Onboarding. This is a step that almost all fast-growing, people-starved start-ups forget in the rush to bring new people on. Yet it’s critical to develop an onboarding practice to align your new hires with your culture and to support them in being productive as quickly as possible.
If you aren’t convinced this is worth your while, here’s our pitch for why start-ups should invest in a (simple) onboarding process:
First, organizations with strong onboarding processes improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%. Onboarding is more than an orientation session, a new computer, and paperwork. It’s about integrating new team members into the culture and the team and setting clear expectations for their work, particularly over the first 6 months.
Second, onboarding is also an opportunity to validate their decision to join your team. Many hires will decide to stay or leave a company within the first few months, with some studies indicating that 20% of new hires leave within the first 45 days of employment – largely due to their onboarding experience!
As you’ve probably noticed from Sagana’s previous tips, we like “wasabi” suggestions (i.e., little ideas that pack a big punch). Our favorite tip for onboarding is to assign everyone a “buddy” the week before they join. A buddy is a peer at the company – ideally not someone the new joiner will work with on a day-to-day basis. They are tasked with being the new joiners’ first “friend” at your company and to support your new hire understand the unwritten rules and norms at your company, helping them perform more quickly. The buddy also creates an instant social network for the new joiner, building their sense of belonging and connection and therefore commitment to your mission and firm.
Lastly, the beauty of the buddy is that they help take the pressure off the hiring manager to be the new joiner’s go-to person for ALL things. (We know how busy managers are!)
If you would like to learn more about how we can help with onboarding or any other talent topic, feel free to email me at kimberly.reott@sagana.com.
