HR strategies to onboard new hires efficiently

New employee orientation programmes are crucial to retaining new hires within the first few months.

During this period, they could have difficulties settling into the new job role, team structure, culture, or learning how things work around the company. So, it is important that Human Resources have a well-thought-out structured programme to prevent new hires from leaving.

To jumpstart a successful onboarding programme, we take at a look at how some Human Resource professionals do it in their companies.

Compiling a first 3-month plan

Human Resources need to understand what new hires need to know and how they feel when they first join the company. By conducting employee feedback for continuous improvement, the company can perform better in onboarding new hires.

One way is to detail a 90-day plan to provide work resources, support, necessary training, and information on the work role and appraisal process.

Most importantly, a calendar of events for the employee will be useful for them to know what to expect in the coming months. They could be company events, performance appraisal reviews, town halls, or just simple sales and gym schedules.

Through this, employees can feel like they are part of the company faster and allow them to start building a cohesive relationship with their colleagues.

Clarifying expectations

A new hire may be very willing to prove himself when he first joins the company. To avoid mismatch expectations between the job role and performance, allow the team manager to layout realistic expectations and desired outcomes for the new employee.

Other than that, the team manager can also detail how his particular job role contributes to the organisation's strategy.

By giving clear direction on how his efforts can help the company success, it can help the new hire to feel valued and recognised.

Introducing key people

A way to get to know a person better is through an intimate setting. This may entail a meal or team-bonding events and also one-on-one meetings.

Enlist the help of the top performers in the team to orientate the new hire for greater onboarding success and to promote camaraderie within the employees.

By learning from the best, the new hire can also tap into the business know-how and learn the tips and tricks faster through mentoring or shadowing like a buddy system.

Other than introducing the new person to the department, it is also important to inform other teams on his arrival, especially stakeholders he may be working together with on later projects.

With such introductions, the new employee can feel present and seen by people in the company and feel like a part of the big family.

Letting them navigate on their own

Depending on their working style, not every person would like to be micro-managed when they join a new company.

Find out which onboarding programme is most suitable for the new hire and customize the programme accordingly, after all, there is no one size fits all solution to every situation.

Giving the person all the tools for success and allowing him to navigate on his own is a successful way to give them a chance to tap into their resourceful skills and reach out to colleagues personally.