Onboarding

In the last few weeks I spoke about the hiring process in great length. Now we get to the real joy of actually having someone joining your team after signing a contract. How can you effectively onboard them and bring them up to speed as fast as possible?

Assign a mentor

Every new employee needs someone to be their buddy in the first weeks. Even the most senior people are new to your habits, culture and the way you do things. Have someone from the team be their mentor for a defined period of time. The role of the mentor ranges from answering the simplest questions to explaining the architecture, through anything that might be needed or asked.

Define short and long term goals

You hired this person to do something. The best way to get started is to do something with a net positive effect. Assign a task that will have an impact on the things you need done, but is realistic. Finishing the first task with success is crucial to your employee’s self esteem and agency.

Have a clear program and roadmap for next steps

Having goals is a good start, but you need a good onboarding program and clear roadmap between the goals to advance out of “The new person” title. Some people get out of that title by having newer people than them, but that is not the desired path. You should have a very clear pathway.

Constantly evaluate

The fact someone is new is a call for you to be on top of things and make sure that person is not getting lost in the chaos and mayhem some org can be at times. Most great hires will get their act together fairly fast, and if you followed the hiring posts you surely hired a great hire. However, and times, things fall between the cracks and you most be aware where that person is heading. Hiring mistakes do happen and the sooner you spot them, less harm done to all involved. Make sure to have a positive attitude towards your new hires, but don’t neglect your duties of growing and nurturing your teams, including your new hires.