Onboarding is the process of guiding new employees through their first few weeks, and you should make sure that you’re not doing anything that might discourage the new employee – like leaving them on their own without anyone to show them around or assigning them too many tasks at once. Here are six tips that will help make this process easier for both you and your new employee!
Break Down Tasks Into Manageable Chunks
This may seem like an obvious tip, but it’s often overlooked by managers who want to impress with how much they know about one’s job. Breaking down large projects into smaller parts makes it an essential part of welcoming staff to your company as it is easier for people to understand what they really need to do. You can use different methods and software to get them familiar with the job, but gradually introducing the work ethics and the task can be a huge relief if you’re new to your job and unsure about what’s expected of you.
Be Available and Approachable
Whether this means that an employee can look for you in your office or simply send you an email asking questions, the important thing is that they feel like they don’t need to worry about asking for help. One tip is offering some sort of mentorship program where experienced employees (who may even be only slightly more advanced than the new one) are responsible for helping them out as needed; with such a program, those mentors will feel less stressed because they won’t have as much responsibility on their hands since part of it’s being taken care of by someone else. Be clear about how much time is expected of mentors, however, or else you may find that they’re suddenly swamped with work.
Give Them Feedback
This one’s something that people often overlook since providing feedback can feel uncomfortable after just a few days of knowing someone. However, if you remember to give new employees constructive criticism on their work, it’ll show them what they did well while also letting them know where they can improve so that next time they’ll have an easier time getting the job done right. What’s great about this is that it doesn’t feel like a review or an assessment, so they won’t be as intimidated by it and will even try to improve upon their mistakes.
Introduce Them to Other Employees
If there are people who work alongside the new employee, take time out of your day to introduce them. It may seem trivial but knowing who else works in the same department can help someone figure out whom they could ask for advice if they need it. Even just casually pointing out which people sit next to one another can give them a sense of community and belong instead of the feeling that you’re all alone cleaning your own messes (which isn’t a good thing considering how much stress a new person has already been exposed to).
Give Them a Tour
While this does seem like an obvious tip it’s still worth saying; give the recruit a tour and point out important things like the bathroom or where they can get coffee. You could even walk them down to their new desk and show them how everything works (e.g., the printers, scanners, etc.) so that next time they can find everything themselves; worse comes to worst, they’ll be able to ask another employee for help which is what you really want instead of having them struggle on their own with all these different and new places.
Time to Adjust
This is especially important in the first couple of weeks since it can be overwhelming for someone who hasn’t worked at your company before. They may feel like they aren’t doing well, which could lead to low morale if this feeling isn’t dealt with quickly and patiently. Try to keep in mind that you were no different when you started working here so give them some room to come up with their own solutions instead of immediately turning to you. It’ll also help build confidence so even when everything seems daunting, they’ll know that they actually have what it takes to get past it all.
If you follow these six tips, then transitioning into your company will be easier for everyone involved. Your employees will feel more stimulated and welcome with this kind of plan, while your newest workers won’t get overwhelmed by their responsibilities (which is especially helpful considering how stressful the initial days of working can be). Just remember to give out constructive criticism so that there won’t be any resentment between you and the new worker.