5 Tips to create a great onboarding experience!
Having a smooth and planned onboarding process is incredibly important and can affect the success of your people and overall business.
A professional onboarding process can make or break a new employee’s experience with your media and events company; it’s their first insight into how your company operates and treats its people. A company that invests time in creating a smooth, thorough and friendly onboarding process will be better positioned to attract and retain top employees.
I’ve been thinking about the feedback I’ve received from the conference and events professionals I have worked with on what makes a great onboarding experience. Here are 5 top tips!
1. The run-up to starting
The contract is signed and returned, resignation is given and your new hire is possibly completing their notice period and eagerly waiting to join your team in their new job. At this point, it’s a fabulous opportunity to continue building the relationship and start to warmly welcome the new starter to the company. All communication before joining should be warm yet professional.
Ensure an outline of the first 1-2 weeks is shared with the person before joining including their instructions for day one – what to bring, time to arrive, who to ask for, where to go and what to expect. Provide a contact who can warmly answer any questions new employees have.
Lots of our clients ask new joiners to put together a little “blurb” about themselves which they circulate internally so that colleagues know a bit about a new team member before they start.
If tech packs need to be delivered to a new employee’s home address; communicate the details in good time so they can make arrangements to receive the package.
Also, if your team has a local event they are delivering it’s nice to extend an invitation to your new employees so they can see how you deliver your conferences, roundtables, awards or exhibitions etc.
2. Buddy up
Providing a Buddy can be helpful. Buddying with someone who has also recently joined the business is helpful and can speed up the new-starter path, it creates a shared experience. Alternatively, a Buddy who’s been in the company longer is just as helpful, they need to be ‘Buddy’ material (helpful, warm, friendly) and have the time to do a great job. One of my recent conference producer placements had a buddy from a different team in the business, their buddy had joined the company 4 months earlier and had lots of timely and relevant advice that helped my candidate to settle into the company and conference producer role.
3. Day one
Arriving at the office on the first day can be daunting, to make things smoother for your new colleague have everything set up and ready for their arrival. This will help ease their nerves, make them feel welcome and create a professional impression. Give the office tour the time it needs, there is so much to remember when you start a new job a calm and slow tour of the building is a great ice breaker. Try not to overload new starters with too much information at once, create refreshment breaks so they can reflect, make notes or ask questions.
4. Training and meet & greet
Deliver comprehensive online or in-person training asap so your new people can access important systems and procedures. Have in-person/online introductions and meetings with colleagues and senior management arranged in the first few days. Ensure throughout the first couple of weeks new starters know who is who!
5. Social stuff
Invitations to welcome lunches, coffees or after work drinks/socials can be helpful and provide a more relaxed setting to get to know people.
There are many more on-boarding initiatives that help new employees feel like part of the team straight away, but these are the basic things that any company, small or large, can do to set up new employees for the best possible start.
I’d love to hear about other great on-boarding experiences so please share yours with me!
Email me: helen@jbrecruitment.co.uk
Call me: 0203 488 2620
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About Jackson Barnes Recruitment
Jackson Barnes Recruitment delivers international recruitment solutions within the events, media, and publishing sectors. Jackson Barnes recruits Graduate to MD level in the following positions:
• Researcher
• Conference producer
• Event Marketing
• Sales – delegate, sponsorship & Business Development
• Event Manager
• Editor