6 Reasons Your New Employee Onboarding Process Is Setting Employees Up to Fail
Success of your new employee’s transition largely depends on the effectiveness of your onboarding process. Almost a third of employees resign within the first 90 days and an effective onboarding process can help. Many small businesses struggle with onboarding, leading to disengaged employees, low morale, and increased turnover. Guess what? Sixty-nine percent of employees say that they are likely to stay and work for a company for 3 years if they have a great onboarding experience. In this blog post, we'll explore the typical things that often go wrong with an employee's onboarding experience in small businesses and provide actionable tips to overcome these challenges.
TIP:
Grab a copy of our free new hire onboarding checklist here.
1. Not Defining Success
Before the recruiting process starts and before posting for the position, thoroughly consider and visualize what success looks like for a new employee in their new role. It’s important to set new employees up for success from day one and this can be shared during the interview process.
The definition of success will be different for each role. Setting expectations for the employee without first establishing a vision for success makes it difficult for the employee to gain confidence in the role and for you to hold the new employee accountable. New employees may struggle to meet job requirements and performance standards without a clear understanding of what is expected of them.
Tips:
Determine success: Determine 1 week, 2 weeks, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 6 months, and 1-year performance metrics, milestones, accomplishments, training, and tasks to be completed by the employee.
Schedule feedback: Plan frequent opportunities during onboarding to gain feedback from the employee about their onboarding process.
Plan first assignment: Carefully plan the new employee’s first assignment to help the employee gain early wins, build early confidence, and assess their skill level.
2. Failure to Set Clear Expectations
New employees may feel lost and unsupported from the start without clear guidelines and timelines. Small businesses often overlook the importance of planning for the onboarding process, leading to inconsistencies and missed opportunities for engagement.
Tips:
Communicate vision & mission: As early as possible, communicate how the new employee’s role contributes to the success of the company and your company vision and mission.
Discuss details: Clearly communicate job expectations, goals, and performance metrics defined above.
Align role with the business: Provide new employees with a written job description to ensure alignment with organizational priorities.
3. Not Gathering Assigned Tools & Resources
There is nothing worse than the employee starting on their first day and lacking the tools and resources they need to do the job. Be honest with the employee as early as possible in the process (preferably before extending the offer) about what you are offering and what is their financial responsibility. The employee will most likely understand that you are a small business and may not have the means to provide the tools that larger corporations can. Either way, they can decide based on honest information you provide them before extending an offer. Determine what you will purchase or provide the employee as far in advance as possible based on the employee’s role and responsibilities.
Tips:
Answers to these questions will help determine what you communicate regarding furniture, equipment/software, supplies, and uniform. The key to gathering these tools is to have them ready for the employee before they start their first day. It may be best to postpone the employee’s start date if you do not have all these items ready on day one.
Furniture: Order furniture depending on the employee’s work location.
Will the employee be sitting in a cubicle, an office, or working remotely?
If working in an office, you might order a desk and desk chair or secure cubicle space.
If working remotely, you may offer to purchase furniture, give a voucher toward a furniture purchase, reimburse the employee for their furniture, or require that the employee purchase their own furniture.
Equipment & Hardware: Order equipment that the employee will need to do their job.
Will the employee be given a laptop or computer station, printer, webcam, or cell phone?
Will the employee be required to purchase these items on their own or be reimbursed for purchasing these items?
Supplies: Order supplies that will make the employee successful.
Great example supplies to start with are branded pens (easy marketing tool as well), notepads, or post-it notes.
This is a great opportunity to provide any company swag that the employee can use to brag about their new job.
Ninety-one percent of new hires who received company swag felt effectively welcomed to their new company.
Software: Order and install the software the employee will need to do their job.
Do you need to purchase additional licenses for basic office suites such as Microsoft 365 or Google products?
Will the new employee need more specialized software depending on their role, for example, Microsoft Project if they are a Project Manager/Engineer, Photoshop for a new Graphic Designer, or HubSpot for a Salesperson?
Uniform: Order a new uniform or company branded clothing, if applicable.
Will the employee be making customer visits, patient visits, or working remotely 100% of the time?
If visiting patients or customers, you may provide scrubs, a uniform, a voucher to purchase clothing, or reimburse the employee for clothing.
If working remotely, you may not order any company branded clothing.
4. Insufficient Training and Orientation
Another frequent issue in onboarding is the lack of training and orientation programs. New employees may receive minimal information on company policies, procedures, and expectations, leaving them feeling unprepared and overwhelmed in their new roles. Many of these processes are not thoroughly developed in a small business yet so be honest about this. You never know – the new employee may help you once they come on board!
Tips:
Training curriculum: Develop a training curriculum that covers essential topics such as company culture, job responsibilities, systems and tools, and compliance requirements.
Resources: Provide hands-on training, shadowing opportunities, and access to relevant resources to help new employees quickly acclimate to their roles.
Based on a survey by Promoleaf, most employees appreciate an online chat system and one-on-one introduction with team members.
5. Limited Integration and Socialization
Small businesses often overlook the importance of integrating new employees into the company culture and fostering social connections with colleagues mainly because of a lack of time. Based on a survey by Promoleaf, most employees appreciate an online chat system and one-on-one introduction with team members. New employees may struggle to feel a sense of belonging and camaraderie within the organization without meaningful interactions and relationships.
Tips:
Inform the team: Introduce the employee to the company before they start in the form of a communication (video or email) sent to current employees that outlines the unique and valuable skills you look forward to the employee bringing to the organization.
Set expectation: In team meetings leading up to the employee’s first day, set the expectation with the team that they should welcome the employee and help them to get acclimated.
Plan meet and greets: Plan team bonding activities, welcome lunches, and informal meet-and-greet sessions to facilitate socialization among new hires and existing employees.
Utilize a buddy system: If able, assign a mentor or buddy with seasoned team members who can provide guidance and support during the onboarding process.
6. Neglecting Feedback and Follow-Up
A common oversight in onboarding is the lack of feedback mechanisms and follow-up procedures. Without regular check-ins and opportunities for feedback, new employees may feel overlooked and undervalued, leading to disengagement and dissatisfaction. The following tips create a supportive environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their experiences and suggestions for improvement.
Tips:
Schedule check-ins: Establish regular check-in meetings with new employees to solicit feedback, address concerns, and assess progress; a best practice approach is to start with a daily one-on-one within the first 2 weeks, then taper off to every other day for the next 2 weeks and continue tapering off one-on-ones as the employee becomes more comfortable in the role. However, continue to meet one-one-one, preferably bi-weekly, but at least monthly.
Foster an open environment: Encourage open communication, react to mistakes with a focus on resolution instead of ridicule, and move quickly to help remove obstacles.
Act on feedback: Move quickly when you receive from employees and don’t let the feedback fall on deaf ears.
Conclusion
Focusing on properly onboarding a new employee in your small business can be challenging, but with careful planning and execution, these common pitfalls can be overcome. By prioritizing the tips we covered, you can create a positive onboarding experience that sets employees up for success and contributes to long-term engagement and retention. Remember, investing in effective onboarding is not only beneficial for new employees but also essential for the growth and success of your small business.
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