Your step-by-step employee onboarding programme

“Welcome to the business! Here’s your laptop, make sure you complete your compliance training, I’ll add you to the team Slack channel – enjoy!”

In many small businesses, onboarding is a very informal process. On an employee’s first day, they may get a tour of the workplace (or a Zoom intro to some of the key systems they’ll use), a quick onboarding call with HR and a bunch of training links from their manager, and then… crickets.

Many of us have started a new job where we’re left to our own devices. You fly through the employee handbook, complete your compliance training and send a few self-conscious intro messages to your new colleagues, but then what?

Best-practice employee onboarding can boost employee engagement, retention and belonging, so if your company isn’t prioritising it, it’s almost certainly missing a huge opportunity to create a fantastic first impression. If this sounds familiar, we’ve created a super practical step-by-step guide to setting up your employee onboarding programme – and no, it’s not just about compliance training, filling in forms and the office tour!

Day 1: Making a strong first impression

Day 1, let’s goooo! 

Just as your new employee will want to make a positive first impression, so should your team. This is the new starter’s first peek into your real company culture as an employee, beyond what they’ve seen in their interviews and on Glassdoor.

The three must-dos on day 1 are:

• A warm welcome: Ensure the new starter’s manager is free to welcome the new employee, talk them through the company and explain how the onboarding period will work
• Team introductions: Organise a welcome meeting or lunch to help the new starter meet their colleagues and start putting faces to names
• Logistical setup: Ensure the employee’s workspace, accounts and systems are ready – that includes email, your HR system, access to relevant files, the LMS and anything the new employee might need to do their job

On day 1, you want to reassure the new starter that they’ve made the right decision by coming to work for your company, so give them a top-notch first impression where they feel welcome, supported and guided. Nobody wants to spend their first day clicking around the company website trying to look busy, so provide a clear, structured employee onboarding programme, such as a 5app playlist, to walk the employee through the most important materials and training.

Week 1: Building the foundations

The rest of week 1 will be full of intro calls, questions and learning the basics. There will likely be mandatory compliance training and role-specific training to complete, as well as getting up to speed with key systems.

Assigning a buddy (usually an experienced teammate) to help the new employee navigate their first few days will help the very first part of the onboarding experience go smoothly, as the new starter will have a dedicated point of contact. 

However, you should also ensure that new employees have all the information they might need available to them on demand, usually via the LMS. Your onboarding playlist should contain things like the employee handbook, processes, standard operating procedures, policies and important forms, as well as the usual company background and training materials.

Top tip: Structure your onboarding playlist in a logical order to help new employees navigate a clear learning path. Start with the basics, then move onto more advanced topics, and don’t forget to create different onboarding playlists tailored to different teams or departments.

Cultural immersion should also be a priority in the first week. Managers should announce the arrival of the new employee, and encourage teammates to set up a time to introduce themselves. The employee should also be invited to any relevant social events, such as upcoming team lunches or company parties, and informed about any employee social groups, such as book clubs, walking groups or pub quiz fanatics.

Month 1: Developing confidence and competence

Throughout the first month, your new employees should feel like they’re getting into the swing of things. They know the basics, they’ve had all their intro calls and maybe they’ve been to a social event to get to know their team a little better.

Getting deeper with training

Now it’s time to enter a period of deeper, more specialised training. The employee’s manager should have a feel for the employee’s strengths, gaps in their knowledge and potential development areas, meaning they can suggest additional training to plug skills gaps and build confidence and competence.

Gaining competencies

Competency frameworks are incredibly useful for both new and existing employees to help them understand what skills they need to develop to improve their performance and achieve their career goals. Ascent Flight Training built an innovative competency framework in 5app to allow employees to identify the exact skills they need, helping everyone stay focused and keeping training efficient.

Real-time answers to burning questions

As the ‘real work’ is ramping up in the first month, a new employee will almost certainly have a lot of questions. An AI tutor agent, such as Vee, is a great way to get the new starter the answers they need, when they need them, without them needing to rely so heavily on their onboarding buddy.

Want to try an AI agent for yourself? We’re offering a free 30-day trial to all new users – claim yours here.

Offering feedback

By the end of the first month, the new employee’s manager should have a good idea about how they are settling in. Setting up regular one-to-ones gives the manager and employee the opportunity to proactively provide feedback, ask questions and create a tailored learning plan.

3 months: Making an impact

On the subject of feedback, the probation review usually falls around the three-month point. This is a crucial part of the employee onboarding programme, as the manager must assess the new employee’s performance, offer feedback and clarify the action plan going forward. For instance, does the new employee need a mentor? Do they need more training in a specific area? Are there any soft skills they should develop?

Becoming part of the team

By this point, the new employee should be getting embedded into the team from a social standpoint. Social integration isn’t just about showing up to team lunches – it’s also about how someone shows up to work every day. Are they joining in with the social chat at the start of meetings? Are they forming bonds with the team? Does it feel like they understand the culture?

This is often related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and is intrinsic to your company culture. If you notice a pattern where new employees find it hard to find their place in the business, it could be worth taking a closer look at your DEI efforts, and make sure you’re doing enough to welcome a diverse range of people to the organisation.

Top tip: Looking to strengthen your commitment to DEI? Our new content partner, PepTalk, has a wide range of engaging content on topics including gender equality, unconscious bias, neurodiversity and more, hosted by public figures and DEI experts such as Dame Inga Beale, Naomi Schiff and Elizabeth Day. Interested? Contact corey@5app.com for more information.

Engaging in continuous learning

A few months in, a new employee may be out of the initial onboarding process, but they’re still very much learning the ropes. They’re building on the foundations from the first few weeks, and discovering the nuances and intricacies of working at your company.

Supporting a continuous learning culture is essential – not just for your newest employees, but also for those who have been with you for years. A continuous learning culture means that everyone is always open and ready to learn – that means actively pursuing learning opportunities, trying new things and not being afraid to make mistakes. Your new employees should know exactly where to go for additional learning throughout their time with you, and their manager should make it clear that developing new skills is actively encouraged.

6 months: Feeling at home

Six months in, most new employees will just feel like… well, employees. They most likely won’t be the newest member of the business, and will have their feet under the table. They won’t have all the answers, but they’ll be a competent, valuable member of the team.

Give praise and recognition

Most people appreciate recognition at work. In fact, an Indeed survey found that 30% of people who left jobs within their first six months said that recognition could have helped them stay longer. 

Managers should set reminders in their calendars to flag employee milestones – or better yet, find software to do it for them. AI-powered employee recognition tools like Achievers, Eightfold and Haiilo are ideal for automating recognition and acknowledging achievements and contributions, ensuring nobody gets left out and everyone feels appreciated.

What’s next?

Six months down, many more to go! As part of your continuous learning culture, you need to provide ongoing support for career development. 

This could involve:

• Regular 1:1s with managers
• Playlists of tailored learning content
• Company, team and individual goal-setting
• Mentoring and coaching from a senior colleague
• Monthly comms from the HR team about new job opportunities

Supporting employees to progress in their careers will help them feel more motivated, happier and more likely to stick around for longer… and who would say no to that?