How to ensure a positive onboarding experience for a new employee in 5 steps

Jacob Morgan, a promoter of a contemporary approach to building a positive employee experience, considers onboarding to be one of the key processes that can determine the willingness of an employee to stay in a new organization and strengthen their engagement. This is known as the Moment That Matters. How to approach onboarding to achieve this goal and create a positive onboarding experience? 

What is a positive onboarding experience? 

The employers’ awareness of shaping positive employee experience has been growing for at least a few years. Morgan sees this phenomenon as a perfect deepening of existing trends related to creating engagement. Focusing only on engagement would bring short-term benefits. Redesigning the employee experience at every stage of the journey at the company has the potential to change permanently organizational culture.  

When it comes to onboarding, the matter seems clear – a proper introduction of the employees and familiarizing them with the organization will help them implement new responsibilities faster and more effectively. However, if only 12% of employees believe that their company is effective in this respect, employers have a lesson to learn. 

How to build a positive onboarding experience?

1. Pre-employment contact 

There is a time gap of several weeks between recruitment and actual hiring during which a lot can happen. Once a company has invested in finding and recruiting talent, it’s worth using this time to start building the relationship. A good solution is to engage an HR professional or team member to be available to the new hire – answer questions, provide materials, outline an implementation plan, and personally welcome them on board on their first day. 

2. Arranging formal matters

If your newly hired talent spends their first day feeling overwhelmed by the quantity of paperwork, you can be sure that you won’t make a good impression. All the formal matters, such as filling out HR forms, discussing the payroll system, vacations, and requests for system entitlements, can be carried out gradually or before the first day at work. To enhance a positive employee onboarding experience, it is worth making sure that the new employee knows who to turn to with questions or concerns. 

3. Introduction to the organizational culture 

A company is not just formal procedures. It is also an organizational culture that includes values, mission, formal and informal rules, or norms. These also include a specific language and symbols that may not be understood by new employees even for a few months after starting to work. Employees are not always self-confident enough to ask openly about incomprehensible content every time. That is why it is worth preparing for them a handbook of organizational culture or a knowledge base that can be consulted at any time. 

4. Preparing the workplace 

Seemingly small things like clear instructions, and an implementation plan presented on the first day, a prepared workspace (desk, laptop, phone), a printed map of the office, or a welcome gift can help build a positive onboarding experience. Proper preparation of the workplace increases the efficiency of the whole implementation process and makes it easier to establish relations (e.g., a new employee from the very first day has access to a group e-mail box, which can give a good starting point for a conversation).

5. Openness to dialogue 

Employers have no chance to build a positive onboarding experience for new employees if they don’t know the employees’ needs and don’t want to hear their opinions. Openness to discussion and accepting feedback is the first rule of building engagement and convincing employees that their opinions matter. So, ask, research, compare available data, and draw the right conclusions. 

Building a positive employee experience is considered a process that continues throughout the entire employee journey in the organization. Unfortunately, even one false step can lead to a drastic shortening of this path. That’s why a positive onboarding experience is important, and it’s worth treating with great seriousness.

Read also: 5 ideas to improve the employee experience and engagement in your organization