The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the way organizations function. We are now making our way towards a digital world, where the processes of training, assessments, feedback, etc., are being automated.
Along with all these changes, the process of onboarding has changed, too. It has been observed that organizations are slowly rejecting and replacing the long-standing and traditional method of training and onboarding. In the age of online training, almost every organization is embracing virtual onboarding. It is not just convenient but cost-effective, too.
Today, the eLearning market is flooded with different kinds of learning management systems (LMS) that have made training and onboarding an easy process. Onboarding is just not about welcoming new employees to your organization it also means socializing employees to internalize the culture, values, and objectives of the organization. Through onboarding, you voice out your expectations to employees. The idea is to prepare them to embark on a professional journey with you.
A well-structured and well-executed onboarding program is a key to a happy, productive and engaged workforce. If the onboarding program goes well, surely the employees will be more excited to work with you. Hence, onboarding requires proper planning.
What is an employee onboarding checklist?
To ensure the smooth onboarding of new employees, you can prepare an employee onboarding checklist. It is a step-by-step guide for a successful onboarding program. Such a checklist contains all the necessary steps and elements that need to be fulfilled before an employee starts his online training.
Why do you need an employee onboarding checklist?
The following are the reasons why you need a checklist for employee onboarding:
- To carry out a well-ordered onboarding
- Gives your training program a direction
- Helps build trust with new employees
- Acclimates employees with the work culture
- Promote open communication among employees
- Reduces mistakes and wastage of resources
- Maintain consistency in onboarding irrespective of time and space
- Ensure proper compliance with laws, rules, and regulations
- Boost productivity and performance of new employees
- Improve job satisfaction of employees
- Reduce employee turnover
What are the important components of an employee onboarding checklist?
The major and most important components of an employee onboarding checklist are listed below.
1. Online verification
After the call letter is accepted by the new employee, you need to ensure that they submit all the required paperwork in digital format. Like the birth certificate, bank account details, school and university mark sheets, past work experience records, and so on. These details serve as proof that the employee isn’t cheating or bluffing you.
2. Pre onboarding
Pre onboarding is the period between the day your new employees get an offer letter and the day on which they join the company. This is the time when the employee starts to engage with your company.
The pre onboarding checklist includes:
Give a welcome kit
Unlike big companies like Accenture, or Google, which can afford to give fancy and expensive welcome kits to their new employees, you can simply send a personalized welcome note or a plant to the new employees to leave a positive first impression.
Send an email
Send your new employees a welcome email outlining everything they need to know before starting their online training or working with you. Inform them about the start date, start time, directions, first-day schedule, and contact information of team leaders.
Introduce new employees
Circulate an email among your entire team introducing the new employee. Mention their name, photos, hobbies, interests, and past work experience so that physical distance doesn’t come in between to make good relations.
3. Account setup
You must prepare a user account for your employee where he can get all the information easily. You can also add them to mailing lists, calendars, and other social platforms.
An LMS can completely automate the enrolment and registration process. The new employees can be assigned to team leaders, mentors, and managers.
4. Intros and tours
Online meeting
On the first day of joining, you can conduct an online meeting to meet and greet the new employee. This will also act as a virtual orientation session for your new employee where he will get to know others.
Meet with leaders
Introduce your new employee to the CEO, managers, online instructors, HR professionals, and other leaders. This way, you can communicate the company’s history, mission, goals, values, and plans to new employees. This will make them feel more valued.
Virtual office tour
You can give a virtual office tour in case you are working remotely. You can show them the office, canteen, cubicles, park, etc., to your new employees to give them a sense of satisfaction.
5. Online training
Before you make your new employees rush for work, make sure you give them proper training so that they can perform their duties well. For instance, a person who has just joined as a salesman can be given compliance training, sales training, product training, and soft skill training before they start their sales pitch.
Here, again a learning management system can be of great help. An LMS provides personalized training to employees who can access eLearning material on the go. Once they join, they can get started with their online training without having to wait for other new hires to start. The employee’s dashboard gives a bird’s eye view of his performance and movements across the eLearning path.
6. Check-ins
The first week check-in
Try to see if new employees are comfortable with their online training modules. Ask them if they need help. Also, take feedback from them to know if the learning management system that the company has deployed is functioning properly or not.
First-month check-in
The first-month check-in involves making sure that new employees have received their first paycheck. It’s also important to identify how they progress in their job and online training.
Three-month check-in
If you want to ensure higher retention of employees, then performing a three-month check-in is a must. This involves reviewing new hires’ work frequently, giving them constructive feedback.
Try to identify the loopholes in training and resolve the problems. Make sure that new employees are attending virtual training sessions and writing assessments. Also, you need to ensure that their queries are addressed properly and that too, on time.
Conclusion
If you haven’t made an employee onboarding checklist, then do it now. Taking cues from our checklist you can build and strategize your own.
