Wat is onboarding?

The onboarding can be set as an initial step in which a new employee knows the whole structure of the company. In this process, the history, values ​​and results of the business are presented. It is also possible that the routine of the employee’s sector is elucidated.

In addition, it is the responsibility of People Management or HR and must be constantly improved. In larger companies, it is common that other sectors are also described during the process, in this way, the employee will feel part of a whole, and not just of a specific area.

Still, we should mention that onboarding is essential to reduce the time it takes a new employee to reach their full potential within a company. Therefore, in addition to presenting the physical structure, it is necessary to plan the entire process, ensuring that the employee is fit with the company’s objectives.

There is no set time for an onboarding to take place — in some companies it takes a week, in others it takes a month. Everything will depend on the proportion of the organization and the amount of information that the employee will need to retain at this first moment.

How important is a well-structured onboarding?

A well-structured onboarding adds enormous advantages, both for the employee and for the company. The first of these is the decrease in turnover . To put it in context, it is the movement in which an employee is replaced by a new employee.

When an employee knows in the first few days what his work routine will be and, consequently, the routine of the company, the probability of disappointment will be much lower, resulting in contentment.

In addition, managers will have less difficulty in passing on the demands to their subordinates, saving the time that this new hire would take to adapt to the new scenario.

Still, it is a mistake to think that new employees need to be predisposed to know all the company’s processes as quickly as possible. Therefore, companies must respect the moment of adaptation and need to accompany the employee, making sure that all the necessary points have been passed on.

What are the steps?

There are some fundamental steps for anyone who wants to have a well-structured and detailed onboarding. We list the main ones, follow.

1-set the goal

Just like any other process, before putting onboarding into practice it is necessary to list what your goals are. After all, they change from company to company.

While in smaller organizations onboarding is more useful for the employee to get to know the product to be offered and their occupation in depth, in large companies it is necessary to present all sectors, history and physical structure.

2-set up a schedule

As already mentioned, there is no minimum or maximum time for an onboarding to occur. However, this is no excuse for a schedule not to be set up. It can even be introduced to the new employee on the first day. That way, he will know which times he will need to make available to focus only on this process.

In addition, this plan can also be demonstrated to the entire company, especially if other employees need to assist in the process. That way, everyone will reserve space on the agenda without major problems.

3-Determine quality indicators

The quality indicators are monitoring and measuring instruments used to evaluate the performance of an employee, a process or even the organization as a whole.

In the case of onboarding, this indicator can be measured through a final test or a challenge. By proposing a dynamic during the process, you can measure how much the new employee understands about the company’s processes and know if he is adapting to the objectives.

4-Document the entire process

When an entire onboarding process is documented, the company knows which parts can be modified and improved, in addition to not failing to fulfill an activity in a well-executed way.

Another very common thing in large companies is having a segmented onboarding, that is, an employee can lose, for numerous reasons, a dynamic of the process, but can recover this material when a new wave of newly hired employees goes through the stages. So, with this documentation in hand, it will be easy to recognize which part of the onboarding each employee is in.

5-receive feedback

After putting all these tips and ending the onboarding, how about stimulating feedbacks ? Through these answers, your company will know which areas it needs to improve so that problems do not occur in a new process.

Feedback can be provided either anonymously or nominally. But it is important to make it clear that the information will be confidential within the HR sector, not being passed on to other managers or employees.

Onboarding is the ideal time to demonstrate all the qualities of your company and make it clear how happy everyone is with the entry of a new employee. It is a more relaxed period, in which participants will need to resolve all their doubts before starting their real work journey.

In addition to the tips listed here, be sure to also think about:

• all equipment that employees will need to use to work;
• present all the benefits of the company;
• show in which physical area it will be;
• go through the entire physical structure of the company, showing bathrooms, where to get water, etc.