Onboarding best practices - a conclusive step by step guide

It’s no secret that in the modern workplace, employee connection is key. And while connection starts from the very first contact, it’s critical during the onboarding process. With The Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting, Boomerang employees and the seemingly endless staff shortages affecting more Aussie businesses than ever, if you get it wrong in the beginning – by ignoring onboarding best practices – you and your business might never recover.  

You don’t have to look far for news stories talking about just how unhappy Australian workers are in their current job. This was backed up by job mobility figures in May 2022 showing that 1.3 million people – or 9.5% of employed people – changed jobs in 2021. This is the highest rate since 2012.  

With the job market so competitive, employers need to go above and beyond to create an onboarding experience that will engage, inform and retain the talent their business needs to keep moving forward. And with all this movement, there’s going to be a lot of people being onboarded over potentially short periods of time. This means putting in place tools and best practices that will appeal to as many people as possible.  

Your company’s niche onboarding experience needs to go mainstream. Whether your HR team uses a simple email with a bunch of useful links and quick check-in, or your new people are taken through an intensive onboarding experience that includes full work culture immersion and a welcome hamper, it needs to have an impact.  

With most employees having decided within the first six months of their new employment if they’ll stay with the company or not, your business has to become intimately acquainted with the best onboarding practices quickly. And here’s why. 

What is an employee onboarding process? 

Employee onboarding is the formalised new hire induction process. It’s the onboarding team putting into place the plan or schedule designed specifically to make a new employee feel welcome and supported during the weeks and months at their new job. Let’s face it, no matter how talented, confident or good at your job you are, walking into a new working environment – either physically or virtually – can be a bit nerve-wracking.  

And this is a big reason why your new staff onboarding process should be an engaging and positive experience, designed to ensure your new employee quickly realises what a great decision they’ve made choosing to work for your company. Remember, they’ll make up their mind if it’s been a good choice within six months, so you’ve really got no time to lose.  

The moment your new employee accepts your job offer, your business should be setting into motion your onboarding best practices. During this time, it’s important for your HR team to maintain regular contact, follow up, check in and basically be as helpful as they can during this settling-in period.  

Think of it like this: when you do it right, onboarding new employees is maximising success. Success for the onboarding team, success for the new employee and last but not least, success for your business.  

The importance of employee onboarding 

According to a March 2022 article on HRM, it costs almost $24,000 to hire a new employee. The survey of over 1500 Human Resources (HR) professionals from Australia and New Zealand noted this cost had more than doubled from the 2020 figure of $10,500. The report also found it’s also taking longer to find a new employee, increasing from an average of 33.4 days to 40 days in Australia and from 36.5 days to 50 days in New Zealand. 

So looking at those numbers, if you lose just four employees each year, it will cost you almost $100,000 and a little more than five months, or 750 working hours, to replace them. That’s a massive cost to not only your business but to those still employed who will have to pick up all that slack.  

And how does your HR team feel about the time they have to spend on new employee onboarding? The same report said the average HR team spends seven hours a week bringing new employees up to speed during the onboarding period with a third of respondents saying recruitment took up too much of their time. 

Much like everything else in the modern business world, automation is here to stay. However, as you’re hiring a person, there’s only so much of the employee onboarding checklist you can automate, with onboarding best practices advocating for a personalised, hands-on experience. While technology can help to streamline and automate the certain process, people should always come first, even if this will use up the time and budget of your HR team.  

This brings us to a very important yet often overlooked point about onboarding best practices – they don’t have a lasting impact on only the new employee, they have a huge impact on the HR team as well. Another excellent reason to get those new employee onboarding processes organised as efficiently and effectively as possible so ultimately, they work together like a well-oiled machine, impressing the socks off your new recruit.  

It’s during this time your HR team can really shine by providing a positive first experience. Meaning your new recruit is likely to remain more engaged throughout their time with your company and not even dream of working anywhere else. This hands-on approach also means they’ll have a clear understanding of what they need to do and when they need to do it, making them feel connected to your workplace. 

10 best practices of employee onboarding 

1. The welcome email 

Did you know that as many as 28% of professionals change their minds after accepting a job offer? That’s according to a 2019 study conducted by global staffing firm Robert Half. This makes the welcome email all that more important, so much so that it should be considered a crucial part of your company’s onboarding best practices. 

2. Be prepared 

Be ready for their first day. Part of any successful onboarding best practice will be having all the behind-the-scenes stuff sorted out and taken care of. Pull out the HR employee onboarding checklist and tick off: 

• Security logins and any access keys or passes 
• The computer, laptop, tablet, phone or other tech  
• Log-ins for hardware, software, apps, emails etc 
• Confirm rosters and schedules 
• Have their manager/leader and office or remote buddy ready to greet them 
• Let the rest of the team know there’s a new hire on the way 

3. Cut down the paperwork with digital onboarding 

There’s going to be necessary paperwork, such as the employee contract, taxation forms, superannuation info etc. But where possible, digitise the rest of the onboarding process and have it easily accessible via email or app. And be sure to get all the paperwork out of the way as soon as you can because the sooner it’s done, the more you can focus on the engagement side of onboarding. When it comes to onboarding, it’s always best practice to focus on the person and not the paperwork.   

4. In-office vs remote onboarding 

When your business is creating the ideal employee onboarding process, be sure to include processes for the different types of new people you’ll hire. Most common in the post-pandemic period would have to be the in-office and remote workers. Make sure your remote workers have the equipment and access they need, maybe even assign extra call or video chat time to make sure all is well on their end.  

5. The buddy system 

Assign a more experienced worker to your new person. Someone they can rely on to guide them through these first crucial new weeks as they get used to their new work environment. Knowing where the kitchen is and the best place to grab a coffee or lunch nearby is almost as important as having login details for the internal database.  

6. Teamwork makes the dream work 

Make sure your current employees know there will be a new person. This will avoid confusion and even resentment if the manager is distracted and has forgotten to let the team know they have a new member. If possible, organise a morning tea or team lunch so everyone can get to know each other. It will tick those onboarding best practices boxes while also reminding current employees why your company is a great place to work.  

7. Access to resources 

Make sure they have access to the employee resources – both internal and external – they will need to do their job and make settling in easier. Include a culture check if Friday is casual dress, there’s an office D&D team or you have a company trivia team that gathers at the local pub every second Wednesday.  

8. Schedule manager or leader check-ins 

Don’t rely on the manager or leader to remember, have the HR teams put check-ins directly into their schedule. And then follow up. These can be quick and easy or a more involved sit down 1:1 on crucial days such as the end of the first day, week, month and probationary period. This is when the employee and their manager can set goals and expectations.  

9. Ask for feedback 

Don’t assume everything’s okay because you haven’t heard anything. After all, who is better equipped to provide honest feedback on the new employee onboarding experience than the new employee? This feedback gives you and your HR team the chance to amend, tweak and re-work anything that isn’t working perfectly. 

10. Be flexible 

Not everyone will be the same. Before you go and organise a great big welcome sign and balloons at your new recruit’s desk, ask if they are comfortable with this kind of attention. Are they happier with a Zoom meeting or phone call than face-to-face meetings? Or the opposite? Has this person settled in completely and no longer requires any corporate hand-holding? Be flexible in your approach to each new hire and make them feel grateful each day they chose to work at your company. 

FAQs about the onboarding process 

While it’s crucial to get it right from the business side, it’s also important to understand what onboarding best practices might look like from the new employee’s perspective. Here are some simple onboarding FAQs you might like to address with your new employee before their first day in the actual or remote office: 

• What time do I need to show up on my first day? 
• Who do I ask for when I arrive? 
• Is there parking and do I have to pay? 
• Is it ok to pop out for coffee? 
• How long is the lunch break and what do most people do for lunch? 
• Is there a dress code? 
• How do I apply for leave or sick days? 
• Will I have my own desk or do we hot desk? 
• Is there an internal directory of staff? 
• Does the company have a Code of Conduct? 

A simple employee onboarding checklist, emailed to the newbie ahead of time, would showcase your business’s positive work culture while offering important FAQ answers that the new person might be too shy to ask – or may not even think about until they’re standing in a kitchen looking for a coffee mug.  

Beyond onboarding: ensure your people are on track for long-term success 

Onboarding new employees is one thing, setting them up for success is something different. Making sure your most valuable assets – your people – are on track to reach their full potential is what should really matter to your company.  

Continuous development, 360° feedback, and centralised and easily accessible employee records are just the beginning when it comes to the best performance management software. From onboarding through to eventual retirement – if you’ve followed your onboarding best practice checklist that is – a great performance management tool will simplify every step of your employees’ journey, supporting them with one seamless and streamlined platform. 

Learn more about the areas where we can help your business thrive by booking a demo today.