You have found a new employee The contract has already been signed. And now?
To prevent your new employees from feeling left out or unwelcome and leaving before their first day at work, you should develop a well-thought-out onboarding concept. This way, your new employees will immediately feel at ease and quickly become a full-fledged team member. In this article, we will give you 7 onboarding tips for a successful start of your new employees in your company.
Tip 1: Steady flow of communication
After a successful contract signing, you should not let the communication with your new employee end. Likewise, you should not wait until the first day of work to resume communication. Already in the peboarding phase between these two steps, it makes sense to establish a structured, bilateral communication flow with the new employee. This provides the opportunity to inform about current developments in the company, to introduce the new employee to the future job and to reduce uncertainties. The best way to do this is to use tools such as apps that open channels into the company for the employee.
Tip 2: Onboarding Plan & Structure
In many companies, there are professional induction plans for the onboarding of new employees. It is important that these plans arewritten down and presented to the new employee. This gives the new employee an overview of which training courses, tasks and learning activities are scheduled for the first few weeks. The presentation can be in the form of calendar entries, so that the employee has a quick overview of which training courses and appointments are scheduled for when.
Tip 3: Expectation
At the beginning of the job, there is a certain amount of uncertainty about the new tasks, both on the part of the company and among the new employees. To reduce this, it is necessary for the employer to communicate clear expectations with defined deadlines to the new employee. In which time frame are which goals to be achieved, with which means and with which support. This gives the employee a clear idea of what he or she is being measured against and allows him or her to focus on the objectives in his or her work.
Tip 4: Buddy
An organization consists not only of formal rules, but also of informal rules, which are created by the employees themselves. Often, such informal rules are created within departments by the employees themselves to optimize and structure tasks and the division of labor in teams. This knowledge is essential for new employees to find their way around the company and the new team.
For this integration to work quickly and smoothly, it is helpful to provide the new employee with a buddy, i.e., a colleague, who gives him or her insights into the company and the informal rules. The buddy serves as a sparring partner, the first point of contact and a person of trust during the initial period in the company. Even before the start, the two can be brought together and chat with each other via an employee app or realize an exchange via video conference.
Tip 5: Use digital tools in onboarding
Using digital tools like employee app sfor onboarding new employees offers a lot of benefits to the company but also to the employee. One of the biggest benefits for companies is the digitization of the onboarding process. For one thing, it allows new employees to be reached in mobile or home offices and eliminates the need to be present at the location. Likewise, the use of digital tools is sustainable in terms of company resources, as there is no need to print or mail documents, brochures, or visual aids. Access for the employee is simply via a web app or native app with a personalized identifier for the new employee.
For the HR team, it means they only must maintain one structure to keep documents up to date. For the employee, it means they have one place to find all the information they need about their new job – The Digital Onboarding App. The structured plan for the initial phase is also available digitally for the new employee in their calendar. Such a digital tool also makes it possible to start communicating with colleagues via chat, to get to know them and to fit into the team.
Another advantage of using digital onboarding tools is the flexible possibility to realize trainings and workshops. If not, all new employees are allowed to come to their physical workplace, employee apps can be used to transport them directly to the mobile office. This is enabled via features such as video conferencing or live streaming, allowing new employees to actively participate via interactive tools such as Q&A, chat or surveys without being physically present.
Tip 6: Use changing media in onboarding
In the past, most content was communicated in writing via manuals, instructions, or brochures. Increasing work in the home office has shown that purely written communication quickly has a tiring effect on employees and as a result a lot of content is not permanently stored. It is advantageous to rely on changing media formats for communication, such as videos, live training via live stream or podcasts, to impart knowledge, introduce the new working environment and your organization.
Tip 7: Appreciation
Increasing mobile offices have shown that it is becoming more and more difficult for companies to communicate their values to their employees on the one hand and to anchor a sense of belonging to the organization among employees on the other. At the same time, future generations of employees will find it increasingly important to be valued at work and to have a sense of purpose behind their activities. Even during the onboarding of a new employee, it is important to show them how important the job and the position are. For example, use personal greetings from the board or management to welcome new employees. . Digital media offer plenty of creative scope to get employees excited about your company right from the start.
