Has there ever been a more crucial time for leaders and managers to be involved in the onboarding of employees?
Welcoming new starters into your business during these unusual times requires an added layer of support from leaders. Leaders play a crucial role in engagement; they inspire their employees not just to execute their jobs well, but to find purpose within their roles. In fact, one McKinsey study shows that supporting employees accounts for 89% of overall leadership effectiveness. The most effective leaders take the time to get to know their employees and what makes them tick, and the best time to do this is during the onboarding process.
Whereas traditional onboarding is very admin-heavy and typically concerns only the HR department, expectations today are different. For an onboarding program to have a significant influence on engagement, retention and performance in the long-run, it needs leadership buy-in and involvement. Leaders are the ones who can build and demonstrate a culture of support and belonging within an organisation, but they need to walk the talk – starting with onboarding.
Below are three simple ways to involve your leaders in your onboarding program.
- Build relationships early on
Positive relationships are a key retention driver, so the earlier you can forge bonds between new starters and their leaders, the better.
Don’t wait until the new starter has arrived at work on their first day to introduce them to the leadership team. It’s good practice to encourage leaders and managers to reach out to new team members via social channels like LinkedIn or via onboarding software such as HROnboard before their first day. A simple message along the lines of, “We’re excited to have you as part of the team!” will go a long way in terms of motivation and excitement.
2. Personalised touches
Leading on from the above point, personalised touches make all the difference when settling someone in to a new – and often daunting – environment. So, when an employee has officially started in their new role, leaders and managers should take the time to personally welcome them and introduce themselves, either in-person or via workplace communication channels like Slack or Zoom.
Another idea is to provide the new starter with a welcome pack, containing personalised gifts, company merchandise, practical office equipment, and a signed letter from their manager or leadership team congratulating them on their new role.
3. Hold a welcome meeting with leaders and new starters
A simple way to get leaders involved in onboarding is to schedule a welcome meeting with the new starter and make it a mandatory element in the onboarding program. Depending on the size of your business, this may consist of an informal “get to know you” meeting between the business leader / leadership team, or it may be a group meeting involving multiple new starters, where the leadership team can share a bit about themselves and their involvement in the business. These meetings can also be a good time to bring the company’s employee handbook to life by communicating and demonstrating the business’ core values and mission. It’s also an opportunity for those involved to break the ice and share some fun facts or funny stories about themselves!
The more familiar and friendly a new starter feels towards their new leader(s), the more effective their onboarding journey will be, and the more likely they will stay with the company long-term.
HROnboard, an ELMO company offers a best-in-class software solution that reduces the amount of time HR teams and leaders spend securing the best candidates and undertaking the critical onboarding process for new hires. Our solution also helps manage internal employee role changes and can create a smooth and seamless process for exiting employees.
ELMO Software offers innovative cloud-based HR & payroll solutions to more than 1600 organisations across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, helping them to manage, engage, and inspire their people. Our solutions span the entire employee lifecycle, from ‘hire to retire’. This includes a comprehensive suite of complementary solutions that further enhance the onboarding experience, namely Recruitment, Learning Management, HR Core, Survey and Connect. For further information, contact us.