The Onboarding Process Starts At The Offer Stage

When should the onboarding process start?

We get this question asked a lot by our IT Solutions & Service Provider clients looking to optimise their candidate experience.

We firmly believe the onboarding process starts at the offer stage.

Our Co-Founder Tim Cazemage tells us why:

“The candidate has made a big decision to make a career move, to change from their current employer to join your business.

So the onboarding process needs to start immediately after the offer has been accepted.

When you’re sending out the contract, the paperwork and other documentation, make sure it’s branded correctly. Ensure you are putting in enough attention to detail in the way the documents look and feel.

I hear time and time again from candidates that they have received their paperwork and there are some errors, whether that be a spelling mistake in their name, their address, or if the salary package that was discussed at the offer stage isn’t outlined correctly.

All of these things need to be absolutely perfect to make the best first impression possible to the candidate.

As the onboarding process starts at the offer stage, you need to keep that momentum going and maintain excitement and passion for this new starter until they walk through the door for the first time.

There are a couple of areas that I believe should be implemented once you know they will be joining your business:

1. Provision employees before they arrive

Get paperwork out of the way on day one!

Candidates want to know exactly what they’ve signed up for and ensure everything is in place so they can begin to enjoy their new job.

2. Get them involved with the team

You want them to integrate themselves into the business as soon as possible.

Introduce them to the team, not just their immediate colleagues but also others across the business. Get other members of the company to get involved and make the new starter feel welcome. They could talk about their responsibilities so the new employee can feel part of the whole business, not just the team they are joining.

It’s also a good idea to assign a buddy. Sometimes people might feel a bit nervous, the first day of a new job may seem daunting. By assigning them someone who has been with the business a long time or even another new starter will help them to feel less isolated.

3. Let them live and breathe your employer brand

You will have seen InfraView share a lot of content around our purpose, mission and values. It’s really important for any new hire to understand exactly what they are and allow them to live and breathe it for themselves.

4. Create an epic welcome

This is an exciting time, so celebrating the occasion is a great way of making a new starter feel welcome.

Have something planned for lunch or after work to celebrate them joining your business.

This will help the candidate to feel like they have made the right decision in making this career move, and to get them immersed in the culture of the business from the off.

5. Immerse them in your culture

Every business has their own tips and tricks in how to effectively promote the culture of the company to new starters.

It’s important that when a new starter joins the business that they are fully aware that they have made the correct decision.

In order to get the most out of the experience of a new starter, it’s crucial you’re always looking for ways to optimise the process and promote your company culture.

You can do this by celebrating work anniversaries and early wins.

The best onboarding process takes that experience right through to the employee’s first year anniversary.

Studies show 23% of new starters who receive a poor onboarding process depart in the first year of their employment.

Celebrating the first year anniversary is a great opportunity to take a step back and reflect on achievements and create a plan for future development.

By doing this things, your onboarding process will help you to retain more candidates and create a more integrated company culture.”