How to onboard new hires for success

When you’ve got a new hire, creating a welcoming environment that helps them succeed is crucial. A good onboarding plan can make a huge difference when bringing a new person to your team. 

A new team member can empower your existing team and increase productivity. It can change the entire dynamic of your team, bringing fresh perspectives, new ideas, and a broader commitment to the organization’s goals.  

You want to set your new hire up for success from day one. An effective onboarding process can help employees become fully integrated and productive much faster. It also increases the likelihood they will stay with your company in a productive and fulfilling role for years to come.  

Here are some tips for seamlessly onboarding new staff members.

Prepare in advance

Before their first day:

1. Set up their workspace with the essentials: a computer, software access, supplies, and other necessary tools.
2. Have HR paperwork filled out and make copies of resources like the employee handbook.
3. Assign an onboarding buddy to greet them and be their go-to for questions.
4. Let them know where and when to check in. If they’re working remotely, send an initial invite to an early onboarding meeting to get them started.

Cover the basics 

On day one, give the new employee a tour of the office and introduce them to the team. Go over:

1. Must-know policies
2. Organizational charts
3. Working hours
4. Procedures for requesting time off
5. IT and security protocols
6. Where to find essentials like the kitchen and bathrooms

Provide an overview of the company’s background, mission, values, products/services, and goals.

Immerse them in their role

Spend ample time reviewing the expectations the organization has for them in the role. Review:

1. Specific duties and responsibilities
2. Expectations of their role
3. Explain how their work fits into the bigger picture.
4. Allow them to shadow experienced colleagues and learn your processes and systems hands-on.
5. Set clear objectives for their first week, month, and quarter so they understand the onboarding timeline.

Connect with the company culture

First impressions are everything, so start imparting your company culture right away. Discuss:

1. Workplace norms. Are there unspoken norms that aren’t policy, but understood by everyone on a team?
2. Communication styles. How does your team work asynchronously as well as in tandem?
3. Decision-making philosophies. How does your company make decisions? When will the new hire be able to make their own decisions?
4. Assign a mentor. A fellow team member can help a new hire assimilate into company culture much more easily.
5. Review Motivation Code. If your team has already gone through Motivation Code, explaining team members’ Motivational Dimensions can help a new team member get to know how to best work with their new colleagues.

Get to know your new team member

Spend time getting to know your new team members’ motivations and interests. Knowing their motivations and interests will help you empower them to succeed. If you’ve just hired an Achiever, it is important to set up their initial tasks to tie into the ways they feel most fulfilled. Giving them a task that is important and challenging, and then rewarding them for their accomplishment can go a long way towards making them feel like they’ve found a home in your organization.

Find ways to tie your new hire’s onboarding routines to their Motivational Dimensions. Doing so can help them feel like their new organization understands them. When you address who your people are and what inspires them, they are more likely to feel like they’ve found a job that fits them. 

Keep the feedback loop open

Check in frequently to gauge how they’re adjusting and address any concerns. After a few weeks and months, get their candid feedback on what’s been helpful or challenging about the onboarding so you can continuously improve. Keep an open line of communication and make sure they feel comfortable asking questions in a new and possibly very foreign environment.

When bringing in a new leader

If your new hire is in a leadership position for a team, they must get to know existing team dynamics. Encourage leaders to spend more time listening to their direct reports and learning each individual’s Motivational Dimensions so that the leader can more effectively lead their team. 

Just as with a junior hire, it’s critically important to give leaders a better understanding of the job they’ll be doing. They need to understand people more than anything when it comes to a leadership role. The Motivation Code for teams is one of the best ways an organization can equip new leaders with the knowledge they need to succeed. 

Also, Motivation Code can help new leaders with fresh perspectives bring new ideas and insights to their new role. Because they get to know their new reports’ motivations as they get to know the people, they don’t have to “relearn” how people tick. They’re empowered from the onboarding experience to know and understand their people holistically. 

Onboard your new people with MCode

An employee’s first few weeks can be overwhelming, but a thorough yet engaging onboarding process provides the support and clarity they need to ramp up quickly. With the proper foundation and introduction to the company and the people within the organization, new hires will be ready to make valuable contributions before they know it.

If you’d like to empower your new team members with Motivation Code, it’s easy to get started. Motivation Code works by using your stories and decades of motivation research. Learn more, and empower your teams with motivation to succeed.