In 2018, successfully onboarding a new employee requires more than a quick tour and an email login. Considering that nearly 60% of new employees are more likely to stay with a company long-term if they are treated to a positive introduction, employee onboarding is a critical step in employee retention—and the process starts well before the employee’s first day in the office.
So, what makes for effective onboarding? It’s a combination things, including a proactive mindset and the integration of useful digital applications. It requires FMs to put themselves in the shoes of their new recruits and think critically about what they’ll need to succeed. This can range from practical assets, like a desk and password for the intranet, to more informative assets, like information on parking regulations and dress code. Additionally, if you operate in a large, multi-story office building, consider implementing wayfinding software—new employees have enough to think about without worrying about finding their new desk.
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It’s important to understand that the onboarding process begins from the moment you send a candidate a job offer. First impressions count, after all, so you want to make sure your putting your company’s best foot forward, without weighing yourself down with tedious admin tasks. By adopting a data-driven mindset, facility managers can streamline the entire production to ensure the process is professional without being time consuming.
The first step to streamlining your onboarding process is to prepare an onboarding checklist. This checklist will ensure the whole experience is adequately structured, and will benefit FMs as much as employees, as it will help you to keep track of all required aspects of recruitment.
An onboarding checklist can contain everything that pertains to a new employee, including the signing and submitting of documents, a list of the particular team members you need to schedule meetings with and the specific training the employee will get.
If you’re in need of a reliable application to onboard new employees, Trello is a visual collaboration platform that gives teams perspective on projects. More importantly, it allows FMs to create easy-to-understand onboarding checklists.
Setting up electronic signatures is a simple way to speed things up throughout the onboarding process. Instead of waiting on physical documents to be signed and delivered, new employees can place their digital signature on whatever you need and return it via email.
Many online applications also allow for identical copies to be sent to multiple sources. This way, everyone involved can keep up with what is going on. HelloSign, a leading free eSignature platform, is a great example of this application. It’s a great way to help you coordinate what is traditionally a time-intensive job.
Signatures aren’t the only thing you can request electronically. By making all onboarding forms available online, your new employee will have a much easier time submitting their personal information for company profiles. In turn, this will save you the trouble of tracking down various details on multiple paper files.
While you’re at it, feel free to include a “Welcome to the Team” email that incorporates any additional materials you think are appropriate, such as company videos and answers to FAQs. You can also communicate office procedures new employees should be aware of, such as passwords to use the photocopier or the policy for fire drills. Advanced facilities management software will even allow you to create and store an onboarding email template, which could include a link to a new employee’s desk location (via the Visual Directory feature), allowing them to quickly and easily navigate their way to their seat.
When a new employee arrives at your office to start their first day of work, you want to make sure you have already allocated them a desk and organized any equipment they will need. Similarly, you need to make sure you have thought critically about which desk should be assigned to them. Before an employee’s first day, take time to consider the team they will be joining, who they will need to be in close proximity to and what tools they will need to perform their job. Software that allows you to visualize the office layout will ensure that your seating decisions are backed by data.
The onboarding process should make both your life and the life of the new employee infinitely easier. By streamlining your office’s process, you won’t only set yourself up for success, but also your new staff members. Save time on these tedious tasks by employing these various automated and data-driven processes that will help ensure new hires become loyal, long-term team members.
Onboarding isn’t the only thing you should try to streamline. Learn what five systems all facility managers should be automating
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