September 9, 2025 • 24 mins
You know that sinking feeling when you start a new job and immediately wonder, “Did I make the right choice?”
That’s exactly what happens to new employees when onboarding falls short. And here’s the truth: once doubt creeps in, it’s hard to undo.
In this episode, we’ll dive into why onboarding is so much more than paperwork, how to avoid giving your new hires “buyer’s remorse,” and what leaders can do to create an experience that builds confidence, connection, and commitment.
Episode takeaway: Don’t let your new hires second-guess their decision to join your team. Onboarding is your chance to show them they belong and set the foundation for high performance.
Ready to lead more boldly and build a powerhouse team to exceed your goals?
The Leadership Shift Coaching helps leaders lead with confidence, influence outcomes, and build teams that thrive without burning out. https://go.cignalpartners.com/leadershipshift
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Subscribe at https://go.cignalpartners.com/leadnews
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tonya D. Harrison (00:01):
Think about the last time you checked into a
really nice hotel or resort.
From the moment you arrived,how did it make you feel Welcome
, valued, like everything wasalready prepared for you.
They were waiting for yourarrival.
Now compare that to a time thatyou checked into somewhere and
(00:24):
felt like you were just anothernumber, where no one seemed
ready for your arrival.
Which experience do you wantfor your team members to have on
their first day?
What does that experience looklike?
What does that experience looklike?
(00:45):
Welcome to Leveraging Operationsand Leadership, the podcast
that bridges the gap betweenoperational excellence and
leadership development.
I'm your host, Tonya D Harrison, founder of Signal Partners,
and I equip leaders with thestrategies and tools to cut
through the overwhelm, leadboldly, and build
high-performing teams withoutthe burnout.
(01:06):
Let's talk about thisonboarding experience.
First impressions matter.
For new employees, the first 90days can make or break their
decision to stay.
In fact, up to 20% of employeeturnover happens within the
first 45 days.
(01:27):
They've come, they've seen andthey decided to leave.
I know I'm not the only onethat has had this less than
great experience with anorganization, and it does make
you think like if this is whatI'm getting right out the gate.
(01:50):
Do I really want to stay aroundand see what else is behind the
curtains?
Because usually firstimpressions people are bringing
their A game.
It's like the best, the firstimpression right.
So if you are managing a teamand you're hiring people, you
don't want your team members tofeel this way.
(02:13):
Today I'm going to talk throughabout not just why it matters,
but things that you could do toimprove the experience for your
new team member.
Besides the fact that it's theright thing to do, the second
thing is is that this is where alot of employee turnover
happens 20% within the first 45days and then it goes up from
(02:37):
there, because you have somepeople that not that they
decided to stay, but maybe thatthey are looking for another job
.
We want to make sure that weare treating people like we
appreciate them, we're invitingthem in to this space and we
want them to feel welcome.
(02:59):
Part of what I believe happensis that we confuse orientation
with onboarding, which they aredifferent.
They're vastly different.
When you think orientation,think one-time event.
This is often handled by humanresources.
They have some paperwork thatneeds to be filled out.
(03:20):
They may talk to them aboutsome compliance trainings that
need to be done.
It's logistics.
It's making sure that they haveeverything to officially start
work.
That's not onboarding.
Onboarding is longer.
It's an ongoing process Think30, 60, 90 days ongoing process.
(03:48):
Think 30, 60, 90 days.
Depending on the job, it couldbe up to a year, but usually
it's within the first 90 daysand you are focused on making
sure that your new team member,of course, feel welcome, but
integrated into the organization, and making sure that they're
building the right relationships.
And this is an opportunity foryou, as the manager or the
(04:09):
leader of the department, tomake sure that you are setting
the expectations right out thegate and that they are able to
gain confidence within theirrole.
You, in essence, want to setthem up for long-term success
and retention.
Think about here's how yousucceed and thrive.
(04:30):
Here we know how to thrivewithin our organizations.
We need to be making sure thatwe're sharing the appropriate
things with our new team membersso that they can be successful
and they can do the same thing.
What's the point of goingthrough the process of hiring
people, this interview processthat you go through, of
(04:54):
interviewing all of these people, selecting a candidate and
bringing them on to mistreatthem?
That's like inviting someoneover to your home and telling
them that they can stay with you, and then you mistreat them and
you wonder why they are out ofthere or you're wondering why
they're not having a good time.
(05:14):
Think about the things that youcan do.
Let's talk about this firstimpression window, this first
impression window.
When we're talking about thefirst impression, it's not just
for some people.
They've already met the leaderin the interview.
They haven't met the team andsome of the other people, but
(05:36):
we're talking about when theyactually come into the
organization.
Let me be clear it doesn'tmatter if it's a remote position
or if it is a where they arephysically coming into a
building.
There still should be a processthat's followed to make sure
that person is set up forsuccess.
(05:56):
Remote onboarding is not new.
Let me be really clear.
I was managing teams in otherareas way before we went through
this whole everybody's on Zoomthing.
So way before COVID hit, peoplewere managing people in other
states, in other areas.
(06:17):
This isn't something that's new.
I was doing it back when wewere doing conference calls,
right, and then we started doingvideos in the conference room
and then we moved to Zoom, butit's not new.
So you need to figure out a wayto do it.
That is, if you're managingremote people versus if you're
managing people that are in aphysical location.
(06:40):
It doesn't matter, they stillneed an onboarding process.
When we're talking about thefirst impression window, think
about the psychological contractwhen your new team member come
on board.
There's some unwritten set ofexpectations between the
(07:00):
employee and employer.
You have some expectations andthey have some expectations as
well.
And if, for instance, duringthe interview, you alluded to
the fact that this was acollaborative environment and
you are a supportive manager,how's it going to look if this
(07:24):
person comes and they don't seeyou for three days?
That doesn't feel reallysupportive.
Or you're not helping tointroduce them.
To the people that they'regoing to be working side by side
with, you say it'scollaborative.
They need to know who they'reworking with.
Think about these things.
It's an unwritten set ofexpectations that you have and
(07:44):
that the employee has and itreally does matter.
And it goes beyond the laptopsand the logins, which that could
be extremely annoying if you'restarting and you don't have
access to anything.
But it goes beyond that.
It goes to the way that youwelcome someone.
It really sends a signal aboutwhat kind of leader you are and
(08:06):
what kind of organization theyjust joined.
I know for a fact I have joinedorganizations and it made me
rethink my entire decision, like, oh my gosh, I can't believe
that I made a decision to workhere.
And you have to think about howyou want your team member to
(08:33):
feel.
That's not the feeling that youwant them to feel.
You don't want them going homethinking or talking to their
spouse or their family andsaying I don't know if I made
the right decision.
You want them to be confidentin their decision.
It's kind of like bias remorse.
You don't want them like Ican't believe I did this Because
, at the end of the day, justlike you had an opportunity to
(09:00):
choose somebody else, they mayhave had an opportunity to
choose somebody else as well.
And if they did, they willpretty soon somebody else as
well.
And if they did, they willpretty soon.
Let's talk about core elementsof effective onboarding.
This is really going to get usin the right direction.
When you break it out, there'sa couple of things that you want
(09:21):
to do.
Number one pre-onboarding.
This is extremely important andthis goes beyond the welcome
email that they receive fromhuman resources, but the IT
setup.
I don't know what's no shade toIT, but, geez, we would like
our people to have some accesswhen they get there, and you
(10:03):
know so.
It's making sure that the formsare completed, that they have
access to the software that theyneed, that they have a desk to
sit at.
You know that they haveeverything.
Well, let me say it this way Ifyou know that either you are
usually slow with getting thepaperwork to IT, or if IT is
slow about getting access topeople, then figure out what are
you going to do on day one,because having them sit around
waiting on logins is not ananswer.
(10:32):
On logins is not an answer.
Have written out, documented,put together an onboarding plan
about what is going to happenfrom day one to the end of the
onboarding process.
If that's 90 days, 90 days, buthave that laid out so you know
what's going to happen.
They know what's going tohappen and anybody that's
involved in the process.
They know what's going tohappen.
If you have trainers ortraining, that needs to happen.
(10:53):
Or if they're going to have abuddy, they're going to be
sitting with people.
All of that should be laid outso everybody knows what the
expectations are.
That's day one, and a buddy maybe the option.
Like I said, depending on whatit is that they are going to be
doing, a quick win could beassigning a buddy, but you still
(11:14):
need to do the work to makesure everything is laid out
about how that's going to look.
Now, the first week.
This is where you want to be asstructured as possible, have a
structured schedule, clearexpectation, culture immersion
so they are just immersed in theculture and encourage shadowing
(11:35):
and hands-on learning whereverpossible and where it makes
sense.
As the leader, you need to showup.
It doesn't mean that you pawnthem off on someone else.
You still need to be presentand be a part of this process,
and I would encourage you tohave meetings with them along
(12:00):
the way, not just, like I said,putting them with someone and
then you disappear.
They need to see you.
You have to remember thatyou're the first person that
they know because youinterviewed them.
Don't leave them out there bythemselves.
It doesn't matter how much of aself-starter, because we like
to say, oh, they need to beself-started.
Well, you know, we need to bebetter leaders too.
(12:22):
We need to remember that we arehere to serve, and serving our
team is a big part of leadership, and when we do that well, they
, in turn, automatically serveus.
You don't even have to ask forit.
Make sure you are showing up.
Make sure you're notdisappearing when your new team
(12:43):
member comes.
Don't pawn them off on somebodyelse.
Make sure you are showing upfor them.
Also, create a plan.
I talked about this a littlebit.
Have a 90-day plan and in it ithas milestones that you're
going to use to measure theirprogress.
At 30 days, this is where theyshould be.
(13:05):
At 60 days, this is where theyshould be.
At 90 days ideally, this iswhere they should be.
This is something that is nothidden.
It's not behind the curtains.
You have made it clear aboutwhat your expectations are.
When a new person comes on board, this is the perfect time to
make your expectations clear.
(13:26):
It's also one of the easiesttimes to make your expectations
clear because you're not worriedabout oh, I took over this
department and some people areused to how things were
previously done.
That's not the case.
This is a fresh slate, a newslate.
This person has never workedfor the organization.
This is your opportunity.
(13:48):
Make sure you have that plan inplace milestones to measure the
progress as you go along andalso have regular check-ins and
feedback loops.
Again, even if they're with abuddy, even if they're training
with someone, you still need tobe an active participant in this
process.
Carve out, maybe at the end ofthe day where you just do a
(14:09):
quick check-in, do that a coupleof times a week in the
beginning and then eventuallyyou're not going to keep doing
it every couple of days.
Eventually it may go to once aweek or whatever your process is
, but make sure you are touchingin with them on a regular basis
, make sure you are getting toknow them.
This is a great opportunity tounderstand what their goals are
(14:34):
and also to understand what someof their strengths are,
especially if you are formingyour department.
So a lot of times when we'rebringing on new employees, we
are doing a mini restructure toour department because it's a
great opportunity to do it.
Those are the core elements ofeffective onboarding the
(14:55):
pre-boarding you have the firstweek done and then creating that
30, 60, 90-day plan milestonesto measure progress that's
embedded in it, and meeting withthem on a regular basis.
One of the things that I used todo with new employees was we
would have a welcoming breakfastor lunch.
(15:17):
It doesn't have to be somethingthat's grand right, like I'm
talking about bagels, donuts,what have you.
If it is a remote team, youcould have something breakfast
delivered where you meet overbreakfast or over coffee or
whatever it is.
But kind of think about how doI make this person feel welcome,
(15:40):
how do I reiterate the factthat I am happy that they are
here?
I selected them because Ithought that they were the best
person for the job and I want tomake sure that that comes
across loud and clear and theyunderstand that and they feel it
.
They feel seen and heard andvalued right out the gate.
(16:03):
Now I have some human-centeredonboarding tips and these.
I feel like a lot of this hasbeen lost in the onboarding
process and we need to bring itback.
Treat them like again you'rehappy.
They chose you Just like youhad choices.
They had choices.
Refund their decision.
(16:25):
No, we don't want any buyer'sremorse.
We don't want them going homethinking that they made the
wrong decision.
We want them to go home and sayyou know what, home thinking
that they made the wrongdecision.
We want them to go home and sayyou know what?
I know I made the rightdecision.
I'm happy that I made thedecision that I made.
Second thing make sure youacclimate them to the team.
(16:45):
You're going to facilitateintroductions.
You can schedule coffee chatsor lunches, like I mentioned
earlier.
You can schedule coffee chatsor lunches, like I mentioned
earlier, whether you pay forthem or not.
You need to at least at minimumbe facilitating this.
Do introductions.
If you know that there's peopleor someone in another area that
(17:07):
they're going to be workingwith on a regular basis,
facilitate that introduction,kind of help them along, get to
know them personally.
Ask about the goals, thelearning styles, career
aspirations.
This does not mean when I sayget to know them personally, it
doesn't mean that you have to beall up in their business.
(17:29):
You don't have to know all ofthe specifics, but the things
that you need to know are, likeI said, their goals, how they
learn best and some careeraspirations.
Remember, you are there toserve them.
Leadership is about equippingand supporting and serving.
(17:51):
Equipping and supporting andserving.
Another thing to set the toneearly model communication norms.
Be clear about what yourboundaries are and build
psychological safety.
You want people to feel thatthey are in a safe environment.
They are safe to express ideas,especially for new people.
(18:14):
It takes a lot for a lot of newpeople to express something.
They're walking into anenvironment.
They don't know what hashappened, they don't know
conversations that's been takingplace, they don't know this
person from that person.
For them to provide theirinsight, it takes courage and
you want to make sure that youprovide a space for them to
provide their insight.
It takes courage and you wantto make sure that you provide a
(18:35):
space for them to do exactlythat.
And again, clear expectationsare imperative, and just think
clear expectations, equalconfidence.
Don't leave them guessing.
Be upfront about the priorities, the performance measures and
the cultural values.
Make sure that they understandall of this Right out the gate,
(19:01):
right out the gate.
And remember, onboarding isn'tHR's job, it's your
responsibility as a manager.
This is your employee, this isthe person that you are going to
be working with.
This is a person that's a partof your team, having those
(19:22):
regular one-on-ones activelylistening, and you are providing
clarity along the way, becausethey're going to likely have a
lot of questions and this is anopportunity for you to provide
that clarity.
You set the tone All right.
A couple of common mistakes isyou know that I've seen is
(19:45):
information overload, wherewe're just doing data dump or
you're sitting somebody in thecorner and you're telling them
to read all of these processes.
Another mistake to avoid isleaving new hires idle or
unconnected Again.
Just because they don't haveaccess to the software that they
(20:07):
need doesn't mean that youcan't have things for them to do
.
Another mistake is assumingculture will just happen.
It doesn't work that way.
You have to be really clearabout what the culture is, and
the biggest way that you coulddo that is by modeling what you
expect and by modeling thatculture, and your current team
(20:29):
that's already there shouldalready be modeling it as well.
The last mistake is skippingfeedback or milestones.
You're going to get busy.
That's going to happen.
Make sure that you are blockingtime out on your calendar to
meet with this person.
You have a way of trackingthese milestones, not just
(20:50):
saying in 30 days you need to doX, y, z, knowing that you have
no way to track it.
That makes no sense.
Providing them with milestonesthat matter and milestones that
you can track and measure.
That way, when you have theconversation about 30 days,
where they are, it can besomething that is real.
(21:10):
It's something that you havetalked about.
They know if they're meeting itor not.
You both are on the same page.
In essence, make sure thatonboarding is not reduced to
orientation.
It's not reduced to oh, this issomething that I have to do.
No, this is something that youget to do.
You have a new team member.
(21:31):
This is something you get to do.
You have a new team member.
This is something you get to do.
This should be a good thing.
It's about building thatconnection right out the gate.
Right out the gate.
One of the stats that I saw thatmade me really think about this
topic is great.
Onboarding improves retentionby 82% and productivity by 70%.
(21:55):
If that's enough reason to makeyou want to do it like I don't
know what is, but if you canincrease retention and you can
increase productivity, then thatis a reason to do it, but
there's no better reason to doit than it is the right thing to
(22:16):
do.
An action step would be toaudit your current onboarding
process.
What does that look like If youeven have one?
If you don't have one, this isa good opportunity to develop
one and think about what's acouple of things you know, one
to three things that you canimprove before your next
employee.
And if you do not have a 30, 60, 90 day plan, it's a 90 day
(22:40):
plan.
I put the 30, 60, 90, becauseyou want to have the milestones.
If you don't have that plan, Iwould start with that plan.
Get really clear on what youare expecting so that you can
share that with them, becauseyou want them to be successful.
You want the people that youhire, the people that you bring
(23:02):
into the organization, to be assuccessful as possible.
Even if you leave, you stillwant to set them up for success.
All right.
So that is it.
And if you'd like helpdesigning an onboarding process
or building a high-performingteam, these are some of the
things that we can talk about inthe Leadership Shift.
(23:25):
The Leadership Shift is aone-on-one private coaching that
is geared towards you.
It's a safe space for you toshare some of the challenges
that you are encountering andfor me to provide you with some
tools and strategies, or even,if you are ready, to position
yourself for your next level asa leader.
(23:46):
This is a great opportunity.
So you can go tosignalpartnerscom.
Slash the shift Again.
That's signalpartnerscom.
Slash the shift Again.
That's signalpartnerscom.
Slash the shift and I'll dropit in the show notes as well.
Thanks again for joining me,because I know you can spend
your time doing a lot of otherthings.
If you find these episodeshelpful, be sure to give us a
(24:09):
five-star review and then alsoshare with somebody else.
Don't make us a five-starreview and then also share with
somebody else.
Don't make us a well-keptsecret.
Share with other leaders whocould benefit from some of the
topics that we are sharing.
All right, have a great week.
Think about the last time you checked into a
really nice hotel or resort.
From the moment you arrived,how did it make you feel Welcome
, valued, like everything wasalready prepared for you.
They were waiting for yourarrival.
Now compare that to a time thatyou checked into somewhere and
(00:24):
felt like you were just anothernumber, where no one seemed
ready for your arrival.
Which experience do you wantfor your team members to have on
their first day?
What does that experience looklike?
What does that experience looklike?
(00:45):
Welcome to Leveraging Operationsand Leadership, the podcast
that bridges the gap betweenoperational excellence and
leadership development.
I'm your host, Tonya D Harrison, founder of Signal Partners,
and I equip leaders with thestrategies and tools to cut
through the overwhelm, leadboldly, and build
high-performing teams withoutthe burnout.
(01:06):
Let's talk about thisonboarding experience.
First impressions matter.
For new employees, the first 90days can make or break their
decision to stay.
In fact, up to 20% of employeeturnover happens within the
first 45 days.
(01:27):
They've come, they've seen andthey decided to leave.
I know I'm not the only onethat has had this less than
great experience with anorganization, and it does make
you think like if this is whatI'm getting right out the gate.
(01:50):
Do I really want to stay aroundand see what else is behind the
curtains?
Because usually firstimpressions people are bringing
their A game.
It's like the best, the firstimpression right.
So if you are managing a teamand you're hiring people, you
don't want your team members tofeel this way.
(02:13):
Today I'm going to talk throughabout not just why it matters,
but things that you could do toimprove the experience for your
new team member.
Besides the fact that it's theright thing to do, the second
thing is is that this is where alot of employee turnover
happens 20% within the first 45days and then it goes up from
(02:37):
there, because you have somepeople that not that they
decided to stay, but maybe thatthey are looking for another job
.
We want to make sure that weare treating people like we
appreciate them, we're invitingthem in to this space and we
want them to feel welcome.
(02:59):
Part of what I believe happensis that we confuse orientation
with onboarding, which they aredifferent.
They're vastly different.
When you think orientation,think one-time event.
This is often handled by humanresources.
They have some paperwork thatneeds to be filled out.
(03:20):
They may talk to them aboutsome compliance trainings that
need to be done.
It's logistics.
It's making sure that they haveeverything to officially start
work.
That's not onboarding.
Onboarding is longer.
It's an ongoing process Think30, 60, 90 days ongoing process.
(03:48):
Think 30, 60, 90 days.
Depending on the job, it couldbe up to a year, but usually
it's within the first 90 daysand you are focused on making
sure that your new team member,of course, feel welcome, but
integrated into the organization, and making sure that they're
building the right relationships.
And this is an opportunity foryou, as the manager or the
(04:09):
leader of the department, tomake sure that you are setting
the expectations right out thegate and that they are able to
gain confidence within theirrole.
You, in essence, want to setthem up for long-term success
and retention.
Think about here's how yousucceed and thrive.
(04:30):
Here we know how to thrivewithin our organizations.
We need to be making sure thatwe're sharing the appropriate
things with our new team membersso that they can be successful
and they can do the same thing.
What's the point of goingthrough the process of hiring
people, this interview processthat you go through, of
(04:54):
interviewing all of these people, selecting a candidate and
bringing them on to mistreatthem?
That's like inviting someoneover to your home and telling
them that they can stay with you, and then you mistreat them and
you wonder why they are out ofthere or you're wondering why
they're not having a good time.
(05:14):
Think about the things that youcan do.
Let's talk about this firstimpression window, this first
impression window.
When we're talking about thefirst impression, it's not just
for some people.
They've already met the leaderin the interview.
They haven't met the team andsome of the other people, but
(05:36):
we're talking about when theyactually come into the
organization.
Let me be clear it doesn'tmatter if it's a remote position
or if it is a where they arephysically coming into a
building.
There still should be a processthat's followed to make sure
that person is set up forsuccess.
(05:56):
Remote onboarding is not new.
Let me be really clear.
I was managing teams in otherareas way before we went through
this whole everybody's on Zoomthing.
So way before COVID hit, peoplewere managing people in other
states, in other areas.
(06:17):
This isn't something that's new.
I was doing it back when wewere doing conference calls,
right, and then we started doingvideos in the conference room
and then we moved to Zoom, butit's not new.
So you need to figure out a wayto do it.
That is, if you're managingremote people versus if you're
managing people that are in aphysical location.
(06:40):
It doesn't matter, they stillneed an onboarding process.
When we're talking about thefirst impression window, think
about the psychological contractwhen your new team member come
on board.
There's some unwritten set ofexpectations between the
(07:00):
employee and employer.
You have some expectations andthey have some expectations as
well.
And if, for instance, duringthe interview, you alluded to
the fact that this was acollaborative environment and
you are a supportive manager,how's it going to look if this
(07:24):
person comes and they don't seeyou for three days?
That doesn't feel reallysupportive.
Or you're not helping tointroduce them.
To the people that they'regoing to be working side by side
with, you say it'scollaborative.
They need to know who they'reworking with.
Think about these things.
It's an unwritten set ofexpectations that you have and
(07:44):
that the employee has and itreally does matter.
And it goes beyond the laptopsand the logins, which that could
be extremely annoying if you'restarting and you don't have
access to anything.
But it goes beyond that.
It goes to the way that youwelcome someone.
It really sends a signal aboutwhat kind of leader you are and
(08:06):
what kind of organization theyjust joined.
I know for a fact I have joinedorganizations and it made me
rethink my entire decision, like, oh my gosh, I can't believe
that I made a decision to workhere.
And you have to think about howyou want your team member to
(08:33):
feel.
That's not the feeling that youwant them to feel.
You don't want them going homethinking or talking to their
spouse or their family andsaying I don't know if I made
the right decision.
You want them to be confidentin their decision.
It's kind of like bias remorse.
You don't want them like Ican't believe I did this Because
, at the end of the day, justlike you had an opportunity to
(09:00):
choose somebody else, they mayhave had an opportunity to
choose somebody else as well.
And if they did, they willpretty soon somebody else as
well.
And if they did, they willpretty soon.
Let's talk about core elementsof effective onboarding.
This is really going to get usin the right direction.
When you break it out, there'sa couple of things that you want
(09:21):
to do.
Number one pre-onboarding.
This is extremely important andthis goes beyond the welcome
email that they receive fromhuman resources, but the IT
setup.
I don't know what's no shade toIT, but, geez, we would like
our people to have some accesswhen they get there, and you
(10:03):
know so.
It's making sure that the formsare completed, that they have
access to the software that theyneed, that they have a desk to
sit at.
You know that they haveeverything.
Well, let me say it this way Ifyou know that either you are
usually slow with getting thepaperwork to IT, or if IT is
slow about getting access topeople, then figure out what are
you going to do on day one,because having them sit around
waiting on logins is not ananswer.
(10:32):
On logins is not an answer.
Have written out, documented,put together an onboarding plan
about what is going to happenfrom day one to the end of the
onboarding process.
If that's 90 days, 90 days, buthave that laid out so you know
what's going to happen.
They know what's going tohappen and anybody that's
involved in the process.
They know what's going tohappen.
If you have trainers ortraining, that needs to happen.
(10:53):
Or if they're going to have abuddy, they're going to be
sitting with people.
All of that should be laid outso everybody knows what the
expectations are.
That's day one, and a buddy maybe the option.
Like I said, depending on whatit is that they are going to be
doing, a quick win could beassigning a buddy, but you still
(11:14):
need to do the work to makesure everything is laid out
about how that's going to look.
Now, the first week.
This is where you want to be asstructured as possible, have a
structured schedule, clearexpectation, culture immersion
so they are just immersed in theculture and encourage shadowing
(11:35):
and hands-on learning whereverpossible and where it makes
sense.
As the leader, you need to showup.
It doesn't mean that you pawnthem off on someone else.
You still need to be presentand be a part of this process,
and I would encourage you tohave meetings with them along
(12:00):
the way, not just, like I said,putting them with someone and
then you disappear.
They need to see you.
You have to remember thatyou're the first person that
they know because youinterviewed them.
Don't leave them out there bythemselves.
It doesn't matter how much of aself-starter, because we like
to say, oh, they need to beself-started.
Well, you know, we need to bebetter leaders too.
(12:22):
We need to remember that we arehere to serve, and serving our
team is a big part of leadership, and when we do that well, they
, in turn, automatically serveus.
You don't even have to ask forit.
Make sure you are showing up.
Make sure you're notdisappearing when your new team
(12:43):
member comes.
Don't pawn them off on somebodyelse.
Make sure you are showing upfor them.
Also, create a plan.
I talked about this a littlebit.
Have a 90-day plan and in it ithas milestones that you're
going to use to measure theirprogress.
At 30 days, this is where theyshould be.
(13:05):
At 60 days, this is where theyshould be.
At 90 days ideally, this iswhere they should be.
This is something that is nothidden.
It's not behind the curtains.
You have made it clear aboutwhat your expectations are.
When a new person comes on board, this is the perfect time to
make your expectations clear.
(13:26):
It's also one of the easiesttimes to make your expectations
clear because you're not worriedabout oh, I took over this
department and some people areused to how things were
previously done.
That's not the case.
This is a fresh slate, a newslate.
This person has never workedfor the organization.
This is your opportunity.
(13:48):
Make sure you have that plan inplace milestones to measure the
progress as you go along andalso have regular check-ins and
feedback loops.
Again, even if they're with abuddy, even if they're training
with someone, you still need tobe an active participant in this
process.
Carve out, maybe at the end ofthe day where you just do a
(14:09):
quick check-in, do that a coupleof times a week in the
beginning and then eventuallyyou're not going to keep doing
it every couple of days.
Eventually it may go to once aweek or whatever your process is
, but make sure you are touchingin with them on a regular basis
, make sure you are getting toknow them.
This is a great opportunity tounderstand what their goals are
(14:34):
and also to understand what someof their strengths are,
especially if you are formingyour department.
So a lot of times when we'rebringing on new employees, we
are doing a mini restructure toour department because it's a
great opportunity to do it.
Those are the core elements ofeffective onboarding the
(14:55):
pre-boarding you have the firstweek done and then creating that
30, 60, 90-day plan milestonesto measure progress that's
embedded in it, and meeting withthem on a regular basis.
One of the things that I used todo with new employees was we
would have a welcoming breakfastor lunch.
(15:17):
It doesn't have to be somethingthat's grand right, like I'm
talking about bagels, donuts,what have you.
If it is a remote team, youcould have something breakfast
delivered where you meet overbreakfast or over coffee or
whatever it is.
But kind of think about how doI make this person feel welcome,
(15:40):
how do I reiterate the factthat I am happy that they are
here?
I selected them because Ithought that they were the best
person for the job and I want tomake sure that that comes
across loud and clear and theyunderstand that and they feel it
.
They feel seen and heard andvalued right out the gate.
(16:03):
Now I have some human-centeredonboarding tips and these.
I feel like a lot of this hasbeen lost in the onboarding
process and we need to bring itback.
Treat them like again you'rehappy.
They chose you Just like youhad choices.
They had choices.
Refund their decision.
(16:25):
No, we don't want any buyer'sremorse.
We don't want them going homethinking that they made the
wrong decision.
We want them to go home and sayyou know what, home thinking
that they made the wrongdecision.
We want them to go home and sayyou know what?
I know I made the rightdecision.
I'm happy that I made thedecision that I made.
Second thing make sure youacclimate them to the team.
(16:45):
You're going to facilitateintroductions.
You can schedule coffee chatsor lunches, like I mentioned
earlier.
You can schedule coffee chatsor lunches, like I mentioned
earlier, whether you pay forthem or not.
You need to at least at minimumbe facilitating this.
Do introductions.
If you know that there's peopleor someone in another area that
(17:07):
they're going to be workingwith on a regular basis,
facilitate that introduction,kind of help them along, get to
know them personally.
Ask about the goals, thelearning styles, career
aspirations.
This does not mean when I sayget to know them personally, it
doesn't mean that you have to beall up in their business.
(17:29):
You don't have to know all ofthe specifics, but the things
that you need to know are, likeI said, their goals, how they
learn best and some careeraspirations.
Remember, you are there toserve them.
Leadership is about equippingand supporting and serving.
(17:51):
Equipping and supporting andserving.
Another thing to set the toneearly model communication norms.
Be clear about what yourboundaries are and build
psychological safety.
You want people to feel thatthey are in a safe environment.
They are safe to express ideas,especially for new people.
(18:14):
It takes a lot for a lot of newpeople to express something.
They're walking into anenvironment.
They don't know what hashappened, they don't know
conversations that's been takingplace, they don't know this
person from that person.
For them to provide theirinsight, it takes courage and
you want to make sure that youprovide a space for them to
provide their insight.
It takes courage and you wantto make sure that you provide a
(18:35):
space for them to do exactlythat.
And again, clear expectationsare imperative, and just think
clear expectations, equalconfidence.
Don't leave them guessing.
Be upfront about the priorities, the performance measures and
the cultural values.
Make sure that they understandall of this Right out the gate,
(19:01):
right out the gate.
And remember, onboarding isn'tHR's job, it's your
responsibility as a manager.
This is your employee, this isthe person that you are going to
be working with.
This is a person that's a partof your team, having those
(19:22):
regular one-on-ones activelylistening, and you are providing
clarity along the way, becausethey're going to likely have a
lot of questions and this is anopportunity for you to provide
that clarity.
You set the tone All right.
A couple of common mistakes isyou know that I've seen is
(19:45):
information overload, wherewe're just doing data dump or
you're sitting somebody in thecorner and you're telling them
to read all of these processes.
Another mistake to avoid isleaving new hires idle or
unconnected Again.
Just because they don't haveaccess to the software that they
(20:07):
need doesn't mean that youcan't have things for them to do
.
Another mistake is assumingculture will just happen.
It doesn't work that way.
You have to be really clearabout what the culture is, and
the biggest way that you coulddo that is by modeling what you
expect and by modeling thatculture, and your current team
(20:29):
that's already there shouldalready be modeling it as well.
The last mistake is skippingfeedback or milestones.
You're going to get busy.
That's going to happen.
Make sure that you are blockingtime out on your calendar to
meet with this person.
You have a way of trackingthese milestones, not just
(20:50):
saying in 30 days you need to doX, y, z, knowing that you have
no way to track it.
That makes no sense.
Providing them with milestonesthat matter and milestones that
you can track and measure.
That way, when you have theconversation about 30 days,
where they are, it can besomething that is real.
(21:10):
It's something that you havetalked about.
They know if they're meeting itor not.
You both are on the same page.
In essence, make sure thatonboarding is not reduced to
orientation.
It's not reduced to oh, this issomething that I have to do.
No, this is something that youget to do.
You have a new team member.
(21:31):
This is something you get to do.
You have a new team member.
This is something you get to do.
This should be a good thing.
It's about building thatconnection right out the gate.
Right out the gate.
One of the stats that I saw thatmade me really think about this
topic is great.
Onboarding improves retentionby 82% and productivity by 70%.
(21:55):
If that's enough reason to makeyou want to do it like I don't
know what is, but if you canincrease retention and you can
increase productivity, then thatis a reason to do it, but
there's no better reason to doit than it is the right thing to
(22:16):
do.
An action step would be toaudit your current onboarding
process.
What does that look like If youeven have one?
If you don't have one, this isa good opportunity to develop
one and think about what's acouple of things you know, one
to three things that you canimprove before your next
employee.
And if you do not have a 30, 60, 90 day plan, it's a 90 day
(22:40):
plan.
I put the 30, 60, 90, becauseyou want to have the milestones.
If you don't have that plan, Iwould start with that plan.
Get really clear on what youare expecting so that you can
share that with them, becauseyou want them to be successful.
You want the people that youhire, the people that you bring
(23:02):
into the organization, to be assuccessful as possible.
Even if you leave, you stillwant to set them up for success.
All right.
So that is it.
And if you'd like helpdesigning an onboarding process
or building a high-performingteam, these are some of the
things that we can talk about inthe Leadership Shift.
(23:25):
The Leadership Shift is aone-on-one private coaching that
is geared towards you.
It's a safe space for you toshare some of the challenges
that you are encountering andfor me to provide you with some
tools and strategies, or even,if you are ready, to position
yourself for your next level asa leader.
(23:46):
This is a great opportunity.
So you can go tosignalpartnerscom.
Slash the shift Again.
That's signalpartnerscom.
Slash the shift Again.
That's signalpartnerscom.
Slash the shift and I'll dropit in the show notes as well.
Thanks again for joining me,because I know you can spend
your time doing a lot of otherthings.
If you find these episodeshelpful, be sure to give us a
(24:09):
five-star review and then alsoshare with somebody else.
Don't make us a five-starreview and then also share with
somebody else.
Don't make us a well-keptsecret.
Share with other leaders whocould benefit from some of the
topics that we are sharing.
All right, have a great week.
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