Did you know that 69 percent of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding?

When you take the steps to engage your team, they're going to give that back to you. Whether it's including more diversity training with the HR department or integrating new software into the onboarding process, it's important to keep things inclusive.

Luckily, we're here to help you get started. Read on to learn everything you need to know about onboarding new employees successfully.

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Qualities of a Successful New Hire Onboarding Process

If there's one thing that new employees love, it's communication. When you give them the tools to succeed, that's exactly what they're going to do. You're making space for them as team members, and the process itself sets them up to win from the beginning.

Here are a few things you can work to include in your process:

• Don't exclude anyone
• Keep things honest
• Remain transparent
• Give them power and autonomy

One of the biggest things you should never do is sugarcoat things for your new hires. When they're done with onboarding, they're going to catch onto how things really are, and they're going to feel lost. The more transparent you can be, the better.

Also working to give them autonomy is important to do from the beginning. The more valued they feel, the more willing they're going to be to help your company do its absolute best.

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Steps for Improving the New Hire Onboarding Process

How can you put those qualities into practice, though? Here are a few steps you can take.

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Keep a New Hire Checklist

Did you know that creating a checklist is the most commonly used onboarding strategy? They're great for keeping things clear and concise throughout the process, and they help ensure you never miss out on anything crucial to the process.

Here are a few things your list should include:

• Prepare onboarding documents
• Send them pre-boarding resources
• Have their workstation prepped
• Plan out meetings with fellow team members
• Create a 30/60/90 support plan

When you have everything scheduled ahead of time, you're letting your new hire know that you take them seriously. There's no room to make them wait around or do busy work while you get meetings and other things set up. It's already done, and they can easily go about their day.

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Make Things Social

This is easier to do with software that can be integrated with Zoom, Webex, or even Teams, and it makes it a lot simpler to schedule things. Conducting icebreakers, or giving employees the chance to socialize with each other outside of their work environments is a great way to build up your team's bonds.

With the right events, they can even meet coworkers from outside their department. If you have a team member interested in trying new things or learning other information, it can be highly beneficial to let them explore their options (especially in a remote environment).

They're not bound to one area of the company, and you're getting a well-rounded employee back in return.

For remote teams, this can look like having a cup of coffee with a different person every Wednesday morning over Zoom, or having a glass of wine with the entire team on Friday afternoons.

Either way, you can create employee engagement by giving everyone something to chat over without forcing it. If your company has the means, you can even send out packages for everyone to make at home.

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Gamify the Experience

There's no better way to welcome new employees than with games.

Whether it's company trivia questions, bingo, or a scavenger hunt through your company's resources, this is an easy-to-create engagement with material that's usually dry and boring. It also takes away the pressure of tests and quizzes.

When people know they're going to be asked about it later, they pay attention. However, giving them the space to figure it all out as a team is a lot better for engagement than sending everyone documents to sign and PDFs to read through.

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Gather Feedback

Finally, ask your new hires for their feedback. Conduct surveys or polls, and keep track of real-time analytics to see where people are engaging or where they tend to fall short.

When you have access to this information and its data, you're doing yourself a disservice by not using it. You can take this and rework things as needed, making the entire process a lot more engaging for everyone involved.

It's also going to simplify things for your HR team as they work to get new employees set up and ready to work on day one.

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Keep Up With the Data

That's where keeping up with this data comes into play. Set up a timeline to check different statistics and analytics, like once a month or once a quarter.

From there, the HR department can take the information and play around with training methods or new procedures to help create more engagement. They can even involve the new hires directly in this process by conducting interviews or asking them to test new things after they've completed their onboarding.

They're the newest ones in the company, and they're going to have the most valuable feedback when it comes to helping other new teammates. ‍

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Don't Skimp on New Hire Onboarding

When it comes to remote hiring for distributed teams, seamless new hire onboarding is essential. It sets the tone for a new employee's job experience, and first impressions matter. That's why integrating the right onboarding software into your process is the easiest and most effective way to get ahead.

Luckily, we're here to help. Request a demo and get started.

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