Most businesses recognise the value of an effective onboarding process and are prepared to invest time and energy in setting new starters and the business up for success. But what does a high-quality onboarding process look like, and are there any steps you can take to elevate yours to the next level?
- What are some of the business benefits an effective onboarding process can bring?
- Top Tips to take your onboarding process to the next level
- What to do if a new starter isn’t working out
1. What are some of the business benefits an effective onboarding process can bring?
From an HR perspective, an efficient, well-planned onboarding process tailored to the needs of your business can not only help a new starter to find their feet faster, foster high performance and embed them in your organisation, but also help to protect your business. Simply put, setting off the employment journey with a new starter who is clear about what the business expects of them, particularly in respect of conduct and performance, and where positive workplace relations are developed, reduces the likelihood that issues will arise.
2. Top Tips to take your onboarding process to the next level
Whether you have a well-established onboarding process or are looking to devise or develop one, here are some top tips to help you take your onboarding process to the next level.
- Go beyond the basics – communicate your key policies and procedures clearly
- Include workplace training that will boost and /or protect your business
- Identify ways to fast-track the integration of your new starter
Go beyond the basics – communicate your key policies and procedures clearly
For many businesses, cornerstone policies such as equal opportunities, bullying and harassment, sexual harassment and disciplinary and grievances are key things to cover in an induction process (and rightly so). But going beyond the basics can help to bring results, think about areas of particular concern or vulnerability in your business. The induction process is an ideal opportunity to be proactive and take preventative steps, for example, specifically drawing policies such as absence reporting, social media, computer and internet use to new starters’ attention, and keep a record of this.
Include workplace training that will boost and /or protect your business
Whilst making sure new starters are aware of your key policies is a good start, it’s important to be aware that for some areas it will be necessary to go further to protect your business and your people. Training in areas including discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment is vital, not only can it reduce the likelihood of issues arising (acts of which your business could find itself vicariously liable for), if they do occur, your business will need to show that reasonable steps were taken to prevent it happening, and effective employee training is a key aspect of this. Including it as part of your induction programme sends a clear message from the start, and refreshers can help to keep things on track.
It will come as no surprise that two of the things that can hold new starters back and lead to your business not getting the most out of them can be a ‘business-specific’ skills gap ( e.g unfamiliarity with a particular IT system, such as a client management system your business uses) and issues around support.
The induction process can be a good time to identify any role-specific training/development that may be needed, as well as an opportunity to prepare an action plan. Making sure a new starter knows where to turn if they need assistance or have an issue can help to resolve things at an early stage, often saving time and effort later on.
Identify ways to fast-track the integration of your new starter
The ‘tour and introductions’ circuit is a firm feature of most workplace inductions; it’s a good ice breaker, but it’s important not to stop there when it comes to helping new starters find their feet in their team and the wider business. The fast and effective integration of a new starter often goes hand in hand with effective performance, motivation and retention, all wins for your business.
So, what are some of the steps you might want to think about to aid the integration of a new starter?
- Ensure they are familiar with your business ethos, goals and expectations of their role – knowing how their role contributes to the overall success of the business can help employees ‘fit in’
- Consider steps to facilitate team bonding and effective teamwork, as it will be important for a new starter to get to know their colleagues to feel connected, supported and part of a team
- Consider whether introducing a mentor scheme to give a new starter an additional point of contact for help and support could be beneficial in your workplace
3. What to do if a new starter isn’t working out
If this is the case in your business, the first thing to do is to identify what the issue is – for example, is it because of conduct or performance, or is there another reason, such as a high level of sickness absence. As you would expect, the individual issue will impact the next steps. If there is a conduct issue or one of poor performance, you don’t feel further investment in the employee is likely to resolve the issue, you may consider dismissing them.
If you have concerns about a new starter in your business, please get in touch, as it may be possible to safely dismiss a short-serving employee more quickly and easily than would usually be the case, with no formal procedure required. This is because at least two years’ continuity of service is required for ordinary unfair dismissal rights.
As you may already be aware, there are some claims that employees can bring from day one of their employment, such as dismissal for a prohibited reason, e.g for whistleblowing, or discrimination, so it’s important to make sure that a quick dismissal is safe in your particular situation. To find out, please get in touch before taking action. If there are risks identified, we can discuss alternative options to manage the situation, for example, ill health management if an employee has a disability and their absence from work is causing concern.
If you have an HR issue you would like assistance with, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.