The Onboarding Process: A Key Step in the Employee Experience

The integration process of the new employee begins from the moment of announcing their recruitment. It is a journey over time, with each step being essential to building a lasting relationship between the employee and the company.

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Beforehand: preparing the integration process

Establishing an "integration plan"

As soon as hiring is finalized, a meeting will be organized: it involves managers, particularly the department head where the new hire will be integrated, and the HR department.

Its objective is to define the welcome procedure for the new employee and clarify each person's role in the onboarding process.

This is when the material needs of the future employee must be specified, so that everything is ready on arrival day: workspace, office furniture, computer, personalized email, access to company servers, intranet, etc., ensuring optimal setup of their workspace.

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Preparing the team for the new employee's arrival

Preparing the team within which the new employee will work is equally important. Informing the team about their role, their skills and how they will contribute to shared objectives is a fundamental point for successful integration.

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A meeting organized by the department head with a Human Resources representative is ideal for answering all employee questions, reassuring them, and preparing for their future colleague's arrival, strengthening team cohesion.

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Maintaining contact with the candidate between recruitment and arrival

As we have seen, the probability that a new hire won't show up for their new job is far from negligible. This is why maintaining open and regular communication with the candidate between the moment they are hired and their official arrival at the company is a key point in the onboarding process.

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Many means can be used to maintain connection with the future employee and keep their motivation up:

• Send practical information about the company,
• Share upcoming events,
• Organize several phone calls or video meetings to collect administrative information from them, discuss a particular point that may concern their office, the equipment they'll receive, or deepen their prior knowledge of their future responsibilities,
• Invite them to follow the company on professional social networks like LinkedIn...

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The first hours of integration are critical

The welcome and first hours spent at the workplace are decisive for the future of the collaboration. A warm welcome, a well-prepared workspace, and immediate access to the necessary tools and resources when starting the position are essential. While each case is different, the employee's first day can be organized as follows:

• A welcome by the HR department: this allows addressing administrative questions, providing documents concerning the employment contract, company regulations, and giving all information about benefits, meals, works council, etc.

• It is then the turn of the direct manager of the new employee to invite the novice to a one-on-one meeting: words of welcome, explanation of the work and responsibilities of the department, details of what is expected of the employee, first objectives.

• It is strongly recommended that the manager provide a welcome booklet, containing essential content and presenting information that couldn't be delivered during the first day. This conveys the company's image while being daily help for the new employee.

• The department head will introduce their new colleague to each team member, office by office. The exercise is difficult: many faces, names, and functions to remember. But it is essential, first for new recruits and to strengthen team cohesion.

• This is followed by a tour of the rest of the facilities and teams: shared spaces, cafeteria, support and operational services... This setup promotes better cultural integration within the company.

• The day continues with actual setup at their workspace: everything must be ready. No files scattered in a cabinet, a clear, clean and welcoming space is imperative. Similarly, the computer must be immediately operational: the employee is given a login, their access to various folders and servers is open, all software necessary for their work is installed... Thus, new recruits can start their tasks effectively from day one.

• The ideal is to find a moment of conviviality on this first day to bring together the new employee and all team members. Lunch is the ideal time, but it's also possible to organize a relaxed meeting in the afternoon, with some refreshments, promoting engagement and social integration of new employees.

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Clearly define the new hire's objectives in an interactive discussion

The signed employment contract typically refers to a detailed job description that precisely defines the employee's functions and responsibilities. However, this remains a theoretical document that needs to be contextualized and illustrated by the onboarding process.

The department head must therefore, upon their employee's arrival, take time to explicitly state the expected responsibilities, giving specific examples and indicating already-open projects and files, facilitating the integration process.

This happens in an informal exchange: the new employee must be able to ask all questions their job description raises, or even negotiate certain tasks by sharing their own experience for example. It is in this exercise where each can measure the other's commitment and willingness to make the collaboration successful that the future is determined.

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Onboarding process and training

During the conversation with their manager, the new employee can mention any potential gaps on certain tools or tasks. A software never used, a task not yet mastered... We don't expect a new employee to already know everything, which is why ongoing training is essential in the onboarding process.

Training is thus an important pillar of the onboarding process. Being able to offer the new recruit appropriate, fast, smooth and high-performance training modules in the first weeks is a guarantee of success. This approach ensures effective and personalized skills development, strengthening the employee's positive experience.

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Support the new employee throughout their trial period

Even if everything has been done correctly, it usually takes several months before an employee feels completely at ease in performing their work and in their environment. An effective onboarding process must provide support at least throughout their trial period:

• Regular follow-up meetings, according to a schedule set from the first week, with their manager to discuss progress, expectations, and points of attention. These meetings should be marked by active listening, ensuring good integration of new recruits.

• Ongoing feedback: beyond scheduled meetings, communication should be easy between the employee and their manager, facilitating the integration process.

• Assigning a mentor or sponsor can also play a decisive role, offering personalized support and facilitating access to company resources and knowledge. The mentor is a willing employee, ideally from the same department. They are the reference person with whom the new employee can discuss, find answers, express questions and doubts, enriching their onboarding experience.

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Favor gentle integration without putting pressure on the new hire in the first months

Successful integration doesn't have to mean excessive pressure on the new employee. On the contrary, it is advisable to give them breaks, let them breathe without guilt, promoting a gentle takeover of their new responsibilities.

One way to express the company's benevolence is to quickly integrate the employee into the Quality of Work Life (QWL) program, for example:

• Introduce them to planned actions regarding QWL from their first week of integration,
• Invite them to participate in team building events,
• Have them participate in social events,
• Invite them to well-being initiatives, sports or meditation workshops...

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If you've followed all of the above, you'll clearly know how to avoid the worst mistakes regarding the onboarding process:

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1. Don't communicate before the onboarding process

Thinking that, since your new hire agreed to join your company in three months, you have nothing to do until their arrival.

Yet, staying in touch during this sensitive period is essential to maintain the candidate's engagement.

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2. Don't prepare the employee's first day

Realizing that your new employee arrives tomorrow without having thought about how to welcome them.

A chaotic first day can precipitate job abandonment and harm the onboarding process.

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3. Don't prepare different access points

Letting IT services figure it out when the employee arrives to provide them with the tools, addresses, authorizations needed...

Having to wait a week or sometimes a month to work properly has driven many away!, affecting the recruitment process.

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4. Don't support the employee during their onboarding process

Thinking that your recruit with an impressive resume will be operational from day one.

Anticipating legitimate training needs is a sign of consideration and the way to make them operational quickly, optimizing the onboarding process.

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5. Underestimate the importance of continuous support

Thinking that the new person has already been around the block and will figure out how to work in your company on their own.

Depriving them of ongoing support is hit or miss. And more often miss!, compromising retention of new employees.

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6. Lack of clarity about their role

Hiring someone without precisely defining the company's needs, with a vague job description.

The less an employee understands what they're supposed to do, the more fragile their engagement in the company, compromising the success of the onboarding process.

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