Building a Strong Foundation: 5 Practical Onboarding Tips for Small Business Owners

Congratulations, you've hired a new employee!

But the onboarding process doesn't end on the first day.

It’s only the end of the hiring process.

You provide a welcome present, introduce them to the team, induct them for a few hours and then expect them to get on with the job and be productive.

WRONG!

If you do this, you have set the new hire up to fail, as it's critical to go beyond the first few days or even a week.

Brad Giles, the author of Onboarded: How to bring new hires to the point where they are effective, faster, explains that research suggests only 4% of businesses had an onboarding process of 90 days.

No wonder many small businesses have employee turnover issues!

As a small business owner, you can take five simple, focused, and practical actions today to fix this.

Create a clear onboarding roadmap that extends beyond the first week.

This roadmap should include milestones and key activities for the first month, first three months, and beyond.

Communicate this roadmap to your new employee, providing clarity on expectations.

Document this by using a ‘role scorecard’ which includes the following:

Brad Giles has a great scorecard in his book.

Assign a mentor or buddy with your new hire, who is an experienced team member.

This mentor can provide guidance, answer questions, and help the new team member navigate the company culture and processes.

Having a designated mentor will foster a sense of belonging and encourage open communication, both crucial elements for a positive onboarding experience.

Invest in your new hire’s growth by providing continuous training and development opportunities.

During a 90 day onboarding period, identify specific areas where they can improve their skills and knowledge, and offer resources such as workshops, webinars, or online courses.

Your commitment to their professional development must be ongoing - research shows time-and-time again, your team members rate this highly.

Schedule weekly meetings with their manager to ensure they keep on track with respect to expectations, address any concerns, and offer feedback.

These meetings must be weekly for the first 90 days, then transition to monthly thereafter.

Use the role scorecard to ensure consistency.

Be open to feedback from your new hire as well, as it shows that you value their input and part of building a good relationship.

A business culture that values teamwork and collaboration must be a focus.

Provide opportunities for social interactions, and ideally in-person.

Organise team-building activities, lunch gatherings, or happy hours to foster relationships among team members.

Feeling like a valued part of the team will significantly impact your new team member’s engagement and productivity.

Brad Giles discusses a three-stage onboarding process for new hires in our QFF episode 47 podcast.

The stages are:

Brad says:

He highlights the significance of a structured onboarding process, ensuring that new hires gain a comprehensive understanding of their roles, learn how to apply their knowledge, and ultimately become embedded within your culture.

Take the advice from Brad Giles and implement a three-stage onboarding process in your business, using his role scorecard.

This involves providing new hires with clear objectives for each month, focusing on crucial information, and actively involving them in learning and applying their skills to become integral members of the team.

By doing so, business owners can optimise their onboarding efforts and make a significant impact on the success of new team members in your business.

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