All Aboard! Kicking the Year With a Successful Onboarding.

2020 was one of a kind. We found ourselves navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, fighting systemic issues, and reprioritizing what seemed like every part of our lives (family, health, finances, and more). Specifically in the business realm, most companies had to pivot to a virtual environment and readjust to meet the various needs of their employees. While much has changed, one thing that has remained the same is the importance of successful onboarding for new employees. As we enter into a new year, with still so much to learn, here are my top three suggestions for a meaningful onboarding experience in 2021:

1. Encourage internal networking at your organization. Reflect on the helpful resources and meetings that provided you with more context about your role, as well as the unwritten work culture expectations. Beyond access to tactical tools and understanding policies and procedures, introduce your employee to key leaders and influencers they should know to support each other's work. Be thoughtful about how you introduce them to the team, both virtually and in-person, by highlighting their experience, accomplishments, and, most importantly, their why and how it connects with the organization’s collective work. Also, share the most effective ways to communicate with leaders within the organization. Some leaders prefer emails with key bullets, others prefer an email followed up with a call or face-to-face meeting. This intentionality shortens the learning curve for new employees, fosters community with decision makers, and demonstrates the level of investment in setting your team up for success.

2. Plan out realistic and measurable goals. You should develop a 30-60-90 day plan with consistent check-ins and feedback that hold both you and your employee accountable to meet short and long-term goals with milestone wins in between. In your meetings, ensure there is a mutual agreement on what success looks like and how their work aligns with the organization's values and vision. This creates more focus and productivity, while also helping to avoid assumptions that can lead to gaps and mistakes. It also shows a collective effort to achieve success.

3. Foster a culture of communication that challenges and champions your employees’ work. The makeup of your team should bring unique skills, experiences, and talents to maximize performance and increase perspective. Building a healthy team rapport happens not only during team meetings, but also through discussions, group lunches, and social activities, providing team members with an opportunity to learn about their colleagues on a personal level and understand them as human beings. This effort makes all shout-outs, acknowledgements, and critical feedback authentic, knowing that their best interests are considered for their personal growth — that is not transactional. It also provides more context to show empathy when supporting your team’s work-life balance.

No onboarding is perfect; however, being thoughtful about the process sets a tone of cultural values that are invested in employees’ performance, development, satisfaction, and ultimately retention. Being intentional with your organization’s onboarding practice has the power to lead to a more sustainable organization. At the end of the day, reflection and communication are key to understanding each other's needs for successful onboarding.