Employee Onboarding Best Practices for People-Oriented Businesses

People-oriented businesses—like professional services firms, agencies, and even tech companies—rely on human beings to drive their businesses forward. But if those humans aren’t properly oriented when they first start, it could slow your business down and keep employees from reaching their full potential. This article shares employee onboarding best practices for small business owners and operators who’ve found themselves wearing the HR hat (even if they don’t want to).

The true cost of onboarding a new employee

You’re probably asking yourself, “how long does it take to onboard a new employee?” The answer truly depends on how well the onboarding process is structured and organized. If companies don’t properly onboard their employees, it could take between six to twelve months before an employee is fully up-to-speed with their roles, responsibilities and expectations. This means it will take longer before new hires contribute directly to revenue or other indicators of performance.

On the flipside, investing in and optimizing your onboarding process can yield short- and long-term results. It’s common for most healthy organizations to have a 90-day onboarding program. A well-structured process leads to employee onboarding ROI, realized in the following ways:

• Faster time to productivity

• Enhanced employee engagement

• Improved employee retention

• Stronger employer branding

• Cultural alignment

• Fewer errors and mistakes

• Cost savings

Navigating employee onboarding challenges

The onboarding process is really twofold: there’s the employee’s onboarding experience, and then there’s the paperwork. 

First, let’s examine the employee onboarding experience. The goal is to help employees (quickly) succeed in their new role. Often, people-oriented businesses face specific challenges when it comes to onboarding new employees. Here are some of the top employee onboarding challenges faced by people-oriented businesses:

• Cultural integration

• Building relationships

• Training and skill development

• Managing expectations

• Maintaining employee engagement

• Retaining talent

• Adapting to change

Let’s take a closer look at each challenge, and what people-oriented businesses can do to overcome them.

Cultural Integration

People-oriented businesses typically have a strong company culture. New employees should understand and embrace this culture. However, some companies find it difficult to effectively convey the company's values, norms, and behaviors to new hires, especially in a remote or decentralized work environment.

To overcome, clearly communicate the company culture, values, and expectations from the start. Start recognizing new team members right away when they exemplify your company's core values and encourage others on your team to do the same. Provide opportunities for new hires to interact with current employees, provide interactive onboarding activities that showcase company culture, and assign mentors or buddies who can help them navigate the cultural nuances of the organization.

Building Relationships 

People-oriented businesses rely on collaboration and teamwork. Onboarding new employees and helping them build relationships with their colleagues can be challenging, particularly if they are working remotely or if there are limited opportunities for face-to-face interaction.

Consider fostering relationships and provide opportunities for new employees to interact and collaborate with their colleagues. Organize virtual team-building activities, create platforms for informal communication and collaboration, and assign new hires to cross-functional projects that allow them to connect with colleagues from different teams.

Training and Skill Development

Many companies have good intentions when they invest in training and skill development. However, delivering comprehensive training to new employees during the onboarding process can be a challenge. Companies must balance resource constraints with the amount of training a new employee can handle at a given time.

Design onboarding programs that incorporate both technical and soft skill training, as well as ongoing development opportunities. Prioritize essential training topics and develop a blended onboarding approach that combines self-paced online modules, virtual instructor-led sessions, and on-the-job training, ensuring a balance between knowledge acquisition and skill application.

At the end of the process, your new team member should be able to answer these questions:

• "What's my job?"

• "Do I have all the resources I need to do my job?"

• "Who or where I can I go to for help if I have a question or need more information?"

Managing Expectations

In people-oriented businesses, employee expectations about work environment, flexibility, collaboration, and communication are often high. Aligning new employees' expectations with the reality of the organization can be a challenge during the onboarding process. It's important to be transparent and provide a clear understanding of the organization's policies, work practices, and available resources.

Encourage open communication and feedback channels to manage expectations effectively. Conduct thorough pre-employment discussions and provide detailed information about the work environment, policies, and practices to set realistic expectations. Establish open lines of communication during onboarding to address any questions or concerns.

Maintaining Employee Engagement

Employee engagement helps ensure motivation, productivity, and job satisfaction. During the onboarding process, some new hires might feel disconnected or disengaged if they don't receive adequate support or opportunities for involvement. 

Promote employee engagement and involvement from the early stages of onboarding. Conduct regular check-ins with new employees, assign them meaningful tasks and projects that contribute to the organization, foster a sense of belonging through virtual social activities, and provide opportunities for their voices to be heard in decision-making processes.

Retaining Talent

Attracting top talent is important for people-oriented businesses, but retaining employees is essential to maintain continuity, preserve knowledge, and sustain a positive work culture. Onboarding plays a critical role in setting the foundation for employee retention. Failing to meet the expectations or provide a supportive environment during the onboarding process can lead to early turnover and loss of talent.

Provide ongoing support, mentorship, and resources to help new employees navigate their roles and feel connected. Consider an onboarding program that supports new employees throughout their transition, provides mentorship and coaching, and offers growth opportunities to enhance their career development and job satisfaction.

Adapting to Change

People-oriented businesses often need to adapt quickly to changing market dynamics, customer needs, or industry trends. This environment can pose challenges during the onboarding process as new employees must quickly grasp evolving expectations, processes, and strategies.

Continuously assess and refine the onboarding process. Develop an agile approach that can quickly adapt to changes in business priorities, provide up-to-date resources and information, and offer ongoing training and support to help new employees navigate the evolving landscape.

Additionally, be sure to build your employee onboarding process with scalability in mind so it can meet the needs of your team as your company grows.

Employee Onboarding Paperwork Checklist

Ok, now for the (not so) fun part; the paperwork. When onboarding a new employee, there are quite a few tasks to consider. These can be customized to your company’s needs and that these are often done in your HRIS/payroll system: 

• Personnel file created

• Confidential medical file created

• Reference checks completed and filed

• Background check results received and reviewed

• I-9 documents reviewed

• Employee information entered in HRIS & payroll systems

• State new hire reporting completed

There are also a number of administrative items you need to collect from employees. Here is a list of some of the most common paperwork you’ll need to receive:

• Application form

• Authorizations for background check

• Offer letter

• I-9 form

• Federal tax withholding form

• State tax withholding form

• Direct deposit form

• Employee policy / handbook acknowledgement

• Key / security policies acknowledgement

• Employee personal information sheet and emergency contact form

• Benefit enrollment forms

How to onboard remote employees

If there was one silver lining from the pandemic, it was that businesses realized they could access a larger pool of talent by hiring remote employees. However, it can be challenging to manage their onboarding. 

There’s no feeling more deflating than being bored or unclear your first week in a new job, especially if you’re working remotely. This is why employers should map out the first few days well. Schedule meetings (or better yet, give them a list of people to meet and tell them to schedule time with them—employees love an opportunity to be proactive right off the bat). Assign learning opportunities and small projects. Welcome the new employee to the company by introducing them in Slack, email, or your communication tool. 

At Same Page HR, we recommend businesses send new employees two things during their first week:

1. Welcome Document: Send a Welcome Document (in an email body, as a PDF, or printed with a welcome kit) that outlines everything they need to get started on the right foot.

2. Welcome Kit: You only get one chance to make a first impression! A welcome kit is an opportunity to make your new employees feel welcome while boosting your employer brand. It can include necessary supplies like a laptop or webcam as well as swag items (t-shirts! mugs! backpacks!). 

But the employee onboarding experience does not (and should not) last for just one week. Here are some other useful tips for onboarding remote employees:

• Structured Onboarding Plan: Tailor a detailed plan for remote employees, including activities, resources, and timelines for consistency.

• Pre-Onboarding Materials: Send relevant documents, handbooks, and welcome packages to remote employees in advance for familiarization.

• Leverage Technology: Use video conferencing and collaboration tools to introduce new hires to team members, managers, and stakeholders.

• Assign a Buddy or Mentor: Pair new remote employees with a supportive mentor for guidance and assistance.

• Clear Communication Channels: Provide remote employees with effective communication tools and guidelines.

• Regular Check-Ins: Conduct periodic meetings to monitor progress, address concerns, and offer feedback.

• Comprehensive Training and Resources: Make accessible training materials covering job responsibilities, systems, and company culture.

• Virtual Team Building: Include online activities like team lunches, icebreakers, and games to foster relationships.

• Networking Opportunities: Facilitate virtual networking through coffee chats, cross-functional projects, and online communities.

• Evaluate and Adapt: Continuously review and improve the remote onboarding process based on employee feedback.

Employee onboarding support designed for small businesses

If you’re wearing the HR hat at your organization and you don’t want to be, we’re here to help. Same Page offers fractional HR support for small people-oriented businesses like professional services firms, agencies, and technology companies. Contact us to see how you can optimize your most precious resource—your people.