Tuesday 6 May 2014

Getting New Staff "On Board" From The Start

I've just heard from a friend about an interesting event in their company. Two new staff were hired as business was growing.   

Great. 

What was interesting was that neither my friend nor his colleagues seemed to know:
  • The names of the new staff;
  • What they were actually going to do;
  • Who would be responsible for "onboarding" them. 
  • This was bad for those already working at the company, but what about for the staff joining?  

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and I can only imagine how the newcomers must have felt.  Questions that they must have been asking would have been:
  • Have I joined the right organisation?
  • Why hasn’t anyone been briefed?
  • What do they actually want me to do?
  • Whom should I ask?
  • Who will teach me?
  • Onboarding is the most important stage in a team member’s career with your business.  Many people tend to think that things end once the job offer has been made and accepted, but this is where the real work actually starts. Why waste the effort after you’ve:
  • Spent time and money recruiting?
  • Make them feel they made the right choice during the interview?

To make sure that onboarding is as successful as it can be, make sure that:
  • They have a Job Description ready for them (this should in fact be ready at the interview stage);
  • Their new manager/team leader (if they haven’t been present at the interview) knows who’s coming, when, and what they’re going to do;
  • The manager/team leader briefs the team about who’s coming, when and what they’re going to do;
  • The interviewer welcomes the new arrival on their first day and takes them straight to their manager/team leader;
  • The manager/team leader introduces them to all with whom they’ll be working;
  • Someone is accountable for their first 2 weeks (this may be the supervisor/manager);
  • Someone is accountable for their TRAINING for the first 90 days (again, this could be the manager/supervisor or a colleague);
  • Any identification cards, logon passwords and email addresses necessary have been set up;
  • You follow up periodically (every week at least) to see how they’re doing.


“Probation” periods usually last for 3 months, but some employers forget that their business is just as much “on probation” with the newcomer as the newcomer is with them.  

I’ve heard others say “Newcomers should use their initiative” or “We can’t spoon feed them from day one.”  This means “We can’t be bothered now that they’ve signed on.”  

Given that they’re supposed to be your business’ most important asset, wouldn’t you want to make sure that they’re up to speed as soon as possible, and that they’re happy and productive, earning your business more money?

If you don’t get the above right, you’ve failed your probation with them and they’ll be heading for the exit as soon as they find something better.

And then you have to start the whole expensive process all over again whilst thinking “They obviously weren’t suitable to work here...”  



I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own Performance Management Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

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posted by William Martin @ 09:36

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