It's often said that Rome wasn't built in a day. Onboarding is the same.

​I consider onboarding to cover the first three months of any new team member working with us.

By the end of their third month, they'll know everything they need to know about the business and their role. We'll have made sure they're able to succeed with their work and they'll be a trusted and productive member of the team.

I know three months feels like a long time, but it's worth it. Your time and effort is highest during their first week, then it reduces rapidly from there.

Having an expectation that onboarding lasts for three months helps me to remember that they can't know everything immediately.

This makes sure that I give them the focus and grounding that anyone, even the most highly skilled person, needs to really succeed in their role.

I like to end the onboarding period with a review with my team member.

We discuss their performance so far, the onboarding process and we identify any further actions needed. We then celebrate their first few months by sharing some wins and positive moments too.

The better you prepare for your new team member's arrival, the smoother things will be.

While the onboarding process runs through their first few months, it's this first stage that makes the biggest difference.

Here's the key areas we're going to focus on to help you prepare for your new team member:

• Access to systems and software
• Things for them to learn
• Initial tasks to work on
• Scheduling time with them in their first days

Tip: Use Loom to help you prepare

I use screen recording software called Loom to record myself talking through tasks that I want the new team member to do. This goes really well with any SOP documentation we have for them to read and reference.

Later, you can get your new team member to use these Loom videos to document any new processes to help improve things.

The worst thing for any new team member is turning up on day one and not being able to access the systems they need.

It's easier when you hire remotely because team members will normally provide their own laptops. This means that you just need to set up some new accounts.

​Here’s our list of core systems that new team members at JobRack need:

You'll likely have different systems but hopefully this helps to get you started.

• Email / collaboration system (Google Workspace)
• Internal communication tool (Slack)
• Project management system (Monday.com)
• Password management and sharing (Lastpass)
• Time tracking (Toggl)
• Support system (Helpscout)
• Recruitment system (Workable)

Team members may also need access to systems specific to their role. For example, a marketing person would need access to our email marketing tool, Active Campaign.

Shared accounts

Details for systems that use shared accounts are shared inside our password management system. New team members need to be added to the relevant groups so that they get access to the right things.

Using a tool like LastPass or 1Password to manage shared passwords makes management of shared accounts easy and secure.

Tip: Ask existing team members for help to compile your list of systems.​

When your team member starts, it's great to have some things for them to learn independently.

Documents, SOPs, client testimonials and your own website are all great sources of information for them.

This gives them a chance to understand your business without needing you, or other team members, to explain everything directly on calls.

Later, I check their understanding by getting them to explain things back to me.

I also encourage them to ask questions about what they've learnt to really make sure they've understood things correctly.

We often find that new hires are keen to start learning before they start so it can be useful to give them early access if that's possible.

Here are some screenshots of our read / watch list and some of our SOPs. These are on the onboarding task list in our project management system, Monday.com​​

Got a list of 58 tasks you can't wait to hand off to your new team member?

​Great.... just don't try and assign them all at once. You'll overwhelm them and that's not going to get a good result for you or them.

Listing out a manageable number of tasks that they'll start on allows you to get any documentation or videos ready for them.

You can also assign ‘filler tasks’. These are genuinely useful tasks that can fill their time while waiting for input or guidance on other things.

Good 'filler' tasks often include elements of research or audits. These can either be of you, or your competitors, and they give the team member a chance to spot opportunities for improvement.

​Here's a list of initial tasks that I planned when our Head of Recruitment joined us.

We discussed each task as part of our calls in their first week so she could get started right away.

The single most important part of onboarding is to spend enough time with your new team member.

As well as work-focused time, I think it's really important to spend relaxed, ‘getting to know each other’ time together as well.

If your new team member was coming to work in an office with you, then you’d naturally have these relaxed moments when getting a coffee, grabbing lunch or even walking past your desk.

When working remotely, these moments don’t happen naturally, so I'm really intentional about scheduling them in.

How much time should you spend with your new team member?

In their first week I’d suggest at least daily sessions of between 30 and 90 minutes, which includes some relaxed time getting to know them.

This gives you time to thoroughly explain your business to them before they start to work on initial tasks and projects. It also gives them plenty of time to ask questions.

Outside of their time with you, they'll also have time to meet the rest of the team and go through any documentation or videos that you may have for them.

Here’s what a typical first day looks like here at JobRack:

To really make new team members feel special, we send a ‘Welcome to the team’ card on their first day.

We use sendwishonline.com​​ to create a group e-card and each team member adds a message, gif or image to welcome our new team member.​

We then share this in our team Slack channel on their first morning.

Here's a detailed breakdown of a typical first day here at JobRack:

9am - Time with Noel (CEO). We talk about our company values, expectations,​ways of working, and the onboarding process.

This time with Noel happens for every new starter.

Depending on the size of your business, this may not be practical, but we really like starting a new team member's first day with time with Noel.

10am - Time for them to get access to the various systems. They can check their emails and start to read and watch key documents and videos.

11am - Daily standup with the full team.

1130 am - Time with their manager. This includes time to get to know each other and time to review the onboarding task list.

1230 - Lunch!

1330 - Time to read and watch our learning materials and get familiar with our systems. This helps to avoid the first day being too overwhelming for them.

1600 - Intro call with one of our team.

We set up 15-minute new starter intro calls with every team member (there’s 12 of us currently).

This gives the new team member a chance to meet everyone and start to get to know them. We’ll typically spread these calls over their first two weeks.

After the first day, the rest of the first week is all about getting the new team member comfortable and up to speed.

I focus on making sure they get a really solid understanding right at the start. This includes understanding the business, our team, our clients and our services.

It can be tempting to try to get your new team member to do work as soon as possible. But without the right context and understanding, this can lead to frustration.

Here’s what their first week looks like here at JobRack:

Here are some things that I focus on as we head into week two:

1. Feedback: I push myself to take time to provide feedback on their performance so far. It's also important for me to encourage them to share their thoughts on their role and the company as well.

When you establish an expectation of feedback and openness, it helps you to make adjustments early in the process. The sooner you identify any minor issues or misunderstandings, the easier it is to correct them before they become a bigger deal.

2. Task & project assignment: I'll start assigning more complex tasks or projects. This will help them to feel like they're contributing and give them a chance to show their skills.

When assigning and delegating work, the clearer you are on what you want, the better they’ll be able to meet your expectations.

I follow a Dan Martell principle called 10/80/10.

This is where 10% of my time on any task is explaining what I want, 80% of the time is them doing the work, then the final 10% is me reviewing and feeding back on the work they’ve done.

3. Team integration: I'll keep the focus on integrating them into the team. I encourage other team members to involve them in casual conversations, virtual coffee breaks and project discussions.

We use 'getting to know you' questions in our team meetings to help with this too. These are fun questions that all team members answer in turn that really help us to get to know each other.

Some of my favourite questions include what's the most embarrassing accident you've had, and what did you want to do as a career when you were a child.

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In week three, I'll typically spend just two hours with the new hire, covering things like:

1. Performance expectations: By this point they should have a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities.

If you haven’t already, then now is the time to discuss performance expectations and any metrics or KPIs they should be aiming for.

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2. Professional development: Discuss their professional growth inside the company. This could include potential training opportunities, books, courses, or certifications that could help them in their role.

I'm a big fan of team members continually developing their skills. We have a list of must-read books that really highlight things that are important to us as a company. This is on top of specific learning for individual roles and team members.

Our favourite book is The Power Of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. I highly recommend this for all businesses. It focuses on creating really great moments for clients and customers (and team members!).

3. How comfortable they are with our tools and systems: I like to make sure they are comfortable with all the tools and resources they need to use for their role.

What's obvious to you may not be obvious to them. Particularly if they haven't had a lot of experience using tools like project management software.

Tip: We've found that how people work is a great topic for a team discussion.

When team members share their challenges, and how they deal with them, it really brings them closer. Particularly when discussing things that challenge us all like time management, distractions and procrastination.

​In week four, I'll finish the main part of the onboarding process with:

1. First formal one-to-one: I'll have a formal review of the new hire's first month during a scheduled one-to-one. We'll use their team-member scorecard to guide us.

We'll discuss their first month, including their achievements, areas of improvement, and any issues they might be facing.

2. Long-term goals: We'll also start discussing their objectives and longer term goals.

Depending on when they start, these goals might be for the rest of the year or sometimes we'll just focus on one quarter at a time.

Having longer term goals that link to our company objectives helps them understand how they're contributing toward the business as a whole.

3. Onboarding feedback: I'll always ask for their feedback on the onboarding process and how they’d improve it.

This can provide useful information to improve the process for our next new hire.

As we move past their first month, my main focus is to make sure that regular and effective communication is happening with my new team member.

I’m a big fan of regularly checking in outside of scheduled one-to-ones.

I often ask for their feedback in Slack or hop on ad-hoc calls, asking if they need help or feel they could be contributing more.

We also have our regular one-to-one meetings, team meetings, and quarterly and annual reviews scheduled too.

Effective one-to-ones

To help drive really good conversations, we use a set of questions that we keep in our team-member scorecards. These help to make our one-to-ones really effective.

The team member completes the questions before each monthly one-to-one, and we discuss these together.

Reminder: Don't forget to celebrate the end of the onboarding process. I normally do this during their one-to-one at the end of their third month.

If you’ve got this far then congratulations! You know everything you need to know to successfully onboard your new team member.

Onboarding is the most important part of hiring.

Your hard work during the hiring process is wasted if you don’t set them up for success with a really great onboarding experience.

But you’ve read this guide and so you know how to make a really great onboarding experience.

Once you’ve onboarded your new hire the only question is…. Who will you need to hire next?!

If you would like some help to to figure out your next hire then you can find out more and get in touch with me at https://jobrack.eu/hiring

Happy Hiring!

Noel