How to onboard new recruits to your small business

Onboarding is a crucial part of employee retention. This is a new recruit’s first chance to get a realistic impression of the company, its values, how it operates, and ultimately, if it’s the right place for them to work. So, it’s important to have an adequate onboarding process in place to welcome new employees and retain them for as long as possible.

In this article, the UK’s leading company formation agent, 1st Formations, explores valuable onboarding practices that small businesses should consider implementing when introducing new employees to their organisations.

Start onboarding early

Don’t wait until the new recruit’s first day to start the onboarding process. For maximum efficiency and to ensure onboarding runs smoothly, send them an email in advance to let them know what to expect from their first day/week. For instance:

• Explain who will meet them when they arrive
• How the day will be structured
• What training will be provided
• Share their new teammates’ profiles so they know who they’ll be working with
• Advise what the dress code is
• Clarify the parking and accessibility facilities available in your office (if applicable)

Also, if they need to bring any documents with them (e.g. passport of P45), this is a practical time to let them know, giving them plenty of time to prepare.

Furthermore, to make new recruits feel part of the team, it’s a good idea to ask them to write a personal bio. A brief summary of their background, experience, hobbies/interests, and anything else they’re happy to share is an excellent way to integrate them into the company. It also notifies existing employees about new people joining the company and helps make them more comfortable with approaching them in person.

Remember that new employees will probably feel anxious before their first day. In fact, a poll conducted by the job board, Monster, found that an overwhelming 87% of people have felt nervous before starting a new job and 53% find it a scarier concept than facing their phobias.

These aren’t short-term emotions either – 46% of people admitted that anxiety caused them to regret accepting a new job and 25% said it takes them up to three months to settle in with a new employer. This is a difficult time for many people, so starting the onboarding process before their first is a simple and effective gesture new hires will appreciate.

Offer reduced working hours in their first week

Considering just how stressful starting a new job can be, you could consider offering new employees reduced working hours in their first week. For example, if staff normally work from 9am to 5:30pm, new hires could start at 10am and finish at 4pm. This can really help alleviate some of those initial pressures.

Also, if they’re office (or hybrid) staff, perhaps they have an entirely new commute now than they did in their previous role; maybe they have further to travel or use a different mode of transport they’re less confident with.

All these changes will take some getting used to. To support people with the job transition, try adding reducing hours to your onboarding process. This way, you’ll also stand out from your competitors as a considerate employer.

Give them a tour

If you have an office or use a co-working space, a tour is essential to the onboarding procedure. When new employees arrive, ensure that they are escorted around the workplace and shown where everything is and how it all works. For example:

• Their desk
• The kitchen (how to use the coffee machine, where they can store their food, etc.)
• Bathrooms
• Where different departments and meeting rooms are
• Where breakout areas are and what facilities are available during breaks
• How to enter and exit the building (do you use keycards, fobs, or door codes?)
• Fire exit locations

It’s also a good idea to let new hires know a bit about the local area, especially if they’re new to it. Recommend some food outlets where they can grab a bite to eat as well as nearby shops and entertainment venues to visit after work.

This part of onboarding is vital. A tour of the building and local recommendations can help new employees feel more confident and at home in your organisation.

Introduce them to the team

As the business owner, you play an integral part in the onboarding process. If you have a small team and you’re in charge of implementing best onboarding practices, then you should take the time to introduce new employees to their teammates and the wider company as soon as possible (if not on their very first day, then certainly during their first week).

As mentioned, starting a new job can be nerve-wracking, and the same goes for meeting new people. Some people are introverts, some lack social skills, and some are simply shy. To help break the ice, you should initiate brief introductions between new joiners and existing staff. If you have a people or HR manager, this will be their responsibility.

Naturally, it’s common to forget people’s names and their job roles, so we recommend arranging one-on-ones for new hires with their key contacts. Initially, they should be introduced to their line manager properly.

A 30-minute session is a practical way of getting to know each other and gives managers a chance to explain how company processes work and what the new employee’s day-to-day role will be. This is also a good opportunity for new joiners to bring up any questions they may wish to ask in confidence.

Then, set up a team meeting. For example, if you’ve just hired a new content writer, pencil in some time for them to spend with the rest of the marketing department. This should be a relaxed meeting where people can share their backgrounds, experiences, hobbies, and likes and dislikes, whilst establishing how they’ll all be working together.

If you work from home

This part of onboarding is especially important if you don’t have office space. To avoid new recruits feeling isolated and detached from the business, you should arrange these meetings virtually and schedule regular check-ins in their first few days and weeks.

If your business is fully remote, it’s a good idea to meet them for a coffee or lunch on their first day, provided that you live reasonably close to one another. Alternatively, if it’s a longer journey, you could meet halfway and cover their expenses. Making the effort to meet new employees in person will make a world of difference to their onboarding experience and make them feel part of the team.

Take them through the company handbook

In this part of the onboarding process, it’s time to get new hires up to speed with HR-related information. These are the day-to-day details they’ll need to know about the company and its procedures (e.g. culture, perks, and policies).

You should have a company handbook (digital or physical) containing all this key information. To provide a comprehensive onboarding process, you (or the HR manager) should take the time to guide new recruits through the company handbook, ensuring that they are aware of all its contents and allowing them to ask questions, which they’ll undoubtedly have.

The company handbook should explain some of the following:

• Company history, values, and culture
• An up-to-date organisational chart
• Remuneration details (how and when staff are paid)
• Pension scheme
• Staff training and development opportunities
• Annual leave entitlement and booking policy
• Employment benefits and perks
• Sickness/absence reporting procedure
• Maternity/parental leave policy
• Flexible working policy (if applicable)
• Diversity and dignity policies
• Health and safety
• Disciplinary procedure

Some employers provide staff with a company handbook and expect them to read it in their own time. However, there’s no guarantee that this will happen.

To ensure that new recruits are well informed about your company, how they’ll fit into it, and what to expect from you as their new employer, you should go through the company handbook with them during the onboarding process. That way, you’ll avoid misunderstandings and miscommunications, and ensure that they fully understand what it’s like to work with you.

Set up their work equipment

The next part of an efficient onboarding process is to set up their work equipment. If your business is still in the micro stage, it could be that employees have to use their personal laptops or computers for work. If it’s a little bigger, then you might supply this equipment for them.

Either way, new joiners will now need some time with IT to get set up. This involves logging into their machines, setting up usernames and passwords for different software, connecting to the office WiFi, being trained on cyber safety and how to report IT issues, and installing equipment at home (if they’re a hybrid or remote worker).

Once they’re ready to go, it’s worth spending 15 minutes or so taking new staff members through your internal systems or portals. For example, if you use an online annual leave programme, show them how to request and manage their holiday, or if you have an intranet page where internal updates and memos are posted, show them where it is and how to use it.

It’s important to take care of equipment and IT issues early on to ensure a smooth onboarding process and prevent potential tech problems down the line, especially for new employees working remotely.

Stay in touch

Finally, remember to stay in touch and check in on your new staff every now and then. They’re bound to have questions as they settle in and they could be feeling apprehensive about reaching out to someone. So, their line manager should schedule a weekly catch-up just to see how they’re getting on and address any teething issues.

Office-based employees might also need a hand with socialising with the rest of the team. Yes, they’ve been introduced to be people on their first day, but long-term integration can be difficult for some.

You could ask a colleague to invite them to lunch, or if you host social events, such as post-work drinks on a Friday or quiz nights in the office, these are excellent opportunities to get new people involved, help them start conversations, and make them feel at home.

Conclusion

These are a few simple and effective ways that small businesses can conduct their onboarding process. Remember to start onboarding before their first day to help reduce anxiety and facilitate good and frequent communication with new recruits.

Once you have a system in place that works for your organisation, be sure to create an onboarding document and update it as your business evolves to ensure smooth and efficient onboarding in the future.