Annual CityScope® Business Issue
Whether joining a team of three or 3,000, a new hire’s onboarding experience can shape their time at an organization. Here, eight local leaders share how they help new team members feel welcome, prepared, and excited to begin a new role.
It is essential to incorporate an introduction to the company’s culture and expectations, training, and ongoing feedback into the onboarding process. At Miller, we are implementing a system that allows new employees to provide feedback on their onboarding experience at the 30-day mark and again at the 90-day mark. This feedback will be crucial in helping us optimize our onboarding experience.
Onboarding can be tailored to each new team member by assessing their individual learning styles and recalibrating our approach accordingly. Gathering feedback from the new hire about what is effective for them, as well as providing them with constructive feedback on their performance, is also essential for a successful onboarding experience.
During an employee town hall meeting, a new employee shared that he had never before worked for a company that genuinely allowed employees to express their opinions and contribute to positive changes in the work environment. He noted that, despite only being with the company for a month, he had experienced more face time with Miller Industries’ leadership than he had at his previous job. This highlights that onboarding is not solely the responsibility of human resources; rather, it is a collective effort involving every manager and employee who interacts with the new hire, all of whom play a crucial role in ensuring a positive onboarding experience.
We emphasize several aspects to promote a positive and energetic start to a career here at Trident. We focus on introducing our culture through interactive presentations with peers, managers, and our leadership team, as well as organizing group outings to foster team building and strengthen relationships. We promote employee training and support by equipping each new hire with a training program specific to their role and experience to set them up for success as well as empower them to feel confident as they start their career.
Current trends in onboarding really focus on creating an engaging, personalized experience for each new hire. Employees expect clear communication and a well-organized onboarding process to help them feel prepared, confident, and connected from the start. This includes introductions to the company in terms of leadership, values, and culture, as well as an interactive experience that isn’t all about paperwork. Starting a new job can be overwhelming, but entering a welcoming environment with people eager to meet you helps ease that stress and motivates you to hit the ground running, knowing we are here to support you.
Our success story is reflected in the career journeys of our employees at Trident. Seeing a new hire get promoted quickly and continue to advance is a testament to the effort we invest in our onboarding and training programs from the very beginning.
A positive onboarding experience accelerates the process of building a sense of community, enabling new associates to connect with their peers, stakeholders, and teams, while providing a roadmap to understand and embrace the culture. At Mars, onboarding brings our purpose to life by helping associates see how their contributions align with our mission, brands, and competitive edge. It also introduces them to the ways in which Mars connects with and gives back to the local communities where we operate. By providing guidance tied to our purpose and building communities, it sets the stage for associates to feel confident, supported, and ready to make meaningful contributions.
Associates now expect onboarding to be engaging, interactive, and purpose-driven. At Mars, we incorporate gamification elements to bring our brand and culture to life in a way that is both memorable and fun. These tools ensure new associates experience the company’s competitiveness and begin building their belief in our shared purpose from day one.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we were hearing feedback about improving the onboarding process to make it more personal. Without making changes, we were at risk of new associates lacking connection to our purpose and culture. We revamped our onboarding program which has greatly improved both the associate experience – as well as retention – by creating space for associates to build community to promote belonging and bringing our purpose to life so that associates attach more meaningful value to their day-to-day work.
Onboarding is their first official interaction with the bank and its culture. New employees are making a significant change and are typically both excited and anxious. It gives us a chance to show how important they are to us and reinforce that they made a good decision.
Onboarding begins the process of creating a roadmap that guides a new team member’s journey and ultimately helps them to be successful. We want to make them feel welcome and reinforce their decision to come work at RockPointBank. It also gives us the opportunity to introduce them to their new team members and environment.
Being local allows us to be more authentic and welcoming, and it allows new team members to meet our team and feel comfortable in their new environment. We emphasize company culture – RPB 3×3. At RockPointBank, we value the team. We believe our commitment to trust, respect, and communication is intrinsic to our success. Our culture is shaped every day, with every interaction, in every task. Everyone has to be engaged and accountable for us to create an environment that gives us a competitive advantage.
Many of us have experienced starting a new job in which we signed some paperwork and were then left to figure things out on our own. That’s not how we do things at LBA Hospitality. By planning for a new team member’s first day and setting aside time to personally welcome them, we make sure they feel like part of the team from the beginning. People want to feel valued and supported, and a thoughtful onboarding experience helps make that happen.
Something we really emphasize is company culture. We as HR professionals can speak about culture all day long, but we ensure new associates have the chance to hear firsthand from their teammates what makes LBA Hospitality a great company to work for. When new associates hear real experiences from their colleagues, it makes a lasting impact and helps them feel more connected.
We strive to make the onboarding process as straightforward as possible for our managers. By providing a clear plan, structured materials, and the right resources, we ensure that every new associate receives a consistent and welcoming experience. We also want managers to be able to focus on the fun parts of onboarding – helping new team members feel excited about where they work and who they work with.
Hybrid onboarding, or the use of electronic forms, is an efficient and convenient way to onboard for both the employee and employer. Additionally, our HR department has recently implemented the use of the 30/60/90 plan, which allows the reduction of employees resigning within a 90-day timeframe. It is used as a touch point between the employee, supervisor, and HR to know how the employee is acclimating to the organization and position at 30, 60, and 90 days.
We emphasize our new hire orientation, which all full- or part-time employees attend before starting their position. This addresses the mission, values, and culture of our organization, expectations of dress attire, hours, meal breaks, professional development expectations, policies, employee resources, and employee benefits. By offering this, it sets a foundation of what we as the employer expect from the employee moving forward in their position.
Within the past two years since implementing a more streamlined onboarding process with our new hire orientation, we have found less employees resigning and more employee consensus of completing required training and having less disciplinary issues. They are able to have questions answered up front before starting their positions and fully understand the expectations of the organization.
The ultimate goal of onboarding is to have a successful, dedicated, and top performing employee.
MedicareMisty’s company culture emphasizes that we are one team and we help each other. You don’t see that mindset on a lot of sales teams. Support and training is what we thrive on, and onboarding can affect an individual’s attitude toward their role.
The new employee’s expectations, as well as mine. They are assigned a dedicated agent that welcomes them and helps them one-on-one, walking them through our processes. We also conduct testing, which helps them gain product knowledge, as well as field training which helps them gain experience in the role. We want team members to be successful from day one.
Several agents have come to me who were previously not thriving in their roles. After being with me for a year they make more money and get more training then they ever have!
We provide our managers with step-by-step instructions for onboarding, but most importantly we have a personal agent to help them through the process.
Successful onboarding profoundly shapes an employee’s journey. When organizations recognize and thoughtfully address the natural mix of excitement and nervousness that comes with a career transition (or new role within their existing company), they transform onboarding from a procedural checklist into a powerful foundation for long-term success.
There are aspects of the role and the new hire’s previous experience that can help curate onboarding. For example, if the new hire has relocated, resources about the community (where to eat, where to shop, etc.) are a great way to help them settle in and get to know their new home. For someone starting their first management role, onboarding might include sessions with successful leaders in similar positions, along with clear guidance on managing team dynamics and responsibilities.
In my own onboarding experience, thoughtful touches made me feel valued from day one. My new workspace was fully set up, which signaled that I was expected and welcomed. The personal welcome note and goodie bag from my boss added a human touch. In addition, having a clear understanding of why I was hired and what my responsibilities would be gave me early confidence, while the welcome email to the organization made me feel immediately part of the team. The comprehensive approach gave me confidence that I’d made the right choice, and it’s something I still think about when welcoming new team members.
