When new employees need to find a foothold in a company, well-planned preboarding and onboarding processes are crucial. But how do you arrange such programs? We asked our own employees what a good program should include to ensure a good start, and thus a greater probability of retention.

69%. That is the likelihood that an employee will still be in your organization after three years of employment when having been through a well-structured pre/onboarding process. In addition, there are fewer sick days, good social cohesion and resource and cost savings.

That sounds like sweet music. These are measurable points affected by preboarding/onboarding that can be read directly on your company’s bottom line. However, only a few companies prioritize a good, well-planned preboarding/onboarding process. A Danish recruitment analysis from Ballisager shows this.

We asked three of our own employees, Mohamed Slimane, Catharina Brostrup, and Christian With, who have all worked at Emply for less than a year, about their thoughts and experiences during preboarding/onboarding. Here are their nine golden tips on how to give your new employees the best start, so that you can form a good working community with all your newcomers.

1. Get the contract in place before you start the preboarding. Make sure you have the formal foundation in place for recruiting a new employee, so you agree to the terms of employment. Perhaps you can shine with a bouquet of flowers or something else to celebrate the new employment at home.
   
   

2. Send (prepare) practical information immediately after the contract has been signed. It will give your future employee peace of mind to have a meeting time and place set in well before the job starts, so do not save it for the last minute. According to our employees, it can cause a new employee a lot of stress if the practical information is not in place, preferably a couple of weeks in advance.
   
   

3. Introduce the employee to the company. It is important for motivation to include the employee long before the start of the job. If you have any information or material that the employee could benefit from becoming familiar with in advance, make sure to send it – but remember not to overload your new colleague. See it as friendly preboarding “nudging” that can be beneficial for the onboarding while keeping the employee’s motivation alive.
   
   

4. Send invitations to social events and connect with the employee on LinkedIn. Remember to forward the invitation if you have a game night, Friday bar, or badminton tournament on your calendar before the employee starts work. It provides a sense of inclusion and the opportunity to meet new colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere. Meeting many new colleagues on your first day in the company can create anxiety for some people. This will ensure a smoother transition. If there are no upcoming social events, something as simple as a connection on LinkedIn can be encouraging. It shows that you have introduced the new employee to the other colleagues.
   
   

5. Have a computer, codes, and logins ready for the employee’s first day. In short, be prepared! The employee has been looking forward to starting the new job, so it is important that you make an effort to help your new colleague get off to a good start. It could be an introduction to systems, processes, and tools, how to register for a holiday, or apply for travel reimbursement. A cozy breakfast in the department/team or another social gathering will be a good icebreaker.
   
   

6. Give the employee a task overview. It is motivating for the new employee to see which tasks and areas of responsibility await at the new workplace. Find some tasks before the start of the job that the employee can quickly take ownership of and succeed in.
   
   

7. Welcome the new colleague with a buddy or mentor. Having an experienced colleague to rely on in the initial period can be advantageous. A buddy or a mentor can provide security and link departments and colleagues, contributing to better phasing-in, both professionally and socially. Remember that the buddy role must be self-elected and voluntary.
   
   

8. Prioritize 1:1 follow-up conversations. These conversations should preferably be weekly, but less frequent may also be sufficient. The most important thing is that the employee feels listened to and can give and receive feedback early in the employment period. Many things may preoccupy new employees early on: Am I learning the systems quickly enough? Am I creating value as anticipated by the employer? The earlier you manage to create an open and secure forum, the better. It will also give the employee a better sense of well-being later.
   
   

9. Evaluate and adjust your preboarding and onboarding processes – preferably often. Get feedback from your employee six months after hiring, so you can constantly adjust and adapt to the preboarding/onboarding. You should also keep an eye on whether any initiatives work particularly well for any employee or department. In that way, the process becomes relevant and appropriate for each new employee.

Get inspired to create great pre- and onboarding courses - download our webinar

Our webinar “Boost employee well-being and retention with a good pre- and onboarding process” offers you the opportunity to explore how to establish good processes that motivate your new employees right from the start, and you can learn more about how the Emply system supports this endeavor and can improve the processes by combining them with e-learning programs. NB. The webinar is in Danish.

Download webinar recording here