10 Essential Steps for Successful New Hire Onboarding: A Comprehensive Checklist

Why is new hire onboarding essential?

When you bring new hires onboard, it's important to make sure they feel comfortable and confident in their roles. Starting a new job can be nerve-wracking, so give them some time to settle in and open up.

First impressions count, too! Make sure you provide a positive learning experience that helps your new hires feel respected and ready to take on their responsibilities. By outlining clear goals and responsibilities, you can help them succeed and make a positive impact on your organization.

Remember, every new hire brings unique skills and perspectives to your team. By investing in their learning opportunities, you can help them grow and become even more valuable to your company. After all, teamwork makes the dream work! So don't forget about the importance of effective new hire onboarding – it's a key part of your company's success.

Your Checklist of 10 New Hire Onboarding Best Practices

‍1. Introduce New Hires to the Company Culture
‍Welcome new hires with open arms and introduce them to the company culture right off the bat. Office tours or icebreakers help recent hires acclimate to their new work environment. Soon your new employees will adapt to the ins and outs of your office and employee dynamics. Check out our article on easy ways to welcome new employees and build camaraderie to start off on the right foot. 
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2. Have New Hires Connect
‍Starting at a new company can feel less intimidating when others are going through the same process. One onboarding best-practice is facilitating opportunities for multiple new hires to connect with each other. Host an introductory meeting or get-to-know-you event to establish a community among your new hires.
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3. Encourage Involvement
A new hire’s cryptonight can often be team meetings. The fear of interrupting superiors or over stepping boundaries may cause your new employees to melt into the background during team activities. Remind your newcomer that their input is worth hearing and they are a valuable asset to the company. Head to our article on how to foster a culture of knowledge sharing for more tips and tricks.

4. Check-In
Your new hires may be hesitant to ask for help even when they need it. Make sure to check in with all employees regularly and ask for updates on their projects. If new hires come to you with a question or concern, provide them with adequate resources and steer them in the right direction. Checking in also shows that a company values their new hires and wants to provide them with a positive experience. An important part of onboarding is establishing a communication network with new hires. Set up slack channels or add them to messaging groups so they are brought up-to-date on important discussions. 
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5. Ask For Feedback
Have an open line of communication with new hires and welcome feedback on their onboarding experience. No one knows your company's new hire onboarding better than new hires themselves. Their experience is a valuable indicator of your onboarding program’s success. Once onboarding concludes, have participants fill out an anonymous survey. Analyze responses and identify aspects of the program that new hires enjoyed and areas that require some tweaking.  

6. Walk New Hires Through Their Workflow
If you are looking for ways to spice up onboarding, employ softwares that streamline the process and makes your job easier. Explaining the ins and outs of a productivity softwares to your new hire’s can be confusing. Not to mention, creating screenshot guides from scratch gets tedious and time consuming. Interactive walkthroughs are here to save the day while making your onboarding process faster and more effective. Chrome extensions, like Driveway, use AI to capture your workflow and walk employees through software processes step-by-step. 

7. Promote Employee Involvement 
‍Your new hires have gone through onboarding training, but there's still a lot to learn about the day-to-day tasks of a new role. Encourage employees to help field questions from new hires and guide them in the right direction. Those with office experience know that co-workers can be some of the best teachers. Pair new hires with seasoned employees, not only will your new hire feel more comfortable in their role, but they will make more friends along the way. 

8. Provide Instructional Information
In addition to onboarding training, make sure to outline ongoing projects or assignments your new hire is expected to join. Not only does this excite new employees but also gives them a greater understanding of their new role. Designing a visual roadmap of a team’s projects, progress and deadlines make it easy for new hires to jump in. We suggest creating a teamspace in Notion to hold all the instructional information your new hires need. 

9. Set Up Personal Accounts
Help new hires stay organized by creating personalized company emails addresses and accounts. A separate email allows new hires to communicate faster without the clutter of personal spam. In addition to communication networks, create personal accounts for new hires on your company’s project management softwares. With a personalized workspace your latest hires are set-up for success! 

10. Have Fun 🥳
As corny as it sounds, a fun company camaraderie leads to a fulfilling work experience. While new hires should take their roles seriously, allow them to feel comfortable in their working environment. Encourage new hires to be themselves and allow their personalities to shine. After all, unique employees and perspectives is what makes a company great!  We hope our best practices inspire your onboarding program and aid new hires in learning, growing and enjoying their experience at your company. For a better way to manage new hires head to Driveway.app and streamline your learning processes!