What New Hires Need from Your Onboarding
I was interested when she began telling me about the weeklong intensive training she and other new hires were currently undergoing. They were being trained for 8 hours a day for the roles—and that came with training sessions from other social work agencies as well.
What really kept my attention was what my aunt admitted: She neededthis training. Even after 20+ years in the field (most being in the same state as her new role because she moved back to her hometown), my aunt told me that she needed to be onboarded for this role and she doesn’t believe she could do her job efficiently without it.
Her employer will even offer monthly “refresher” training sessions to ensure the new hires have successfully acclimated to the workload and environment.
This, of course, led my always-seeking-a-story-idea brain to think about the importance of onboarding. A new role can be daunting for any one because although you’ve successfully completed the interview process and know you have the necessary skills, employers still have expectations after filling a role—and no new hire wants to let his/her employer down.
You want to do a good job, but many times your “success” in a position is also affected by outside factors.
You have:
Your boss—what are his/her expectations for the role? Does your boss like things done one way and your preferred working style is another?
Your co-workers/team—will you fit in with the team? Can you work well with your co-workers and vice versa to complete tasks? Do your preferred communication and work styles differ from the team’s?
Your working environment—how is the space you’ve been given to work in? Is it what you’re used to or does it require some adjustments and can possibly make getting your work done a challenge?
With so many different things affecting a new hire’s success, it comes as no surprise that a new worker would desire a little extra help getting on board.
According to a BambooHR survey, 76 percent of job seekers polled agreed that receiving on-the-job training is the most important component of a new employee getting up to speed and beginning to contribute quickly.
LinkedIn’s Talent Blog posted a BambooHR infographic that not only included more data from the survey but insights into the many other things people really want from onboarding.
According to the infographic, besides job training, during the first week new hires want:
- Review of company policies (73%)
- Company tour, equipment setup & procedure (59%)
- Having a buddy or mentor (59%)
Another interesting and important point the infographic reveals about onboarding is who new employees desire to help them. Around one-third, or 33.23 percent, of new hires want their managers to show them the ropes, the infographic says—not HR.
Imagine why a new hire would prefer his/her immediate boss explaining how things are done versus an HR associate; the new employee will be under the manager’s care, direction and authority. If a manager explains the process to a new worker, he or she will likely explain 1) how the manager likes and/or wants the work done and 2) how the manager expects the work to be completed or the position to function.
New hires aren’t seeking to please HR; they want the “job well done” from their supervisors. So, if the time permits in a manager’s schedule, who better to show a new worker the ropes than the one he/she has to report to?
My aunt told me that her job will offer monthly “refresher” training courses once onboarding has ended. This approach to onboarding falls in line with the infographic data as it says employers should be onboarding new employees for the first three months.
Take heed to the areas this infographic (and other resources) explains are most important to new hires when examining your onboarding process as the infographic notes that 45 percent of HR believes that more than $10,000/year is wasted on ineffective onboarding.