You could think that once you’ve hired an employee your work here is done, but that’s just not the case.
Onboarding staff means integrating a new member into your business to enable them to do the job and fit in with the culture. It’s really important to think about how this process will work to get the maximum benefit for not only the company but also for the employee.
Here are our top tips to onboarding well.
- Prepare colleagues for a new employee
Let the team know that they have a new workmate joining. Tell them a little bit about their background, what there here to do and how the team can help welcome them. - Keep in touch
Organise an informal meet with Line Manager and key people in the team. This could be meeting up for a coffee, inviting them to the company quiz night or even a night out. - Be ready
Ensure that all the equipment is ready to go. Have a workstation set up including phone, desk, email, systems and stationery. - Tell the employee what they’ll need
If you need the new employee to bring any documents such as passport, driving licence, qualification certificates etc. - Meet the team
Set aside time on the first day for your new employee to meet their team. Get the team to introduce themselves and
explain their role at the company. - Tour
Give your new employee a tour of the offices particularly showing them where the toilets, kitchen and any meeting rooms are. What happens if there is a fire alarm, where are the fire escapes and assembly points. - Expectations
Explain how things work in your business, does everyone make their own drinks or do the team make a “round”, what happens at lunchtime is there somewhere locally to buy a sandwich, do lunch breaks need to be taken at a certain time. Explain the expectations at the start to make sure there is no confusion. - Training
Make time for suitable training for your new member of staff. Make sure the person doing the training is capable but also the right person, not everyone makes a great trainer! Have someone available as a mentor that the new employee can go to if they get stuck, someone who doesn’t mind being asked questions. It is also a good idea to provide a notebook and pen so that they can take notes to refer to.
If you’d like to have a no-obligation chat about your recruitment needs or explore further ideas on onboarding staff, please give Spider a call on 01473 276146 or visit www.spiderrecruit.co.uk.