A strong onboarding process sets people up for success. Onboarding not only enables individuals and teams to thrive, it impacts the bottom line of your organization. Institutions with a structured onboarding program report lower employee turnover, more work productivity, and higher team morale. We have four guidelines for a strategic onboarding process the equips employees without overwhelming new hires:
1. Cast Vision. Connect your new employees to the legacy and mission of your institution. Don’t belabor your history, but help them understand their role in the important work you are undertaking.
2. Utilize Mentors. Effective onboarding connects employees to multiple levels of an organization. Utilize peer mentors as docents who can answer questions and explain their lived experience in an organization.
3. Have fun. Most onboarding consists of dry lectures in conference rooms. While you do need to cover some basic information, do your best to keep it to a minimum and get employees into different spaces throughout the organization to see work in action and meet new colleagues.
4. Provide resources. Your new employees will not retain everything you cover in their initial training. Provide them with a digital employee handbook that they can consult when they need to reference information.
