On Boarding New Hires

1. IT’S JUST
THE
BEGINNING
BUS 68
Olga Hoffman
May 2016
SUCCESSFUL
NEW HIRE
ONBOARDING

2. Make the employee’s first day
memorable by making them Feel
welcome and Connected to the
team.
Find out their favorite snack and
have it on their desk the day they
start. Little actions like this don’t
take a lot of time, money or
effort, but can mean so much to
a new hire, and help make them
feel connected.
Don‘t miss out on the opportunities provided by NHO
to help people feel Connected from day one
New Hire

4. Take the new employee to lunch on day one, this says they’re
important. Make it a fun day.
Take the employee on a tour of the department, break room,
building or entire campus. Maybe show those secret areas the public
never gets to see, like the lab where the secret recipe is concocted.
Warm Welcome – Make Them Feel
Connected from Day One

5. Announce the new employee
via email and post the
information online.
Reach out to your manager
and other executives asking
them to introduce themselves
and make your new hire feel
welcome.
Encourage long-term
employees to stop by and
share stories.
Schedule a team lunch or
dinner to welcome them.
Warm Welcome

6. Be Intentional About Exposing Your
New Hires to Your Culture
New
Hire
Who We Are
There’s no feeling like
pride in belonging to
something bigger
than yourself, so tap
into that and shake
some company
booty!
Connect the dots
between your
amazing company
culture and how they
can be part of it.

7. Day One Shuffle
Paperwork  Find some way
to minimize the stupefying
boredom of new hire
paperwork. Mail it ahead and
provide online access for them
to review everything before
they start.
Have stuff ready  Every day a
new hire sits around unable to
get started because the new
laptop has not been configured
yet is money wasted. Not to
mention frustrating for the new
hires who are anxious to ramp
up quickly.

8. What are the rules of engagement?
Describe the company culture.
Explain when management prefers
to use email, phone or face-to-face
communication. Review topics like
cadence of meetings, etiquette of
dialing into meetings, and how to
approach senior executives.
What’s Your Management
Style?Discuss your expectations, hot
buttons, strengths and blind spots.
Advise who they go to for questions
when you are not available.
If there are suggestions or concerns,
what are the appropriate channels
to share those.
Day One
Questions to Answer

9. Is there any one to be wary of?
Mention any adversaries who
may transfer an attitude to your
innocent new hire. This could
be an individual, a group, or
an organization.
Another Question

10. New hires want to make a good
impression and start adding value.
Ensure they have the resources.
Set Up Technology
Working from home or offsite
Provide Resources
Provide both the Company’s and your
department ‘s current Q-T-D and annual
reports, goals, policies and procedures.
Specify on the org charts who is
important and who are the key stake-
holders on current projects. Provide a
list of key contacts inside and outside
the company.
Select and Schedule Training
Help Them Do Their Best Work

11. Review calendar on key
organization deliverables
and let them know when
performance reviews are
held and how new hires are
evaluated.
Set 30/60/90/180 day
milestones. Check in
frequently, at a minimum
when they are due.
Encourage them to network
outside of the organization.
Notify them of company
brown bag lunches and
seminars they can attend.
Establish Goals and Clarify
Expectations Right Away

12. Build trust by establishing a mutually agreed level of autonomy
for the employee.
Which decisions can the employee make without consulting and informing
the manager and how long are you willing to wait for status updates?
bound of discretion.
Decision Decision Check w/Mgr Inform Mgr of
Type: Maker: Befofe Acting Outcome
Leaf Employee No No
Branch Employee No After Acting
Trunk Empolyee Yes B 4 Acting
Root Manager Yes B 4 Decision
Decision Tree

13. Reimburse for work
related social media
accounts and learning,
TED, Linkedin Learning,
etc.
Consider new hire
sales training. This is
good knowledge to
have, especially if you
are in a customer
facing position.
Provide presentation
training and let them
practice presenting to
your team. Have them
create their own
presentation that
“Brands” them and
their mission. See
reference section.
Encourage Learning

14.  In today’s wired, networked world of
constantly and rapidly changing
conditions help your new hire to
understand The Big Picture by
being connected.
 Google reader lets you set up alerts for
any information.
 Zite is an iPad app that learns what you
like and don’t like, customizing your
feeds according to your preferences.
Pulse is another iPad app that’s good.
 Save your web surfing articles to
Instapaper on your PC, phone or tablet.
 Kindle, Kobo, iBooks. Kindle supports
features such as social media
integration
Be Socially Collaborative

15. Assign A Mentor Every new hire should
have a ‘buddy‘ to help
them navigate the
informal network. They
are that extra support –
like the training wheels
on your bike.
They’ll know the go-to
people, the gatekeepers,
the people who know
what's happening before
it happens.
They can be your English
to English translator for
the company’s inside
jokes and jargon.

16. People Don’t Leave Companies . . . .
They Leave Managers.
Hew hire turnover is greatest in the first 40-50 days.
The First Few Months Focus on These 3
Communicating and
Giving Recognition
Giving Work with
Purpose
Managing the
Relationship

17. Don`t communicate to be understood; rather,
communicate so as not to be misunderstood.
Engaging as a listener
is one of the greatest
things you can do for
your new hire.
Echoing the other
person’s words helps
you process what
they’re saying and
signals to them that
you’re really listening.

18. Be Aware How Your
Body Language & Tone
Speaks to Your New Hires
We pay more attention
to facial expressions
and body language,
than to
tone of voice,
or to
actual words.
55%
Facial expressions
& body language
8%
Actual Words
37%
Tone of
voice

19. Make “thank you”
and “nice job” a
regular part of your
vocabulary.
Additionally, take
the time to teach
new employees
why what
they did is so
intrinsically
important to the
organization’s
mission and
purpose.
Give Recognition

20. Harness that new hire energy from the
get go with a key meaningful project
Give Work
with
Purpose

21. Target a great small win they can
achieve in the
first few days or weeks.

22. Manage the
Relationship 
Assign A Mentor
Ask them if they
would like you to
assign one or if they
would like to select
one themselves.
It should be someone
in management who
can help them with
their career goals.
Mentors, like the
buddy, reduce the
ramp up time and
inspire motivation in
your new hire.

23. It’s critical managers show their
employees they have an interest
in them as human beings, not just
as employees. You can do this by
keeping the channels of
communication open. Ask for
frequent feedback and remember
to encourage an atmosphere of
fun.
Foster the New Employee Relationship
Whether it’s working out at the
company gym, playing Pictionary
or going to grab an ice cream
cone, it’s important that as
they’re learning the ropes, your
new hires also have a good time
with you and their coworkers.

24. Manage New
Employee
Relationships
CONSIDER HOLDING A RE-ORIENTATION - All employees hired in the past
quarter come back to ask the questions they hadn‘t thought of Day 1.
Make it a safe environment to ask any questions and have them
connect with the colleagues from other departments with whom they
had spent vast amounts of time on day 1, but didn‘t really interact with
anymore.
Break the ice with a fun interactive game or activity.
This is a chance for the group to get to know
one another and begin identifying itself as ‘us’.
START GROUP – People who start together have
a higher chance of building lasting bonds as they
spread out over the company. Help your new hires
define their first network at your company by
assigning them to a start group.

25. Research has found that strong social ties in the workplace can
boost productivity, make employees more passionate about their
work and less likely to quit their jobs.
When we look at what makes people happy and effective at work,
it’s being able to spend time with a close group of people. You
need to structure work in such a way that new hires have those
opportunities.
A feeling of connection
makes people want
to come to work.

26. You probably had some help on the climb
up. Now it’s time to return the favor. Give
your time, give your counsel, give of your
emotions and be involved in the process.
The more you give of yourself, the
bigger the impact. It does not
have to be terribly formal or
time-consuming. Carving
out a few minutes to listen
shows the new hire they
are important.
Schedule 1:1s and work
hard to keep them.
Give of Yourself to the New Employee

27. Taking breaks is at odds with
how the new employee wants
to be viewed, but it is not
time wasted. Brief diversions
significantly increase one’s
ability to focus on that task
for prolonged periods of time.
Get up and move around to
get the blood flowing and
clear the mind.
Bonus points if you take a
walk outside!
Walking just 10 minutes will
relieve stress, reduce fatigue
and boost mood.
Encourage New Employees Going
100mph to Take Effective Breaks

28. Curiosity is key to empathy.
Ask your new hire about
their struggles & strategies
for coping with a challenge
they’re having and offer to
help. When it’s been a
tough day, tell them go get
a good night’s sleep and
recall something that went
well that day, and be
thankful for that.
Life always offers you a
second chance . . . its called
Tomorrow.
Be Empathetic

29. Encourage Questions
It’s OK to ASK!
You want to
take the time
upfront to
make sure your
new hire knows
how to succeed,
because if they
don‘t . . .
you will be
doing this
all over again!

30. NOW GO GET ‘EM

31. References
Data Source: Todd Dewett, Onboarding New Hires, Lynda.com
Pg. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29
Marcos Chin Artwork, www.marcoschin.com
Pg. 4, 8, 9, 18
Photos by Thomas Peschak, www.thomaspeschak.com
Pg. 12 Photo from film “My Name is Doris”, Red Crown Productions. 2016
Pg. 14 Decision Tree, “Fierce Conversations” by Susan Scott
Pg. 15 Articles on Creating a Compelling Presentation and Personal Branding
http://blog.ted.com/2014/07/15/10-tips-for-better-slide-decks/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dailymuse/2012/02/14/the-first-step-to-building-
your-personal-brand/#5e6a46dd2c72
Pg. 17 Quote by Dr. John Lund
Pg. 18 Communication Studies Statistics by Dr. John Lund