Ways for Humanizing an Employee Onboarding Strategy

Hiring a workforce and helping the new employees acclimate to a different work environment go hand in hand. A successful onboarding process along with the right recruitment process plays a vital role in reinforcing the decision to join the company. It is essential to help them feel comfortable at the office and achieve short-term, as well as long-term success. While many would recommend a tactical approach (including sending emails and completing paperwork) for getting a professional on board, the true key to an effective and memorable experience is the empathetic approach. Yes, empathetic because one can’t undermine the blend of stressful and exciting emotions that people feel when starting a new job. Here, using an onboarding system tactically and thoughtfully can support a strategic yet humanized program. Not to forget, it is important to make new employees feel cared for, heard, and ready to contribute to the organization.

Here are some tips on how you can humanize new employees in your organization.

Focus on Individual Role and the Individual

First, look for the role they are taking on and tailor the strategy accordingly, which is necessary as what a salesperson might need is different from what the HR manager needs to carry out his job. Then, your next step will be to think about the individuals as the kind of person they are. It would allow for medical needs, social preferences, and other requirements of the workforce so they can transit through the odyssey smoothly.

Highlight the Specialty of the Workspace

Value and culture are imperative for every organization and making the employees understand them is even more important. It requires the HR managers to take on an extensive step and consider how and when these visions and values are showcased. Providing real examples of how it impacted the organization in the past, gives a chance to understand what culture looks like in practice.

Gauge and Iterate Success and Failure

Initial months at the company are critical for new hires, which is why frequent interventions to know if they are doing fine are necessary on the part of HR managers. This can be done by asking the same set of questions after the first week, one month, two months and three months and gauging what has changed for better and what needs to be improved further.

Determine When the Employee Should Start

Since the first day generally overwhelms the candidates, the employers must think of the appropriate day and time for them to join in. Each individual is unique and has a different threshold for processing new information and people at once. 

Final Thoughts

Every organization keeps the psychological safety of the new hires on top of their priority. Their human and empathetic approach to onboarding strategy allows them to make candidates’ experience fuller and deeper.