Hi Laura,

Congratulations on your new assignment and good luck going forward!

When a new hire joins your company, the first few months set the tone. If things go smoothly, the process can improve their long-term satisfaction, job performance, and retention.

As a manager, you play a critical role in the success of every new hire.

One of the key elements to a successful WFH working environment is being extremely structured and constantly delegating tasks.

The purpose here is achieving results through others “direct reports” by effectively communicating expectations and offering continuous support. Making sure all the required resources for someone to succeed are available.

The secret here is behind communicating expectations effectively - letting your people understand what task/mission to be completed is the most important element for a successful onboarding experience, new hires should never be left alone to figure out what their “to-do” item ”might going to be” - uncertainty in this area will lead to an extreme career burn out, and eventually unutilised talent/lost performance due to uncertainty.

To sum up:

1. Define an action plan with deadlines and list all items to be actioned by the worker

2. We never get free time or a relaxed sachedule, but for this induction to succeed - a daily catch up is highly recommended. 15 min will do it

3. Collaboration tools/shared access to files resources is useful - everyone is aligned

4. As a manager, your responsibility is heavily relying on achieving reaults through developing others “delegation” -rather than any other goals.

I have included few links below to help you structure a successfulVirtual onboarding. Recently, I was virtually onboarded - and trust me - I truly understand your situation. I know what the whole The journey feels like.

Few Helpful Resources:

1. Linkedln’s 2020 Virtual Onboarding Kit [.pdf]:
drive.google.com/.../view

2. Best Buy’s 90 Days Comprehensive Onboarding Plan + Fee Templates [.pdf]:
drive.google.com/.../view

3. New Hire Survey Template [.docx]:
docs.google.com/.../edit

Good luck!

Hi Laura ,

although I can't speak to this question from the management side as a new starter into a HR team a key thing for me was to be able to do something as soon as possible - not spend the first 10 days reading policies and doing stakeholder meetings.

When joining a role recently I found it useful that from the second day I would spend the morning doing practical tasks that did not require a lot of knowledge about the business ( correspondence , filing documents onto records etc) and the afternoons reviewing policies and procedures. Significantly I was asked to read the policies and procedure not just for information but with a critical eye. Was there anything that could be clearer? Were the policies due for review ? Were there any processes that seemed unnecessarily complicated? This added element helped cement an ownership of the way that HR worked within the business and built a deeper understanding of them.

This confidence and frame of reference was vital when it came to the stakeholder meetings that took place over the following weeks. First impressions count so much and I felt able to engage with the Managers and Directors I met in those weeks rather than simply listen to them explain their departments.

In terms of what to cover and when - depending on their level of previous HR experience the things that are unique to your organisation
- file structure ( where to find things )
- People Data ( Where and how are personnel, Absence, Sickness and performance recorded)
- organisation chart ( who , areas of responsibility - ideally with recent Pictures)
will foster independent working more quickly I guess.

I am not sure that fully answers your query but I hope that it is of some help

Good luck

Sarah

In reply to Sarah:

Hi Laura

One way might be to 'map' the job description alongside a source list / check list / action plan of essential information (and crucially proposals for achieving specified proficiency / competency at the various tasks).

If it's 1 to 1 it shouldn't be too difficult - even if mainly shadowing / sitting with Nellie aka Laura!

Hi All,

I thought I would use this thread to ask my question as they are related. I am starting a new role in HR from January. This will be my 2nd role and I wasn't happy with onboarding I received the first time, so I would like to take charge of the process at my next company. Do you have any advice on what to focus on to ensure that I get up to speed quickly?