| | JULY - 2023MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM9ONBOARDING WITH HEARTI've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget the way you made them feelDay 1 ­ The Tour and More On Day 1, take the time to take the new team member on a tour of the facility. If they are working in an office take them from person to person and introduce them. Tour the common areas such as lunchrooms and breakout rooms.Learning everyone's name in a new workplace takes time, for most people it doesn't happen the first day, even with a walk-about. That's why providing an org chart with photos is another great way to reaffirm who is who and put names to faces. Also provide a contact information list (e.g. emails/extensions) so that new employees have contact info for their direct report, an HR contact, and other contact info they need to know.Schedules & training Training opportunities where they can train with a trainer in person or online are ideal; however, this may not be realistic for all environments. If they are doing online training don't have them do it all on day one or in one sitting. There is no greater way to disengage someone and create training overload. Break up the training and ensure training time is noted in their online calendars.The Buddy system Although we are all adults now, we still have fears. How do we help alleviate some of these fears when onboarding someone? How do we do our best to set them up for success? Set them up with a buddy. This is a simple but highly effective tactic. In their onboarding first-week schedule provide their Buddy's contact information and have the HR team coordinate a call before day one where they are introduced to their buddy.The buddy simply put is the person that is a positive company ambassador who is there to help. They also meet the person on the new hire's first day, show them around, and introduce them to the team, in person or via a Zoom or TEAMS call. They are also the go-to, to show the new employee info such as where to put their lunch, where the best coffee is in the area, and who has the best candy dish in their workspace. Week 1 ­ 1:1s The new employee's first week requires curation. Include a one-on-one lunch with their manager and a brief half-hour meeting with each department head they will interact with to understand how their role interacts with these departments. This will also give them an opportunity to learn about the company and the interactions between departments.Be a Kind Human Don't make rash decisions. I had a new employee once that contacted me before their first day letting me know they could not make that start date as they had a death in the family. We gave them the time they needed, and they started two weeks later. To this day that employee stays in contact with me although I no longer work with them. Why? Because they appreciated the company's humane approach to how we handled that situation. We also sent that team member a card and flowers in sympathy for their loss.Starting a new job can be exciting, but it can also understandably make people nervous. When people start a new job they often wonder: How will it go will I like this company? Will I like the people? Will I fit in? A supportive onboarding approach is one of the best ways to ensure a team member is successful. Human Resources Professionals are often reminded of Maya Angelou's sage advice "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget the way you made them feel." Those words serve as an excellent North Star.
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