sign of growth for a small business. It demonstrates that your company is performing well and successfully attracting new talent. Of course, recruitment also comes with the need to train new hires and help them integrate with your company culture. Effective new hire orientation has a massive impact on the loyalty and productivity of your new staff.
One study found that 69% of employees were more likely to stay with a company for up to three years if they experienced a great onboarding process. Typically, a new employee takes eight months to reach their maximum productivity in a new role, depending on the effectiveness of their orientation. To support new hires and get them up to speed as quickly as possible, you should follow the best practices outlined below for creating a structured new hire orientation process.
New hire orientation welcomes new staff to the workplace by introducing them to their new tasks, the teams they will work with, and the company processes they should align with. It will also mark the beginning of an employer-employee relationship.
The new hire orientation process is crucial to facilitate a smooth transition into the new workplace, and to make the new employee feel valued. Orientation should also inform new hires of everything they need to know to succeed in their role, and set them up with a clear path for progression. Equally important, your orientation should emphasize the workplace culture, allowing the new recruit to embrace it from day one.
Amidst a tight market for talent, every worker in your organization counts. A new employee’s first few days, weeks, and months in the workplace are crucial as they evaluate your company and see where they fit in. Every small business owner should focus on creating a practical new hire orientation that achieves the following:
Finding and recruiting the right candidate for a role can be a long and challenging process. Don’t make the mistake of believing your job is done once the new hire’s contract is signed. The orientation process should set the new employee up to contribute to your company’s success in the long term. Here are some of the best practices to ensure your new hire orientation is effective:
Providing accurate and realistic information during the orientation is important to manage your new employees’ expectations and avoid miscommunication. Similarly, you should avoid overwhelming the new hire with too much, too soon. Set a reasonable schedule for the orientation to allow the employee to take everything in.
The new hire’s first day sets the stage for what to expect. Your goal is to make this day memorable and enjoyable, and should include:
Every new hire must complete a lot of paperwork, which can be tedious and time-consuming. Some of the common types of forms to fill in are:
With Electric’s employee onboarding software, you can boost the efficiency of the onboarding process by capturing information from employees in a streamlined way. This makes collecting and storing data seamless, and eliminates the need to fill in excess paperwork.
Create an orientation checklist to ensure a consistent, well-structured orientation process. Having a standardized checklist will also help you to remember each step, and ensure you perform them in the most efficient order.
Every comprehensive onboarding process requires a checklist to set your employee up for success in their role. This checklist should cover all of the essentials for you to follow to welcome the new employee to your existing team. Download Electric’s Employee Onboarding Checklist as a Google sheet to get started, or contact us if you’d like to learn more about streamlining your onboarding process.