Skip to main content
Uncategorized

Best Practices in Human Resources For On-boarding New Employees

By March 5, 2013February 19th, 2015No Comments

Best practices for human resources have evolved over time, and we now recognize the first few days of employment as a critical period for new employees.  Much of the success of recruiting and hiring can be minimized if the new associate does not assimilate into the organization and culture.  To assure the maximum opportunity for success there are some best practices for initiating new employees to your organization.

Here are 5 best practices for human resources on-boarding new employees:

1. Put it in writing.  Have an employee manual available for the new associate to learn what the organization rules are, and as a reference.  To simply say you have a manual is not enough.  A new associate is being presented with a lot of information at the same time. To the extent that you can furnish a written document that can be referred to at a later date is very helpful.  It also can reduce liability and mitigate risk of any future issues arising from an associate indicating that they were not informed about a policy, such as vacation time or how to report in ill. Written policies will help the new associate learn about your organization.

2. Set Expectations.  When your new associate starts, having a guideline regarding expectations will help enormously.  Without a set of goals or understanding what the expectations are, the associate can become less productive.  Having the guideline of what is expected sets goals for the new employee to be productive sooner.

3. Seek cultural fit.  When interviewing and hiring, look for people who will fit into the culture of your organization.  If your team is primarily detail oriented and focused, having a person who does not share that level of attention to detail is a recipe for disaster.  Understand who may or may not be easily assimilated with the existing associates.  Have the ability to fit into your culture as one of the things you seek in a qualified candidate.

4. Be consistant.  If you have a policy and do not enforce it, it can be problematic in the short run as well as the long run.   If ever called to defend the policy, be assured that deviations will be pointed out.   Maintaining consistancy in enforcement sets clear boundaries and guidelines that are more easily understood, and which create the parameters for managing the team.

5. Understand motivation.  Different people do things for different reasons.  Some people are very goal oriented, some are money or award oriented, some seek recognition.  An understanding of what will encourage and reinforce the desired behaviors of the team is important to effectively managing your employees.  If you work with the appropriate motivation it’s much easier than working against people.  A willing and motivated worker is more productive and efficient.

Working with your employees and helping them to get up to speed quickly is a huge step toward happiness. It also helps to decrease turnover which can be a very expensive proposition.  Your employees are an investment, so it makes sense to employ people who have the best chance for success, and then giving them the tools and opportunity to be successful.

Button Text.