Risk & Business Magazine Miller Insurance Magazine Winter 2018 | Page 26

ONBOARDING
TOP TIPS FOR AN
ONBOARDING PROCESS
O
nboarding is a buzzword that’s
been circulating for some
time. It relates to the process
of getting a new employee
up and running. However, it
is far more involved than simply bringing
them “on board” and covers a much wider
spectrum.
Research shows that a significant
proportion of new recruits leave an
employer within one to two years of joining
a company. This creates not only a vacuum
in the workplace but a considerable expense
for both recruitment and training. If you
get onboarding right, you will reduce staff
turnover and increase job satisfaction, an
outcome that everyone wants. Here are
some top tips for onboarding and how it
could work for you.
DON’T WAIT FOR YOUR NEW RECRUIT
TO START
Once you’ve found your perfect new recruit,
don’t wait for the day they begin work to
start the onboarding process. You want
your latest employee to feel valued and
appreciated right from the beginning, and
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THAT REALLY WORKS
that means making them feel welcome.
Rather than using the interim period to
throw a load of HR paperwork their way,
consider it as an opportunity for your new
recruit to learn more about your business.
Create personalized welcome videos and
360-degree tours of the building and they’ll
start to feel as if they belong before they’ve
begun!
STRENGTHEN SOCIAL CONNECTIONS
It can be overwhelming to join a new
company, and one of the hardest parts
can be getting to know your colleagues.
Managers and HR can play their part in
making this easier by encouraging the use
of social platforms.
Get your new starter set up on your team’s
chat platforms with all of their accesses in
place. This will help them fit in right away
without feeling like an outsider.
Another good tactic is to group new starters
together. This helps to minimize the
difficulties in adapting to somewhere new
and creates an instant community for them
to be a part of.
KEEP COMMUNICATION OPEN
It doesn’t take much for things to start to
go wrong, but all too often, it’s something
trivial that could be easily rectified, or
even just a simple misunderstanding. As
a manager, if you don’t check in with
your new recruit regularly, they could be
reluctant to raise an issue they’re having to
avoid seeming like a troublemaker.
When someone new joins your team, it’s
important to carry out regular reviews—
weekly is the ideal frequency. This isn’t so
often that the individual will feel as if you’re
constantly hovering over them, yet still
provides the opportunity to iron out any
“teething” problems.
USE THE ONBOARD OPPORTUNITIES TO
CREATE SUCCESS
Getting onboarding right by following
the above top tips will help your business
reduce attrition. There are so many
opportunities when an employee first joins
to make their appointment a real success.
Make sure you’re not missing out. +