INDIVIDUALLY – ONBOARDING – INDIVIDUALS

HOW TO INDIVIDUALLY ONBOARD INDIVIDUALS

 

Creating a long-lasting relationship with an employee begins with “treating the relationship with the long-term in mind.” Every employee has a unique background, experience, and story, and it’s important to take their needs into consideration during the onboarding process. This means taking the initiative to care more about the onboarding and assimilation process than you did before. It also means starting this process even before day one of each individual’s employment.

 

 

BEFORE DAY ONE

 

“Don’t mistake onboarding for orientation; done right, onboarding starts before a new employee’s first day and can last for several months,” said Ryan Paugh, COO of the Community Company.

 

It’s important to be prepared for the employee’s first day. For example, the employee’s workstation should be equipped and organized before day one. If you are fumbling around for passwords or downloading necessary software on the first day, you will waste crucial time that could be used in integrating the new employee into the company and company culture.

 

Creating a 30, 60, and 90-day learning plan that lays out the tools, skills, and tasks that your new hire will need to learn over their first 90 days will set an individual up for future success.

 

In addition, your team should be prepared for the new employee by knowing his or her name, title, job description, reporting supervisor, and start date. This information is key so that others in your organization are prepared for receiving the new employee.

 

BEST PRACTICES

 

Every business has its ownapproach when it comes to onboarding as some are very systematic and others are much more informal; however; a formal onboarding processis much more effective than an informal process, according to SHRM(the Society for Human Resource Management).

 

The Four C’s

Whether the process is formal or informal, a successful SHRM onboarding process will promote four distinct levels. The first two are preliminary steps to the process.

 

• Compliance includes teaching employees basic legal and policy-related rules and regulations.

 

• Clarification refers to an employee’s understanding of his or her job and all related expectations.

 

After an employee understands the first two levels, the process of incorporating a new employee into the company is not yet over. The next two levels of the The Four C’s include that essential element.

 

• Culture includes providing employees with a sense of organizational norms – both formal and informal.

 

• Connection refers to the vital interpersonal relationships and information networks that new employees must establish.

 

Most organizations address compliance and clarification during their formal onboarding processes; however, it’s common for culture and connection to be less established within an employee’s onboarding process.

 

“How you start is usually how you finish. If you start someone right and they understand everything, then you’re setting yourself up for a great relationship,” Colin Wetlaufer, CITY’s president, said.

 

MAKING THE TRANSITION

 

Cultural fit should factor into a hiring decision, but that doesn’t mean attention to culture can end there. Once new employees complete their orientation, they can jump right into the workplace and are “one with the team.”

 

“It isn’t just about onboarding people, it’s also about assimilation,” Wetlaufer said. “It’s about making sure someone is truly part of the culture and asking ‘how can we really make someone feel a part of this company.’”

 

TIPS TO AID ASSIMILATION

 

As a business in the uniform industry, CITY plays a role in helping thousands of companies’ onboard their new hires each year. From this experience, here are key points we have found to successfully integrate new hires into your workplace.

 

Make it Personal

An organization can learn a lot about a new hire from the interview process, but taking the time to learn even more about a new employee is fundamental to ensure employee retention and individual growth. The more you know about an employee (their values, beliefs, work ethic, and more), the better you can help them adapt.

 

Provide a Mentor

Organizations can help new hires by providing them with someone to reach out to for assistance. An experienced employee can help a new hire to understand their responsibilities, learn more about the company, and how to grow into their current position. New employees can also better assimilate into the company culture when given knowledgeable direction and support. In fact, according to a survey conducted by River Software, 83 percent of its clients said that their mentoring experience positively influenced their desire to stay at their organization.

 

“We like to set new employees up with veteran employees who really work the CITY culture and values everyday,” Corey Ruff, CITY’s service manager said. “We try to train new employees with people that are at the highest level of our values and know what we expect on a daily basis.”

 

Create Accountability

HR isn’t the only department that has a role in onboarding a new employee. Management must also be held accountable for effectively onboarding employees. Managers provide valuable coaching, feedback, and recognition for employees. These components help build a relationship with employees and show that the manager truly cares.

 

Check in on Progress

It’s important for human resources to check in after 30 days to see how the employee is doing. Are they comfortable, happy and engaged? Employees that are happy with their work means higher productivity and retention. It’s also important to keep checking in periodically to ensure everything is still going smoothly.

 

“We always ask our employees how they are doing to get that feedback,”Ruff said. “We ask things like, ‘What do you need help with?’ or ‘What do we need to do to make you successful in this position?’ It all comes back to communication.”

 

Provide Essential Resources

In order to expect an employee to do their job and to be successful, they need the right tools. The right tools can include simple things such as providing a salesperson with a company cell phone or giving a customer service representative a comfortable headset and desk space. But the right tools can also mean providing sufficient support and training, which includes an effective onboarding process.

 

Look and Feel The Part

One of the easiest ways to help new hires feel part of the team is to quickly provide them with a properly fitted uniform. New employees won’t stick out from others when they look just like the rest of the team, which helps create a sense of unity and promotes team spirit. In turn, when employees feel part of the team, they report a higher sense of job satisfaction and are more productive.

 

THE IMPACT OF UNIFORMS

 

A new employee at your business will quickly feel part of your team when they are put in a properly fitted and compliant uniform quickly. With our on time, work order fulfillment capabilities, CITY helps increase morale and productivity, which helps each business’s bottom line.

 

How Uniforms Improve Morale

Uniforms help build a business culture that prides itself in its work. Employees feel compelled to do and be at their best when representing their company while in uniform.

 

“Uniforms put everyone on the same page,” CITY President, Colin Wetlaufer, said. “This promotes a positive employee culture and a sense of accountability.”

 

Depending on the career, once you have taken all aspects of a uniform into consideration (style, comfort, safety, and feedback), it may be much simpler to have this decision predetermined each morning with a uniform program.

 

Furthermore, a uniform program eliminates ambiguity in what is considered appropriate because employees always know what they are supposed to wear.

Uniforms eliminate the need for employees to fill their closets with appropriate clothing, which can be costly. Employees are also more confident when they feel equal to one another

 

A clean, comfortable, and safe uniform helps employees start the day off on the right foot and in the right mood. And when employees are in a positive mood, this directly affects their morale and productivity.

 

 

How Uniforms Increase Productivity

Every day, there are supervisors, managers, and owners who look at their current business function and wonder what they can do to improve their overall productivity.

 

One way to improve productivity is to eliminate the time spent on unnecessary tasks. For example, when employees and employers aren’t worried about work wear, they can focus more at the job at hand. They also have a more professional mindset when in uniform, improving their focus.

 

Employee safety is also something that management has to keep in mind. Appropriate uniforms, such as those that are flame resistant and are high-visibility, keep employees safe and your business compliant.

 

With a quick new employee uniform fulfillment rate, employees can get to work quicker without any safety limitations.

 

How Uniforms Affect the Business Overall

By properly planning, executing and onboarding your new employees, it helps retain employees down the road.  According to Medium.com, the price of not onboarding your new hire properly, could easily reach a cost of $100,000.

 

Replacing a team member can be an expensive task and losing any personnel could also affect the company culture. It is beneficial to adopt better onboarding practices to improve business expenditures of such processes.

 

IN CONCLUSION

 

By making employees feel important to your organization and showing that you truly care about their success, you will have a better chance of building a team of ‘lifers’.

 

As a uniform partner, CITY strives to maintain its high, new employee uniform fulfillment rate so this is one more thing you can count on. A uniform can make the difference in a successful “onboard,” and we are here to help, even before day one.

 

To learn more about how CITY can help your onboarding process, contact us here.