Beverlee Rasmussen CEC PCC Have you spent countless hours searching for the right person for your job opening? Now it’s finally time to start onboarding the new hire.
The promise of finally having help comes with the fear of taking on this huge responsibility. If you can offload some of the work you’re currently doing, you can look forward to getting more done. If.
New hire onboarding can be an overwhelming task when there’s no system in place to welcome, train and develop a highly skilled workforce. You may end up both paying new hires and doing their work yourself!
Getting started
Once your employment offer is accepted and both parties have signed the position agreement, all new hires need to have access to your employee policy manual.
Don’t have an employee policy manual yet? This is a separate document from your company’s procedures manual. In short, your employee policy manual establishes the company rules, and the procedures manual states the way you want things done.
Being organized
Getting organized to train employees not only enables you to quickly onboard new people and set them up for success. It also allows you to scale your company.
So when it comes to training, where do you start? Is it as simple as having all new hires memorize their position agreement and read your policy and procedures manual cover to cover? If only. Training needs to include process and purpose. Training is about doing, thinking and being part of your team
Orientation: Welcoming New Hires
Think about someone coming into your home for the first time. Would you let your guest just stand awkwardly at the front door while everyone else went about their business? Of course not.
You would greet them, introduce them to your family, show them around and make them feel welcome. You would let them know what your rules are.
It’s no different in business. Lay out the welcome mat for your new hires. Meet with them one-on-one on their first day and introduce them to their new team.
Share your vision statement, your company promise and your core values in person, in addition to giving them a paper copy for reference. Explain how these show up in your organization. You can’t just pay these lip service. They must actually live in your organization and that should be obvious to all new hires
Training begins the moment a new hire shows up for orientation.
Until next time, enjoy your Entrepreneurial Journey!
Make onboarding easier by hiring the best candidate first!
“The biggest trap small business owners fall into is waiting too long to hire and then having to find someone at the last minute when they are desperate.”
This trap along with the other 9 Hiring Mistakes are described in the Top 10 Hiring Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) written specifically for small business owners.
