Building an Employee Onboarding Process
Published: 20/03/2023
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An employee onboarding process is vital for your business's success. In this article, we will assist business owners and managing directors in creating an effective process. If you aim to scale your company and gradually expand your teams, this will be a useful resource for you.
Welcoming new starters to your company is both exciting and challenging at the same time. On one hand, you will now have an extra resource to help you provide better services and share the workload. On the other, there are many hurdles to overcome before they can start contributing. This is why a smooth and efficient onboarding process is essential. Not only does it help things progress quickly, efficiently, and in compliance, but it also sets the tone for the rest of your new hire’s employment with you.
The issue is that most companies do not consider beyond the traditional onboarding process, which usually involves either email communication or an in-person exchange of documents. To truly maximise the value of a smooth onboarding, you need to put more thought and effort into it. In this article, we will help you better understand the structure of the onboarding process and how to tailor your efforts accordingly.
Onboarding is a fairly linear process. However, it can be broken down into key stages:
Pre-boarding. It involves the candidate accepting the offer and receiving information about the next steps, such as their start date, workplace location, and so on.
Document collection. Just as it sounds - the new starter is to submit the documentation you require from them.
Familiarising. At this stage, you introduce the new hire to your teams, processes, business structure, etc. We recommend providing them with an employee handbook as well.
Training. The theory is meaningless without practice. It’s often overlooked that new hires require some guidance when starting to implement the knowledge gained during the familiarising stage.
Transitioning into the role. It needs to be defined when the new hire becomes a fully pledged team member and is expected to start contributing.
To move through these phases smoothly, you will need some preparations in place. And that’s what our next sections are about.
There’s nothing good about entering anything without a plan. Since many elements are necessary for both compliance and integration, it’s easy to forget everything required for a successful onboarding process. It’s best to start the journey by making two checklists: one of things you need, and another of things your new hire needs.
Although an employee onboarding process primarily involves an employer collecting information from the worker, it is a two-way process. As previously discussed, creating an employee handbook that outlines key details about your business, its values, and procedures is advisable. Depending on the worker’s role, you may also want to share the company’s branding and/or code of conduct to help them become familiar with these aspects. Furthermore, providing an overview of the existing team structure can be useful, so they know who to approach if any issues arise.
There are also many technical requirements you need to fulfil. For instance, you might need to provide special equipment or clothing if that’s part of your business. Not to mention, you must organise access to any tools the worker might require: emails, time-tracking software, internal messenger, etc. To do this effectively, you should keep a list of all your resources. When they are used across the company with the same login details, store them in a separate file to prevent them from being lost. Finally, don’t forget to give the new worker the most important thing: support to help them smoothly integrate into their new role.
To comply with the law, you need some essential documentation from the worker. Usually, this includes an identification document, national insurance number, and bank details. However, each case is unique, and sometimes more is required. For example, if you are hiring workers from overseas who will be working in the UK, you will need to assign a certificate of sponsorship. Although most of the responsibility will fall on you, they will be required to pay for their visa application fee. For EU citizens, you will need evidence of their right to work in the UK. But even if your hires are local, there might be additional requirements.
If your business is in manufacturing and engineering, odds are you will need relevant certifications to prove the employee’s eligibility to work with the machinery you use. In cases where they are expected to travel between locations, a driver’s licence may be required. In the healthcare industry, there are many certifications needed for different roles, so be prepared to gather those as well. As you can see, it’s quite possible that more than just the basics are necessary. It’s best to write down the documents required and keep them handy, so nothing goes missing.
It would be foolish not to utilise digital tools to simplify your life, especially when a wide range of options are available. Traditionally, onboarding is managed through email and face-to-face interactions, but both methods can be time-consuming. They also tend to slow the process down. If you want to make it more efficient and faster, there are some solutions available for you.
There are tools focused solely on creating a seamless end-to-end onboarding system. They come in various forms, offering different features. For example, some tools will simply send an automated email to an employee, inviting them to log into the system with their unique login details. From there, the employee would need to upload any required documentation. Other, more sophisticated solutions come in the form of highly engaging digital platforms. These can take the new hire on a virtual tour of the company, present video introductions of other employees, help them arrange a meeting with their new team, and so on. Essentially, there is something for everyone.
While Timesheet Portal is not an employee onboarding system, it includes an onboarding module. This means that if you are considering our tool for pay and bill purposes, you'll also receive an onboarding feature included in the price. It falls into the first category of software we’ve described, where the user must log into the system and upload the necessary documents. To ensure all paperwork is submitted correctly, you can restrict their access to the platform until it is approved. Once approved, the documents will be stored in a designated location on the system that you can access at any time. But more on this in the next section.
There are several uses for a document management system. First of all, it will connect all documentation from the employee onboarding process and future updates to the worker. Easy access like that will be invaluable during audits. Certain systems, like Timesheet Portal, will also notify you when the documentation is nearing its expiry date. It can then be updated in advance to keep your business compliant.
Most document management systems can also act as shared storage spaces. All you need to do is adjust the membership levels, privileges, or an equivalent term the tool may use. When you onboard a new hire, it’s wise to grant them access to the shared storage immediately, so they can start familiarising themselves with the company's ins and outs. This might include the employee handbook or a file with login details for company-wide tools. In other words, if you fill it with important business-related files, both your new and existing staff will always have them readily available.
Like any other process, employee onboarding isn’t a one-off event. It might seem like something you set to run once and never revisit, but this isn't true. Effective onboarding demands the same approach as other parts of your business: observation and optimisation. It is meant to be refined as you go.
The onboarding process doesn’t have to be standardised and reduced to mere documentation exchange. In fact, creating memorable experiences is the way forward for some companies. For example, in our eBook, we describe an instance where a company ships out a work laptop, fully set up for work use. They include additional items, such as a welcoming card and some bits and bobs explaining how to navigate the company in a light-hearted, humorous manner. Some companies, especially with small, close-knit teams, encourage their new hires to give a brief informal presentation about themselves. There are no rules about what can and cannot be included in your onboarding process.
While to most, the era of COVID lockdowns is not a pleasant memory, it brought many lessons. One of these is the importance of flexibility. Before that, most companies conducted interviews and onboarding processes only in person. Those fortunate enough to be expanding during the pandemic, however, needed to find new ways of managing these processes. Going completely remote meant optimiser all hiring-related procedures and discovering new solutions to meet needs. Most companies that did so ended up making these practices their permanent approach. What we are trying to say with this example is that you shouldn’t be committed to your existing onboarding methods. Instead, keep the door open to change.
While an efficient employee onboarding process involves more steps than simply gathering required documentation, it is not more complicated. In fact, with the right tools and the right mindset, it is much quicker and more intuitive than doing it in a traditional way. And it’s definitely more hands-off.
Although onboarding involves a lot of human-to-human interaction, many aspects of it can be automated. This doesn’t mean the process will be less personal. In fact, it will give you more time to get to know the new hire and build a relationship with them. Companies often forget that synergy and communication are essential for team alignment, and the groundwork for these is laid during onboarding. It’s time to prioritise human relationships and let the machines handle boring manual tasks.
Ready to begin developing your onboarding process? We are here to help.