Onboarding a new employee can be an exciting albeit stressful process. You will need to take care of tedious administrative tasks, from collecting payroll information to enrolling the new hire in your benefit plan. When bringing an employee into your organization, it is important to keep the following best practices in mind.
#1: Create a Strong Onboarding Program
If you give the employee a stack of manuals on his or her first day and provide no further guidance, the employee is likely to feel confused and ill-prepared. With a tightly structured onboarding process, the employee will feel more acquainted with your organization. This also signals to the employee that your organization knows that it is doing and cares about its employees.
#2: Reduce the Paperwork
Many new hires complete stacks upon stacks of paperwork on their first day. However, this may feel overwhelming and tedious, harming the new hire’s experience. Instead, look to spread out paperwork completion over a few days or digitize the onboarding process using customer relationship management (CRM) software like Salesforce. With these tools, you can set deadlines for completion and keep track of required forms.
#3: Allow Feedback Opportunities
New hires provide fresh insight. During the onboarding process, establish opportunities for new hires to provide feedback about the organization. With CRM software, you can deploy an anonymous survey to new hires, enabling them to share their thoughts while providing your team with centralized access to their responses.
#4: Reach Out Beforehand
It’s easy to wait until a new hire arrives to begin the onboarding process. However, reaching out before the employee’s start date establishes a crucial connection before he or she walks through the door. Provide tips, company information, or a list of what to expect on the first day.
#5: Involve Seasoned Employees
You can integrate your new employees into the organization and establish connections by involving seasoned employees in the onboarding process. Establish meetings between new and old employees to discuss their experiences. When possible, implement shadowing programs so that new hires understand how they fit into the overall organization.
#6: Personalize Content Delivery
New employees want to feel like they are part of your team and personalizing the onboarding process can help. Using the Journey Orchestration tool in Salesforce, for example, you can develop a customized timeline for each new hire. You can also implement automated messages to send between each step of the onboarding journey, increasing employee engagement.
#7: Set Expectations Early
Employees need to understand their employers’ expectations as soon as possible in the onboarding process. By setting early performance goals, new hires are better prepared and equipped to succeed in their new roles. You can set up tasks and benchmarks using CRM software so employees can track their progress and prepare for what’s next.
#8: Involve Multiple Departments
Like older employees should be involved with the onboarding process, multiple departments should be involved with new hires company wide. Employees should be able to understand how their work affects other departments, and different departments can help new hires better understand their roles.
#9: Make the First Day Memorable
A bad first day could drive an employee to drop his or her position. Instead of having your employee complete paperwork all day, plan out activities to make a good first impression. Set up his or her desk, provide a welcome package, or schedule a company lunch. These small steps can help employees feel comfortable and at home within the organization.
#10: Treat New Hires Like Customers
Using CRM software like Salesforce can help you deliver an efficient onboarding experience using customer-friendly techniques. With a tailored onboarding processes, employees are more likely to feel comfortable within the organization and are thus more likely to stay.
Contact a Salesforce Implementation Team
If you want Salesforce to help with your onboarding process, HigherEchelon can help. We have extensive experience implementing Salesforce across a variety of use cases, big and small. Contact us today to learn more about our Salesforce implementation services and discuss how Salesforce can improve your business.