Easing into a new role

Today we will discuss the steps following successful pre-onboarding and onboarding. There is no fixed time to define the start and end of this phase as things such the specifics of the role and previous experience of the candidate need to be considered, however, after about a week or two into the role, the candidate should be ready to move into the next stage.

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From the company’s perspective, once the new employee is fully onboarded, welcomed to the team, got all necessary equipment and accesses, and went through all initial training and guides, it is time to get to the business.

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It is important to mention here that as much as the onboarding must be done well, the timing also matters. If the onboarding plan is not set up well, the onboarding stage will take unnecessary time that not only will be taken from the time that could have been used to start getting things done but it can also cause a loss of motivation of those driven and ambitious employees. In another words, the candidate might get an impression that the learning curve in their new role is not going to be as steep as they expected and if they receive another offer or they have previously declined another offer, they might start reconsidering the situation.

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The most important things to have in mind for this stage are:

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1)????Onboarding doesn’t have a strict end date. It is important to still treat the new hire as a new hire for the first few months. Do not leave them to their own devices once the onboarding session has been delivered. The first few months are important for relationship setting.

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2)????Schedule regular sessions with their line manager. Regular sessions between the manager and the employee are important regardless of the employee’s tenure, however, in the first months, the meetings should take place once a week with a set agenda in mind. Topics or questions that should be discussed are targeted to understand how the employee is settling into the team, what kind of things they have been working on, what challenges they have been facing, what kind of support do they require etc. Initially, those meetings can be informal.

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3)????6 months’ achievements plan. A plan detailed what is expected after month 1, month 2 etc. should be established, bearing in mind the type of role and experience of the employee. This will help the employee to feel motivated and should there be a misfit between expectations of both parties, this is an opportunity to determine the next steps.

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4)????Training needs should be identified at the beginning. Regardless of the level of the role and experience, everyone has a need for improvement of some skills, whether soft or technical. Lack of a development plan is one of the most common reasons why employees resign in early stages of the employment.

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5)????HR department still needs to play their role. HR should be a neutral territory that is detached from the line manager. Is it crucial to be seen as a place where any employee can go to discuss any concerns they might have. Keep checking on all the employees and make sure you are perceived as a partner, not an enemy.?