Always Be Onboarding: Strategies for Hiring, Engaging, and Retaining Top Talent

Lori Cole (00:05):

Well, it’s great to have everybody here today. Thank you so much for joining us today. I’m Lori Cole. I’m the Brand Ambassador and Career Advisor and Content Creator here at iHire, and I’m excited to be your host today. Welcome to our webinar, Always Be Onboarding: Strategies for Hiring, Engaging, and Retaining Top Talent. We’ve got some great insights coming your way today. Before we get going, let me give you a quick tour of our webinar platform. Some of you have already found the widgets that are on your screen. These are some really cool features at your fingertips. Feel free to move and resize the windows and be sure that you check out the content related to today’s presentation. We have a bio widget, we have an appointment widget, we have an ask a question widget, and that’s the one I want you to pay the most attention to.

(01:06):

Anytime that you think of a question during this presentation, please put it in that ask a question widget, not the attendee chat but the question widget because we’ll be collecting those questions over the course of the webinar and we’re going to try to answer as many as we can afterwards. Also, don’t worry if you miss anything today. We’re going to send you a recording of this webinar straight to your inbox tomorrow, so that is perfect for a recap or to share with your team and for our HR pros out there, you’re going to earn one credit today for SHRM and HRCI recertification, so it’s always nice to mix this learning with a little bit of professional recertification credits, right?

Vickie Krolak (01:58):

Yes.

Lori Cole (01:59):

Alright, let’s get this show on the road here. Our presenters today are Vickie Krolak and she is a senior human partner, I’m sorry, Senior Human Resource Business Partner here at iHire. Vickie has over two decades of experience in HR accounting and office administrating, and Vickie is just passionate about employee engagement, recruitment, training and development. In addition to being a member of National SHRM, she’s also the mid Florida SHRM chapter President elect. So welcome Vickie. So great to have you.

Vickie Krolak (02:44):

Thank you Lori. Happy to be here.

Lori Cole (02:46):

Then we have Heather Gonzales, Heather oversees iHire’s mid-market sales team and works with our ad agencies, RPO and staffing recruiting where she helps these employers fill key positions for their organizations. Heather leverages years of experience in management and customer success and she has been an iHire rock star since 2001. I still remember your first day, Heather,

Vickie Krolak (03:18):

Me too.

Lori Cole (03:20):

And she has dedicated the last 20 years to full-time sales in addition to customer service and management. So Heather, great to have you here and thank you both for being here today.

Heather Gonzales (03:35):

Excited to be here. Thanks, Lori.

Lori Cole (03:37):

Thanks, Lori. Let’s start with a quick poll. What is the biggest challenge your organization faces during the onboarding process? Keeping new hires engaged throughout the process, preparing effective and engaging training materials, difficulty integrating new employees into the company culture, ensuring that you cover everything with your new hire and what they need in a short period of time. That’s always a challenge, knowing when onboarding should start and end and successful successfully onboarding remote employees. So while you’re answering that survey, we’re going to ask Vickie if she would give us a quick roadmap of what we’ll be covering today.

Vickie Krolak (04:29):

Thanks, Lori. Yes, so data shows that companies with effective onboarding processes see up to a 2.5 times more revenue growth and 1.9 times higher profit margins compared to those that have a poor onboarding experience. Having a negative onboarding experience can make the new hire twice as likely to look for another job directly increasing your turnover costs, which can be up to anywhere from 50 to 200% of that employee’s annual first year annual salary, and also it causes hardship on recruiting and training to that new employee. What goes into positive onboarding experience? You may ask yourself? Well, today we’re going to discuss the importance of effective onboarding and how it differs from orientation strategies for pre-onboarding, that first day and ongoing support ever boarding, which is a benefit for retention and engagement, and then tips on how to personalize your onboarding experience using technologies and other of successful measurements.

Lori Cole (05:38):

Wow, 50 to 200% of the employees salary for turnover. That’s a huge number.

Vickie Krolak (05:47):

Yeah, time. I mean the time that it takes to fill the role and the time that goes empty, it does cause some hardships on the team’s morale and the company.

Lori Cole (05:56):

Yeah, I was just going to say team morale could suffer with that too because they’re all excited. They’ve got a new team member and now we’ve got to start over. So I’m intrigued with this ever boarding concept. I really want to know about that a little bit more. So let’s look at our poll results here. Alright. All right. It looks like some companies face challenges in different areas, so we’re hopefully going to cover all of these areas for you today. So if you’re having problems in those challenges in those areas, we’re going to tell you how to solve them. So Heather, let’s start by asking you to break down the difference between onboarding and new employee orientation.

Heather Gonzales (06:46):

Happy to. Lori. Orientation is more like a one-time event. Typically it lasts a few hours or maybe a day and it introduces new hires to things like company policies, procedures, basic logistics, for example, things like paperwork, office tours. It’s just one step within the larger onboarding process, whereas onboarding on the other hand, is a comprehensive long-term process that helps new employees acclimate to their role, their team and the company culture, often lasting weeks or months. It includes training, goal setting and ongoing support. Some goals of successful onboarding processes, help new hires understand their roles and expectations of course, but also build connections with colleagues and integrate into the company. Culture is very important. Equipping employees with the necessary tools and resources to perform their jobs, fostering engagement and a sense of belonging from the start. Some things that we like to do here at iHire, we love to have them meet with their two, I can’t talk, we love to have ‘em meet with their new teammates the first day along with other teams managers and even our SLT or senior leadership pops in to say hello in the first weeks of employment. We call these meet and greets, it’s a lot of fun. Senior leaders taking time out of their day to meet with new hires has had a huge impact on them in their first weeks of employment. I hear comments frequently on this from new hires. Another goal is to reduce time to productivity and improve long-term retention. So now that we’ve laid the foundation for onboarding, let’s dive into the key components of creating a positive experience at each stage.

Lori Cole (08:38):

That sounds great Heather. And before this webinar, I didn’t even know there was a difference between onboarding and orientation. I would be curious to hear from our attendees, get your emoji widget ready. You can use your thumbs up emoji and let us know how many of you have a separate process for onboarding versus orientation. We’ll give it just a second here for those emojis to start going.

Vickie Krolak (09:12):

Hopefully

Lori Cole (09:13):

Do.

Vickie Krolak (09:14):

Yeah, somebody does. At the end of this, Lori, is they’re calling it new hire orientation now and then onboarding is just beyond that as we’re going to talk about here in a minute.

Lori Cole (09:23):

Yeah, here they come. Here we go. I see ‘em go in here. That’s great. Somebody’s

Heather Gonzales (09:28):

Like, wow.

Lori Cole (09:33):

Alright. Pre-boarding is a super important stage because it kicks off the whole onboarding process. So Vickie, what are some of the things that you and your customers have found to be successful in starting to connect and engage new employees before they even walk through the door?

Vickie Krolak (09:54):

Yeah, good question Lori. And it really is about that candidate experience coming into your company. So some of those steps I would say is with that pre-boarding communication, and this is a really important, it’s going to set that positive tone, easing that employee’s anxieties and fostering their excitement about their first day. It demonstrates to the employers organized and invested in their success and this can boost the engagement and retention from the onset of employment. Examples of those first pre-first day communications include a welcome email, a friendly message from the hiring manager and or HR welcoming them to the team and I actually recommend that this happens right after the acceptance that the hiring manager reaches out and welcomes and congratulates them on their new role, a first day agenda. And even beyond that, depending on the role that person’s coming into, it may be a multi-day agenda.

(10:49):

As they get acclimated in that first week, it’s going to outline their first day, maybe their first couple days, any meetings, introductions and lunch plans, and possibly any trainings they need to accomplish in that first week. These team introductions are important. They’re a brief introduction to those key team members. Then they can meet either virtual or in person before day one. Important documents you can send ahead of time. Many of the HRS systems and payroll systems, now you can send that paperwork such as tax forms, direct deposits, emergency contacts, I nines, all those forms can be completed somewhat in advance. Logistics like when they’re going to start, what time they need to show up to work on first day, what their work week schedule looks like, any dress codes that you have implemented if you’re onsite where they need to park, and then how to enter into the office.

(11:47):

Some offices have security systems, front desk still, anything like that they need to know in advance. You’ll want to start these as I mentioned earlier, but as soon as that new hire starts or accepts the offer, first I would start with a welcome email. As I mentioned from the hiring manager, this is a really important step. If you don’t already have a new hire checklist for your HR team or for the hiring manager, the hiring manager is going to have certain steps they’re going to need to take as well in addition to HR and onboarding. And I suggest if you don’t have one of these, you look into creating one new information. They may need to know, I think I covered this already, but what time they derive and who they’re going to meet with, who’s going to greet them expectations on that first day when they’re going to have their new hire orientation with HR, if there’s any others they need to be meeting with, have that lined out for them. Any information tools and resources they might be using, computer systems software and then how they can connect to their new manager and HR should they have questions in that first week.

Lori Cole (12:56):

I think it’s just smart to engage these folks before their first day because you’re setting that expectation for the first day and it just helps everybody get off on the right foot.

Vickie Krolak (13:09):

Absolutely. Equally important is the communication. Having that well-prepared workspace which demonstrates professionalism, helps them get started to be productive from that very first day. Having those tools ready such as their laptop login information, this is going to help with company values, efficiencies, and it also shows them you have a straight steam. I cannot talk to either Heather, a seamless transition into your company if they do have a workstation set up in the office or a cubicle or an office, make sure they have their computer, they need their phones. Everything set up before the new hire arrives that first day. Even if you need to test the equipment, coordinate with your IT team, stack the new hire’s desk with supplies, pens, notebooks, headsets, and I really like the idea of a welcome note and possibly if you can, a handwritten one. This is something that I’ve received in the past and it’s really wonderful to have that warm welcome from the team, handwritten out and who people are maybe some swag that’s always appreciated.

(14:20):

Like I said, test the equipment, make sure everything’s working for remote employees. You’re going to want to make sure that you send that equipment in advance with all the instructions they need on how to get started, how to get set up. Even may need to coordinate with your IT team before they have their very first meeting to get that equipment set up and log in properly. You may need to tailor your process depending on the role and the location of the individual, but this is really going to help you make that new hire feel welcome to the team and to the company.

Lori Cole (14:51):

I love your idea of the handwritten note. I think that that would just really mean a lot to somebody because nobody gets handwritten notes anymore or even a card. Yeah, and doing all these things will really make it look like you and the company have your act together. If somebody comes into that organized desk and they turn on their computer and it works the first minute they’re there, that’s magic.

Vickie Krolak (15:23):

Yeah. Even if they’re remote, you can send it in the mail in advance to them. Starting I think is really

Lori Cole (15:28):

Nice. Absolutely true. So the big day, the first day is finally here and this experience can really shape how engaged in loyal employees feel in the long run. So Heather, give us some tips on how to make a new hire’s first day super memorable and positive and productive.

Heather Gonzales (15:49):

Sure. Happy to do that Lori. My favorite day of onboarding is the first day. It’s kind of tied with the last day of the first week as well, but I’ll talk more about that later. I love meeting new hires. Earlier you talked about that handwritten note, A warm welcome on day one definitely helps the new hires feel valued. So that note can definitely do that. I really love that you do that in the pre-boarding too. It reduces their first day anxiety boosts their confidence and their engagement. It sets the tone for a positive work experience, which can impact their long-term commitment to the company. Also ensure that the new hire meets their immediate team members and key colleagues. We talked about this earlier with the meet and greet. You can have a brief round of introductions during a morning team huddle or meeting if you have a virtual team.

(16:42):

You can establish early connections that way as well by having everybody jump on a quick meeting in Zoom or whatever software you use, teams, whatever it is just to welcome ‘em, say hello, glad you’re here. That kind of thing. Share key elements of the company’s mission, values and culture. Super important for them to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing. What is it that their role is going to contribute to. This can include things like explaining the norms, communication styles, team rituals, things like weekly check-ins and social events helps. Some examples of first day activities for new hires can include the welcome meeting. As we mentioned, the hiring manager or HR can greet the new hire in person or virtually providing a brief overview of the day. You can do an office tour, show them around the workspace, pointing out key areas like restrooms, break rooms, meeting spaces.

(17:37):

I’ve even heard of things for virtual employers or remote employers where they have a new virtual office tour. So something to look into. I’m going to check it out for sure. The team lunches are fun. Arrange a lunch with the new hires team to foster early connections. You can also do something like this virtually by sending a lunch gift card and meeting with the one-on-one with manager. If you have the ability meet with the whole team virtually for lunch or do a get to know you session with the team. You can also do a buddy system, a mentorship. Sometimes we call it peer buddy pair, the new hire with a colleague to help guide them through the day and answer questions other than their manager. It’s nice to have that ability to have someone else to reach out to. We at iHire like to pair them not only with someone on their own team for questions within our sales department, but also appear on another team to allow for cross-functional knowledge sharing and enhance understanding of the company. We’ve done things like role-playing call reviews, call shadowing in our sales team that have been quite effective and created excellent engagement from team members. Another fun thing is a welcome kit. Provide a small gift such as a company, branded items or personal note from the team as well to say hello.

Vickie Krolak (18:57):

I was going to add Heather. Go ahead Lori. No, please go ahead. I was going to add in that if you have the opportunity, if you have a company event coming up, I do recommend inviting them to that. Whether it’s an all hands love that remote party or in-person happy hour, something like that really does off the bat start them off to feel welcome. How am I even officially onboard yet? But you’ve invited me to this company event. It’s really nice.

Heather Gonzales (19:25):

I love that. That’s fun.

Lori Cole (19:27):

And I like what you said about the all hands meetings. We have all hands meetings every three months and I love it when a new person can attend because they really get a great snapshot of what’s going on in all of the different departments and I think it’s highly motivational and it gets somebody excited about, ah, we’re all on the same page and this is our, we’re all working towards the same mission here, so that’s great.

(19:58):

I also want to reiterate, please do something for lunch for them. That first day it is so awkward for a new person to know to see that on their schedule. Well, I’ve got lunch at noon, but I don’t know what people typically do. Do I bring my lunch, let them know in a pre-boarding note, Hey, we want to take you to lunch that first day or we want to send you a card and we’ll have a virtual lunch with you that day and just either the manager or the team or somebody should be assigned to do that because that first day is so important and you don’t want them to be just standing there. Well, I have an hour, what am I going to do? Lori, one

Vickie Krolak (20:46):

Time give a first impression, right?

Heather Gonzales (20:48):

Yeah, and that’s such a good point. And depending on how you do it with your company, if it’s considered a working lunch type of thing, we’ve had fun with doing that lunch hour and then the last day of the week. So here I am to that last day. My favorite is giving them that extra hour to leave early on that first Friday. Hey, you’ve put in your 40 hours, it’s time to go have a great, you’ve done a great job. And that’s always been one of my favorite things to do when we do that lunch together as a team. We consider it a working lunch.

Lori Cole (21:19):

Show ‘em the cool things about flex time.

Heather Gonzales (21:21):

Yes, exactly how great it is.

Lori Cole (21:25):

What else is important for us to know on the first day? Heather?

Heather Gonzales (21:28):

Good question. So information, the new hire is going to want to know on their first day is important. Their schedule is super important for the day and any upcoming training sessions or meetings, for example, we have a document in place outlining the whole week and then as the managers, we send them the daily schedule showing what they’re going to do each day, that first week, how to access key systems like email, software, things like that. Practical details like how to use office equipment, who to contact for help and expectations for breaks or lunch. Lastly, provide the first assignment, give the new hire a simple low pressure task or project to help them start contributing and get a feel for the work environment. You’ll help make the new hire feel supported and part of the team from the very start, and that’s going to enhance both job satisfaction and loyalty, but it doesn’t end there.

Lori Cole (22:23):

Well, before we go on to the next slide, I want to say that I really like the idea of somebody completing a task on that first day that would make them feel productive and just make them feel successful right off the bat. The other thing I want to add is I think it’s important to have a resource page with links and phone numbers so they know where to find information about the company, like hr it. If something is wrong with your equipment, they’ve got to know who to contact. And maybe even a link to the org chart would be helpful because you start to throw people in meetings with people they don’t know and it would be great to have a visual of who’s in that meeting, the departments, their titles so that they can start feeling a part of the group already and not this outsider in the first week.

Heather Gonzales (23:22):

I couldn’t agree more, Lori, that we include links in our document that we send out, but we have things like the wiki, we have Microsoft planner that we love. They can kind of check off what they’ve been doing so you can keep on track with them. So I couldn’t agree more. Great point.

Vickie Krolak (23:37):

Yeah. Any company lingo you use too, I would

Heather Gonzales (23:39):

Say. Oh yeah,

Vickie Krolak (23:40):

Just acronyms.

Heather Gonzales (23:41):

Acronyms, yes, definitely. Very

Vickie Krolak (23:46):

Definitely. Like the idea, Lori, about the org chart and having them be able to reference back to it because depending on your size of your organization, that can be overwhelming and intimidating that first day. And I often joke when I do new hire orientation, like there’ll be a quiz at the end and I’m like, I’m just kidding. This is a lot to take in. It’s like drinking from the virus.

Lori Cole (24:04):

Oh goodness. So we’ve made it through day one, but we’re just getting started with these new folks. This is where we can really start seeing a boost in their engagement and their productivity. So Vickie, how do you recommend keeping that day one momentum going?

Vickie Krolak (24:23):

Yes, Lori. That first week is really important and it sets the foundation for that employee’s long-term success and engagement with your organization. Ongoing efforts to make the new hire feel welcome is going to help reduce turnover, increase job satisfaction and help that employee become productive faster. Continuous communications and support give them opportunities to connect with their colleagues is another key item to remember. New hires are going to want to be engaged beyond their first day. For example, schedule daily check-ins, have them manager or HR or both touch base with them to make sure they feel that they are welcomed and supported, especially if you have any remote roles. This is very critical. I think it’s almost even more challenging when you have a remote employee because you can’t pop around the corner and say hello around the cubicle or in their office. They’re kind of out there on an island, so you want to make sure that they feel supported.

(25:21):

A team lunch, I can’t tell you how many times we’re going to mention this today. It’s really important to have that informal opportunity to get to know and bond with that new hire and have them bond with the team and the manager, if you haven’t already, Heather mentioned assign that buddy, help them start building a relationship. They can start navigating their first week or even three months. I’ve seen this very successful. I’ve seen buddies that have matched up that still scheduled a monthly lunch meeting to get together and chat. They really sets that foundation for a good, strong relationship and it’s going to help them stay engaged if they have that person that they can go to and help them answer any questions and help them get acclimated to the team, ensure that you have structured training and role specific resources in place. Structured trainings, going to help that new hire learn their responsibilities.

(26:14):

It’s going to help them stay organized, give them a clear path. You can give them things like manuals, tools, software tutorials. It’s going to help them feel well equipped and succeed in their role. And then beyond that check-in that first few days or first few weeks, schedule regular reoccurring one-on-ones to help track that new hire and their progress address any concerns that they may have. Provide both and constructive feedback. These sessions are going to show ongoing support to help that employee track their goals and stay on track. Lastly, it’s important to have a formal job description that clearly define responsibilities and performance expectations early on. Setting short-term goals is going to help that employee have a sense of purpose. It’s going to give them some direction in that first few days and beyond. And then I like having a 90 day or three month roadmap for that employee so they can see beyond and understanding the expectations of where they need to be.

(27:22):

You may need to make some adjustments if they’re getting up to speed rather quickly or if it’s taken a little bit longer, you can make that adjustment to help them and give them that feedback. When they do well, recognize them and when they need some constructive feedback, you can give that too. It’s really going to, like I said, reinforce your expectations and help their overall success. And as we know, keeping the employee engaged beyond that first week can often sometimes be a challenge. So you want to make sure that they really have that expectations laid out.

Lori Cole (27:53):

You said something about bonding with the people in your team. I know that there’s all sorts of studies out there and articles about if you have a best friend at work that really makes a difference in your attitude towards work. I know that we can all think of BFFs we’ve had at work and even in our past jobs. Those are some of my best friends still

(28:22):

That people that you keep in touch with, that you’ve worked with in the past, that can be so important. And Heather, you had mentioned that 90 day or you had mentioned using Microsoft Planner and what I used to do for customer success is put everything, their whole 90 day roadmap in that planner and that helped me so much on guiding our one-on-ones because we both had access to it, they were checking things off as they went and I didn’t feel like I was micromanaging them. They kind of knew what the expectations were and the next things on the list and they could be proactive in that. So plus the benefit of once you do it, you’ve got it. So it’s so much easier to onboard new people then

Heather Gonzales (29:16):

Agreed. And that planner is really nice because when you’re using it in onboarding, I still use it in one-on-ones for employees that have been with us for years, we love it. They can add what they want to talk about to it and it’s very beneficial. So yeah, it’s definitely a great tool.

Lori Cole (29:36):

Now let’s explore this concept of ever boarding Heather. There is a lot to unpack on this slide, so we’re going to start by focusing on different areas of the slide. So let’s start on the left hand side of the slide and focus on some statistics.

Heather Gonzales (29:53):

Okay, great. So in today’s highly competitive job market, we all know it’s very competitive. Continuous learning and development can be a significant differentiator for your company. Offering things like robust training programs demonstrates a commitment to the employee growth, which that does help attract top talent that are looking for opportunities to advance their careers. Ever boarding is the practice of continuously training, developing and engaging employees beyond the initial onboarding period. So it ensures that employees remain connected to the company’s culture, they stay informed about new processes and continue to grow in the roles over time. Some of the stats that you mentioned, according to a 2022 SHRM study, 83% of HR managers reported that continuous employee training plays a crucial role in attracting talent. Candidates are increasingly drawn to employers who provide ongoing learning opportunities as they are seen as a sign of a supportive and progressive work environment. In simple terms, it shows you care. Basically, the research also revealed that 86% of HR leaders have seen positive impacts on employee retention due to continuous learning and development. By investing in your employee’s growth, you increase their job satisfaction and loyalty leading to longer tenures and reduced turnover. And then according to the 24 iHire research, 42.7% of job seekers stated that they value growth and advancement opportunities and 37.5% said the same about professional development opportunities.

Vickie Krolak (31:48):

I’m hearing this more from candidates more and more about they want a career path, they want to know that they have growth opportunities, they want to know that there’s training in place that can really help them progress.

Heather Gonzales (31:59):

Agreed.

Lori Cole (32:01):

So these stats are kind of showing that if we aren’t already ever boarding, this should probably be our catalyst to begin, Heather. Okay, now let’s focus on the right side of the slide and start off by telling us ways that we can adapt our training programs.

Heather Gonzales (32:20):

Okay, so to implement continuous onboarding in your organization, some of the things you can try are tailored training programs. So those are basically where you would provide advanced technical training for your IT staff while offering leadership development courses for managers. Just as a few examples, this approach ensures employees gain skills that are directly applicable to their role. You can also use a learning management system or LMS to centralize training materials and offer employees continuous access to learning resources from platforms like TalentLMS. They allow you to upload training videos, articles and quizzes that employees can access at any time, which is fantastic for employees that have a full calendar and want to get in there when it’s convenient for them and do their training, but they still want access to training. These kind of systems can really help with that. You can also incorporate regular development check-ins between managers and employees to assess growth update goals and identify new training needs.

(33:31):

For example, you can schedule monthly, quarterly or bi-annual performance reviews where managers discuss skill gaps, potential promotions and personalized development plans to keep those employees on track and engaged. My favorite part is you can leverage gamification elements like points badges or leaderboards to make ongoing training, more engaging award badges for completing training milestones or offer incentives for employees who actively participate in learning programs. You can recognize achievements during team meetings to encourage participation. We’ve even sent little leaderboards in our teams chat to share who won the latest competition. Of course, if your employees are open to that,

Vickie Krolak (34:16):

I have two clients that have really leveraged their HRS system to upload, not only use the LMS elements that are provided training, some of those default ones or what do you call ‘em, ones that come with the system automatically, but they’ve also uploaded their own trainings into these systems and it’s really helped them with their new hires be successful. And also that compliance training, it makes it really easy and we’re finding that people like those bite-size training modules and they work better. It’s better for their attention span and like you said, they can get those little badges and know that they completed it and it helps HR and their manager track that they’re getting it done because the system’s going to tell ‘em if they did or not. Good point.

Lori Cole (35:01):

Heather, tell us about how people should help their new employees acclimate to the company culture because every company is a little bit different.

Heather Gonzales (35:11):

Very important is to make sure that that is going on. So create a culture where employees receive real time consistent and constructive feedback on their performance to guide their ongoing development. Try implementing a feedback system where employees can request and give feedback after major projects or meetings, presentations. You can use this feedback to create individualized plans. You can use ever boarding to reinforce company culture and values over time, not just during onboarding. Host quarterly company-wide workshops and focus on key cultural pillars like collaboration, diversity or innovation, ensuring that employees stay aligned with the company mission, which is super important. You can encourage employees to participate in training or projects outside of their usual roles to broaden their skillsets. For example, you could launch a company wide lunch and learn series where employees from different departments share insights on their roles or create short-term project teams that allow cross-functional collaboration. I absolutely love our lunch and learns at iHire or the task force that we set up from time to time. Those have always been beneficial. And lastly, and I think most importantly, establish clear career paths, provide employees with structured roadmaps outlining the skills and milestones needed for growth. Regularly review these plans during one-on-one meetings to keep employees motivated and focused on their development.

Vickie Krolak (36:46):

Yeah, I really love that, Heather, the lunch and learns and the knowledge shares that we have here. And we did one recently on AI and it was definitely across departmental collaboration that went into it and it was really, really nice to see us all come together and have different point of views about AI and how we can leverage that technology in our different roles.

Heather Gonzales (37:08):

I agree. I’m still learning the new tools I learned from Lori that day. That’s my favorite topic. I can talk about it all day. I’m still

Vickie Krolak (37:17):

Using them and I love ‘em. Me too, Heather.

Lori Cole (37:21):

Well, before we do our last slide and get to our q and a, this is the time, if you guys have questions, make sure that you put ‘em in the ask a question widget and then at the end we could also do something a little bit different. If you have something that you do at your company that we haven’t mentioned, I’d love to do a little quick fire at the end and share ideas and thoughts from people from what you all do. So make sure that you put it in that q and a widget though that ask a question widget so that it can get on my radar. Alright, to wrap this up, let’s talk about personalizing the experience and using tech and figuring out how to measure success. Vickie, give us some of your best tips here.

Vickie Krolak (38:17):

Thank you, Lori. Yes, this is really critical and each time you bring somebody on, you’re going to have to personalize it and tailor it to that person and to that role. Remember every employee has different strengths, different skills and different learning styles. So onboarding should be customized accordingly. If you have a visual learner or a hands-on learner or an audio learner, make sure you understand that their learning style. Personally, I’m a hands-on learner. You can show me all day long, put up PowerPoints, click through stuff. I’m never going to remember until I do it. Me too. So I try to be upfront with managers and say, this is my learning style, so help me out, let me drive here. Role specific training, like I mentioned, target training for each role for job specific duties and skills. They’re going to need to know the processes and responsibilities are going to have, for example, tech roles.

(39:13):

They may need some more additional time for software training. If you have a different software you’re using sales roles might want to focus on customer interactions, provide a wiki or some kind of online resource page that they can find, links those different files. Heather mentioned this earlier, websites they might need to know about any individual preferences they may have. I worked with RIT to get my bookmark saved and set up profiles set up and then also, like I mentioned earlier, any company lingo that you may have. When I came here, some of the words they were saying, I was like, what does that mean? So having a,

Heather Gonzales (39:53):

The acronyms, oh my

Vickie Krolak (39:55):

Goodness, yes, having a glossary is important. There’s one called jab and I’m like, well, it’s a jab and it’s a job ad builder. I’m like, who would’ve known that You’re new to the company? Culture fit, individual personal preferences, tailored onboarding experience to reflect how that employee prefers to work and learn. There might thrive with a mentorship. Others might prefer independent learning. Understanding the learning style. I mentioned that earlier. I goal setting work with a new hire to get personalized. Have them create meaningful goals with you. Ensure alignment with the company’s overall strategic objectives and let them acknowledge their unique career aspirations. This really should be a collaborative process. The company’s going to have some goals, the manager’s going to have goals, but your job is to bring that person’s strengths, skills, abilities and see how it all going to play out together. A lot of employers look for cultural fit, but I encourage you to look for culture add.

(41:01):

What is this person going to bring to your team that you’re currently lacking? I think that’s important. And then leverage technology. There’s so many applications and tools that can enhance and help you with onboarding platforms like Paylocity, BambooHR, Workday, Rippling can automate those administrative tasks like payroll, setup, tax forms, all those things that people don’t get excited about and provide easy access to. Resources like company handbooks, training time sheets and schedules as Heather mentioned. The LMS element utilize that offer. Flexible self-paced learning training modules. You can track their progress, provide certifications as a new hire, completes those required learnings and many times you can build these online. You can take the default ones that the system comes with or you can even customize and upload your own personal training that you want them to have. That’s company specific collaboration tools, platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom is going to help that new hire get connected with their teammates in foster communications and collaborate from day one.

(42:14):

We send a welcome email to the whole company on the first day introducing that person and we encourage our team members to either respond back to that email or shoot ‘em a team message and welcome to the team. I actually heard that their day in a training I was at that this particular company actually has set up an automatic reply template in Outlook so when that new hire email comes through it actually when they go to reply, it’ll kind of default like a template and message that you can customize back to them, welcome ‘em to the team I pop. That’s awesome. How to step out

(42:52):

Virtual tours and video onboarding, especially for those remote teams. As we mentioned earlier, tours of the office virtually or in person, maybe a welcome video if you’ve got a company video about your company’s history or who the people are and what they do. That’s really fun for them to watch too. But hopefully that’s on your website already. Some kind of information about your company and they’ve done the homework way before they were even pre-screened or interviewed. It’s going to help the new hire get acquainted with the workplace and company culture. We’ve actually built company culture questions into our interview process, so hopefully they’ve got a little introduction before they come on board. And then most importantly, track success and measure that success. Some ways you can do this is a time to productivity rate, track how the new hire is doing to reach their full productivity in their new role.

(43:46):

That’s where that roadmap comes in handy and regular check-ins. There might be a short ramp up period and that’s okay, but if you’ve got that roadmap laid out for them, it’ll be more helpful for both parties. Look at your retention rates. Those first six to 12 months are you retaining your employees higher retention rates reflect the positive onboarding experience and then employee engagement surveys regularly survey your new hires to assess their satisfaction, how the onboarding process went, how they’re feeling about their role, gather feedback on areas that maybe you can improve upon and then monitor the overall engagement. I encourage you, if you’re not doing it a one month check-in and this could just be an online survey that you send to them, they can fill out. My favorite is doing a fresh Eyes interview and this is something that I as HR and iHire do after that first 20 days and it really is a candid conversation. I’ve got a set of questions that I ask them and then I summarize that back to the hiring manager so they know how that new hire’s feeling. And then performance metrics evaluate the new hire’s performance against their role specific goals, consistent growth and key KPIs is a way you can measure that success of the onboarding or not. And then manager and peer feedback gather input from managers and other team members on how well that new hire is integrating, contributing, and adapting to their new responsibilities.

Heather Gonzales (45:16):

Vickie, I love the fresh eyes interviews every time we have a new hire and that goes through that, it helps as a manager, what have I missed? What still needs to be covered? What do they still need to learn? What are they excelling on? It is just fantastic. I loved it when you started that. Yeah.

Vickie Krolak (45:35):

Yeah, A really key question I think is the role, what they expected it to be. We spend a lot of time explaining and they see the job ad, they get their job description, but is it really what they expected it to be and are they getting the training they need and how are they feeling about their new manager and their team? I think those are all good measures.

Heather Gonzales (45:56):

Agreed.

Lori Cole (45:57):

Well, and I also want to give AI a plug here because in the technology phase, don’t forget about the AI tools. They are improving every week. You can use them to create your onboarding or your ever boarding plans. My favorite tool at the moment is perplexity spaces. If you need a quick YouTube tutorial on it, you are going to find so many use cases for this tool in your company and it would just be a good companion, good piece of technology for you to use when you’re trying to create all these plans from scratch.

Vickie Krolak (46:41):

Yeah, I love that perplexity tool, Lori, and I love that it pulls the resources for you as well. It’s been super helpful.

Lori Cole (46:49):

Love that. Alright, so we’re going to get to your questions here. We’ve only got another, I don’t know, six, eight minutes left, so we’re going to go through as many as we can. Alright. What is the ideal length of time to fully onboard a new employee?

Vickie Krolak (47:14):

I can take that one, Lori. I would say the typical onboarding should last about 90 days of the first three months. And as Heather mentioned, there’s ever boarding, so it never really ends. You’re going to have a continuous adjustment to that process, but typically 90 days you’re going to know if that employee is going to be successful in that role or not.

Lori Cole (47:37):

Alright, and for people that are on, for your SHRM HRCI recertifications, don’t forget to wait till the end of the webinar and then you’re going to be able to push that view certificate button so that you can download your certificate. How can we make remote onboarding as welcoming and engaging as in-person onboarding?

Heather Gonzales (48:01):

I can take that. First of all, I do mainly remote onboarding. I do work remote, so there’s a lot that you can do using. We do things like coffee chats to help get to know other departments, things like that. You can have team members schedule meetings to introduce. I know we talked about a lot of this already, but just there’s a lot you can do with the software that’s out there today. You can send bite-sized quizzes as Vickie mentioned, the bite-size, how important that is. You can do things like that and gamify it. There’s just a lot that you can do with the software that’s out there today. I like a software called Kahoot. We do some fun quizzes through Kahoot. Yeah,

Vickie Krolak (48:50):

I would add to that too, Heather, with the remote employee, I mean having those check-ins regularly with the employee that first week set up a time each day at the end of the day maybe or first thing in the morning or both and just see how that employee’s doing and how they’re feeling.

Heather Gonzales (49:07):

Agreed. And that peer buddy helps too, that planner that we talked about. So a lot of those things can help with those

Lori Cole (49:14):

And face to face, encourage them to turn on those cameras. There are some company cultures where you don’t have to do that, but we really encourage people to have their cameras on during any of our meetings, any of our scrums, anything we do, we want to see your smiley, shiny face.

Heather Gonzales (49:36):

Yeah, see in sales, for me it’s so automatic to have my camera on. I forget to mention that, but you’re so right. It’s very important. It’s that human to human connection as you mentioned. And you can’t have it if one camera’s off and the other person’s on it and you can sense more how somebody’s feeling, how they’re doing, all of those kind of things when the cameras are on. Totally agree

Vickie Krolak (49:57):

And get

Heather Gonzales (49:58):

‘em used to it early on.

Lori Cole (49:59):

Yeah, get ‘em used to it early on. You’re right. Yeah.

Lori Cole (50:02):

Yes. Alright. How do you accommodate different learning styles and preferences during onboarding?

Vickie Krolak (50:11):

As I mentioned earlier, if that new hire doesn’t share with you their learning style, I would encourage you to ask them, how do you learn best? Is it that hands-on? Is it the visual, is it the audio or is it a blend? Some people both. It depends on what I’m learning. I like a little combination, but I definitely want to do.

Heather Gonzales (50:32):

Yeah.

Lori Cole (50:33):

And somebody had mentioned in the chat, how do you determine your learning style? Some people might not know, there have to be quizzes or something online that you could find that they could maybe even do for you in the pre-boarding so that you can get ready for that particular person’s learning style and just as the manager be aware of that.

Vickie Krolak (50:57):

Yeah,

Lori Cole (50:58):

Agreed.

Vickie Krolak (50:59):

I feel like early in my career I went over something like that in a demonstration or a quiz type platform, but I’m sure now with all this stuff online, there’s got to be something out there that’s going to help.

Heather Gonzales (51:11):

Isn’t there a thing like strengths learning too that can help kind of feed into that as well? I’m trying to remember what it’s called.

Lori Cole (51:18):

StrengthsFinder.

Heather Gonzales (51:20):

Finders thank yes. I couldn’t think of the name of it even though we do it. But yeah, that’s been very beneficial. Not just in onboarding but helping employees as they grow through the company.

Vickie Krolak (51:33):

And there’s other, I would say in the introvert extrovert too, there’s definitely online quizzes for that as well as you can do if you don’t already know how to identify that piece. Personality test. I’m not a big fan of personality test at work, but you could do this on your own.

Lori Cole (51:52):

Alright, if a new hire can’t start for a month, what are some of the ways to keep them engaged? Is it okay to start the onboarding early?

Heather Gonzales (52:02):

It is. Think about the things that you don’t have to have them already in the company to be able to get from them. So there are definitely things that you can do that can get them started. If for instance, for us, it’s important that they know our website. So tell ‘em to go check out the website of your company, get to really know your company, the ins and outs of what you’re offering, those kinds of things. You can check in with them. I recommend no more than weekly because you don’t want to overwhelm ‘em. You contact ‘em too much. They might think you’re a little bit needy, but at the same time you don’t want to just contact ‘em once weekly. If that’s too much, then maybe every other week at least, but call ‘em, send a nice email. Even that gifting I think can happen before they start as well. Just to get them excited about their role. Show them you’re excited about them joining. You could even send a video from their team that says, Hey, we’re excited to meet you can’t wait or have a team lunch before they start. If you’re in person, there’s a lot that you can do. Absolutely.

Vickie Krolak (53:11):

Yeah. I like to check in with the person that accepted the offer, especially even if they’re a month out or two weeks out, just to send ‘em one more week, two more weeks. That’s great. And also understand their communication style. Do they want to receive an email? Do they want to receive a text? They want to receive a phone call. All those things are important, but you want to keep yourself or your company top of mind so that you lessen the chance of ‘em getting another offer. Agreed. Which it does happen unfortunately, but if you keep the excitement going, it’s more likely they’re going to come on board with you and not have any kind of hesitation. I’ve seen it go the other way with some companies where they don’t reach out and then the person calls like, what do I need to do? I think I’m starting right. Communication is totally key. Yes, from the time they accept that offer to the time they walk through that door.

Heather Gonzales (54:07):

Agreed.

Lori Cole (54:07):

We have so many more questions, but really I should cut it off here. This is about all the time. We have to let everybody get to their next meeting at the top of the hour. Thank you to everyone who chimed in with your questions and took time out of your busy day to chat with us today. Find your clapping emojis and give Vickie and Heather a big round of applause. You too. Knocked it out of the part. Thank you. And if you didn’t know, Vickie is part of our HR services and consulting team, so that team can help you with anything from screening interviews or candidate interviews, anything. You can pretty much give that team an assignment and they can help you. So if you’d like, you can go ahead and set an appointment with Vickie. If you’re curious to learn more. There’s no pressure, just she’s going to give you a little bit of info.

(55:05):

And same for Heather. If you need to book an appointment with Heather, she can help you on the employer job posting side. If you have questions we didn’t answer, no worries. You can shoot an email to [email protected] and we’ll connect you with the right person. And don’t forget your certificate of completion for those SHRM HRCI recertification credits. Just hit that view certificate button. We’ll be inviting you to our next webinar. So watch for that email and thanks for hanging out with us today. I hope the rest of your day is awesome and I hope that you commit to taking away and doing at least one of the things you heard today. Thanks again everybody.

Vickie Krolak (55:50):

Thank you.

Lori Cole (55:51):

Thank you.