Are You Making These Common Onboarding Mistakes?

The first days, weeks, and months are crucial to the success of your new employees, making your onboarding strategy extremely important. Without a successful onboarding process, new hires may not get the training they need which ultimately results in costly mistakes, low levels of productivity and high turnover rates. Creating an effective onboarding process starts with knowing the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.

Mistake 1: Not having an onboarding process

First and foremost, have you taken the time to create and implement consistent onboarding procedures? You probably go through orientation with new employees, but orientation is only part of the process. It typically takes around 90 days for your new hire to learn, adapt and be ready to take on a full workload themselves. Be sure you have a set onboarding plan in place and are taking it step by step.

Mistake 2: Failing to prepare for the arrival of new employees

Give new employees a good first impression and let them know you’re excited to have them on board by providing them a clean workspace and having their computer ready to go when they arrive for the first day. A great way to alleviate some of their nerves is to prepare a schedule for the first week, so they know what to expect.

Mistake 3: Not setting clear expectation from the start

If your employees don’t know what’s expected of them, they will likely quickly become unmotivated. It’s important to outline specific goals and set clear expectations, so your employees feel they are an integral part of the team from the start and can be recognized for their achievements.

Mistake 4: Cramming too much into day one

There’s a lot for new hires to learn, but be careful not to overwhelm them with a large workload the first day on the job. Split the process into smaller steps to take over their first week, and spend time focusing on your company’s culture and learning about one another on their first day. Too much information can cause burn out…and more than likely, they’re so overwhelmed the first day that they’ll forget a majority of it anyway.

Mistake 5: Failing to address different learning methods

It’s important to acknowledge all individuals have different learning methods. Ask your new hire what method of learning they best thrive in and have different procedures put into place to accommodate their preferences. Some may be more visual learners, while others may prefer more hands-on learning. Neglecting to implement different learning methods may result in confusion or mistakes being made.

Mistake 6: Not delivering feedback early and often

Feedback ensures your employees start off on the right foot and allows for discussion on any changes that need to be made. This way, they feel confident in their work and what to do next.

Using disorganized onboarding procedures or failing to have any at all may result in your new hires leaving more quickly than you ever anticipate. Onboarding is your opportunity to not only set your new employee up for success, but also to show a glimpse of what working for your company entails.