Tonya D. Harrison: 0:01

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 was already prepared for you. They were waiting for your arrival. Now compare that to a time that you checked into somewhere and felt like you were just another number, where no one seemed ready for your arrival. Which experience do you want for your team members to have on their first day? What does that experience look like? What does that experience look like?

Tonya D. Harrison: 0:45

Welcome to Leveraging Operations and Leadership, the podcast that bridges the gap between operational excellence and leadership development. I'm your host, Tonya D Harrison, founder of Signal Partners, and I equip leaders with the strategies and tools to cut through the overwhelm, lead boldly, and build high-performing teams without the burnout. Let's talk about this onboarding experience. First impressions matter. For new employees, the first 90 days can make or break their decision to stay. In fact, up to 20% of employee turnover happens within the first 45 days. They've come, they've seen and they decided to leave. I know I'm not the only one that has had this less than great experience with an organization, and it does make you think like if this is what I'm getting right out the gate. Do I really want to stay around and see what else is behind the curtains? Because usually first impressions people are bringing their A game. It's like the best, the first impression right. So if you are managing a team and you're hiring people, you don't want your team members to feel this way. Today I'm going to talk through about not just why it matters, but things that you could do to improve the experience for your new team member. Besides the fact that it's the right thing to do, the second thing is is that this is where a lot of employee turnover happens 20% within the first 45 days and then it goes up from there, because you have some people that not that they decided to stay, but maybe that they are looking for another job. We want to make sure that we are treating people like we appreciate them, we're inviting them in to this space and we want them to feel welcome.

Tonya D. Harrison: 2:59

Part of what I believe happens is that we confuse orientation with onboarding, which they are different. They're vastly different. When you think orientation, think one-time event. This is often handled by human resources. They have some paperwork that needs to be filled out. They may talk to them about some compliance trainings that need to be done. It's logistics. It's making sure that they have everything to officially start work. That's not onboarding. Onboarding is longer. It's an ongoing process Think 30, 60, 90 days ongoing process. Think 30, 60, 90 days.

Tonya D. Harrison: 3:50

Depending on the job, it could be up to a year, but usually it's within the first 90 days and 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 for you, as the manager or the leader of the department, to make sure that you are setting the expectations right out the gate and that they are able to gain confidence within their role. You, in essence, want to set them up for long-term success and retention. Think about here's how you succeed and thrive. Here we know how to thrive within our organizations. We need to be making sure that we're sharing the appropriate things with our new team members so that they can be successful and they can do the same thing.

Tonya D. Harrison: 4:46

What's the point of going through the process of hiring people, this interview process that you go through, of interviewing all of these people, selecting a candidate and bringing them on to mistreat them? That's like inviting someone over to your home and telling them that they can stay with you, and then you mistreat them and you wonder why they are out of there or you're wondering why they're not having a good time. Think about the things that you can do. Let's talk about this first impression window, this first impression window. When we're talking about the first impression, it's not just for some people. They've already met the leader in the interview. They haven't met the team and some of the other people, but we're talking about when they actually come into the organization. Let me be clear it doesn't matter if it's a remote position or if it is a where they are physically coming into a building. There still should be a process that's followed to make sure that person is set up for success.

Tonya D. Harrison: 5:56

Remote onboarding is not new. Let me be really clear. I was managing teams in other areas way before we went through this whole everybody's on Zoom thing. So way before COVID hit, people were managing people in other states, in other areas. This isn't something that's new. I was doing it back when we were doing conference calls, right, and then we started doing videos in the conference room and then we moved to Zoom, but it's not new. So you need to figure out a way to do it. That is, if you're managing remote people versus if you're managing people that are in a physical location. It doesn't matter, they still need an onboarding process.

Tonya D. Harrison: 6:44

When we're talking about the first impression window, think about the psychological contract when your new team member come on board. There's some unwritten set of expectations between the employee and employer. You have some expectations and they have some expectations as well. And if, for instance, during the interview, you alluded to the fact that this was a collaborative environment and you are a supportive manager, how's it going to look if this person comes and they don't see you for three days? That doesn't feel really supportive. Or you're not helping to introduce them. To the people that they're going to be working side by side with, you say it's collaborative. They need to know who they're working with. Think about these things. It's an unwritten set of expectations that you have and that the employee has and it really does matter. And it goes beyond the laptops and the logins, which that could be extremely annoying if you're starting and you don't have access to anything. But it goes beyond that. It goes to the way that you welcome someone. It really sends a signal about what kind of leader you are and what kind of organization they just joined.

Tonya D. Harrison: 8:11

I know for a fact I have joined organizations and it made me rethink my entire decision, like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that I made a decision to work here. And you have to think about how you want your team member to feel. That's not the feeling that you want them to feel. You don't want them going home thinking or talking to their spouse or their family and saying I don't know if I made the right decision. You want them to be confident in their decision. It's kind of like bias remorse. You don't want them like I can't believe I did this Because, at the end of the day, just like you had an opportunity to choose somebody else, they may have had an opportunity to choose somebody else as well. And if they did, they will pretty soon somebody else as well. And if they did, they will pretty soon.

Tonya D. Harrison: 9:12

Let's talk about core elements of effective onboarding. This is really going to get us in the right direction. When you break it out, there's a couple of things that you want to do. Number one pre-onboarding. This is extremely important and this goes beyond the welcome email that they receive from human resources, but the IT setup. I don't know what's no shade to IT, but, geez, we would like our people to have some access when they get there, and you know so. It's making sure that the forms are completed, that they have access to the software that they need, that they have a desk to sit at. You know that they have everything. Well, let me say it this way If you know that either you are usually slow with getting the paperwork to IT, or if IT is slow about getting access to people, then figure out what are you going to do on day one, because having them sit around waiting on logins is not an answer.

Tonya D. Harrison: 10:32

On logins is not an answer. Have written out, documented, put together an onboarding plan about what is going to happen from day one to the end of the onboarding process. If that's 90 days, 90 days, but have that laid out so you know what's going to happen. They know what's going to happen and anybody that's involved in the process. They know what's going to happen. If you have trainers or training, that needs to happen. Or if they're going to have a buddy, they're going to be sitting with people. All of that should be laid out so everybody knows what the expectations are. That's day one, and a buddy may be the option. Like I said, depending on what it is that they are going to be doing, a quick win could be assigning a buddy, but you still need to do the work to make sure everything is laid out about how that's going to look. Now, the first week. This is where you want to be as structured as possible, have a structured schedule, clear expectation, culture immersion so they are just immersed in the culture and encourage shadowing and hands-on learning wherever possible and where it makes sense.

Tonya D. Harrison: 11:40

As the leader, you need to show up. It doesn't mean that you pawn them off on someone else. You still need to be present and be a part of this process, and I would encourage you to have meetings with them along the way, not just, like I said, putting them with someone and then you disappear. They need to see you. You have to remember that you're the first person that they know because you interviewed them. Don't leave them out there by themselves. It doesn't matter how much of a self-starter, because we like to say, oh, they need to be self-started. Well, you know, we need to be better leaders too. We need to remember that we are here to serve, and serving our team is a big part of leadership, and when we do that well, they, in turn, automatically serve us. You don't even have to ask for it. Make sure you are showing up. Make sure you're not disappearing when your new team member comes. Don't pawn them off on somebody else. Make sure you are showing up for them.

Tonya D. Harrison: 12:52

Also, create a plan. I talked about this a little bit. Have a 90-day plan and in it it has milestones that you're going to use to measure their progress. At 30 days, this is where they should be. At 60 days, this is where they should be. At 90 days ideally, this is where they should be. This is something that is not hidden. It's not behind the curtains. You have made it clear about what your expectations are.

Tonya D. Harrison: 13:19

When a new person comes on board, this is the perfect time to make your expectations clear. It's also one of the easiest times to make your expectations clear because you're not worried about oh, I took over this department and some people are used to how things were previously done. That's not the case. This is a fresh slate, a new slate. This person has never worked for the organization. This is your opportunity. Make sure you have that plan in place milestones to measure the progress as you go along and also have regular check-ins and feedback loops.

Tonya D. Harrison: 13:58

Again, even if they're with a buddy, even if they're training with someone, you still need to be an active participant in this process. Carve out, maybe at the end of the day where you just do a quick check-in, do that a couple of times a week in the beginning and then eventually you're not going to keep doing it every couple of days. Eventually it may go to once a week or whatever your process is, but make sure you are touching in with them on a regular basis, make sure you are getting to know them. This is a great opportunity to understand what their goals are and also to understand what some of their strengths are, especially if you are forming your department. So a lot of times when we're bringing on new employees, we are doing a mini restructure to our department because it's a great opportunity to do it. Those are the core elements of effective onboarding the pre-boarding you have the first week done and then creating that 30, 60, 90-day plan milestones to measure progress that's embedded in it, and meeting with them on a regular basis.

Tonya D. Harrison: 15:09

One of the things that I used to do with new employees was we would have a welcoming breakfast or lunch. It doesn't have to be something that's grand right, like I'm talking about bagels, donuts, what have you. If it is a remote team, you could have something breakfast delivered where you meet over breakfast or over coffee or whatever it is. But kind of think about how do I make this person feel welcome, how do I reiterate the fact that I am happy that they are here? I selected them because I thought that they were the best person for the job and I want to make sure that that comes across loud and clear and they understand that and they feel it. They feel seen and heard and valued right out the gate. Now I have some human-centered onboarding tips and these. I feel like a lot of this has been lost in the onboarding process and we need to bring it back. Treat them like again you're happy. They chose you Just like you had choices. They had choices. Refund their decision. No, we don't want any buyer's remorse. We don't want them going home thinking that they made the wrong decision. We want them to go home and say you know what, home thinking that they made the wrong decision. We want them to go home and say you know what? I know I made the right decision. I'm happy that I made the decision that I made.

Tonya D. Harrison: 16:42

Second thing make sure you acclimate them to the team. You're going to facilitate introductions. You can schedule coffee chats or lunches, like I mentioned earlier. You can schedule coffee chats or lunches, like I mentioned earlier, whether you pay for them or not. You need to at least at minimum be facilitating this. Do introductions. If you know that there's people or someone in another area that they're going to be working with on a regular basis, facilitate that introduction, kind of help them along, get to know them personally. Ask about the goals, the learning styles, career aspirations. This does not mean when I say get to know them personally, it doesn't mean that you have to be all up in their business. You don't have to know all of the specifics, but the things that you need to know are, like I said, their goals, how they learn best and some career aspirations. Remember, you are there to serve them. Leadership is about equipping and supporting and serving. Equipping and supporting and serving.

Tonya D. Harrison: 17:54

Another thing to set the tone early model communication norms. Be clear about what your boundaries are and build psychological safety. You want people to feel that they are in a safe environment. They are safe to express ideas, especially for new people. It takes a lot for a lot of new people to express something. They're walking into an environment. They don't know what has happened, they don't know conversations that's been taking place, they don't know this person from that person. For them to provide their insight, it takes courage and you want to make sure that you provide a space for them to provide their insight. It takes courage and you want to make sure that you provide a space for them to do exactly that. And again, clear expectations are imperative, and just think clear expectations, equal confidence. Don't leave them guessing. Be upfront about the priorities, the performance measures and the cultural values. Make sure that they understand all of this Right out the gate, right out the gate. And remember, onboarding isn't HR's job, it's your responsibility as a manager. This is your employee, this is the person that you are going to be working with. This is a person that's a part of your team, having those regular one-on-ones actively listening, and you are providing clarity along the way, because they're going to likely have a lot of questions and this is an opportunity for you to provide that clarity. You set the tone All right.

Tonya D. Harrison: 19:40

A couple of common mistakes is you know that I've seen is information overload, where we're just doing data dump or you're sitting somebody in the corner and you're telling them to read all of these processes. Another mistake to avoid is leaving new hires idle or unconnected Again. Just because they don't have access to the software that they need doesn't mean that you can't have things for them to do. Another mistake is assuming culture will just happen. It doesn't work that way. You have to be really clear about what the culture is, and the biggest way that you could do that is by modeling what you expect and by modeling that culture, and your current team that's already there should already be modeling it as well.

Tonya D. Harrison: 20:33

The last mistake is skipping feedback or milestones. You're going to get busy. That's going to happen. Make sure that you are blocking time out on your calendar to meet with this person. You have a way of tracking these milestones, not just saying in 30 days you need to do X, y, z, knowing that you have no way to track it. That makes no sense. Providing them with milestones that matter and milestones that you can track and measure. That way, when you have the conversation about 30 days, where they are, it can be something that is real. It's something that you have talked about. They know if they're meeting it or not. You both are on the same page.

Tonya D. Harrison: 21:17

In essence, make sure that onboarding is not reduced to orientation. It's not reduced to oh, this is something that I have to do. No, this is something that you get to do. You have a new team member. 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 that connection right out the gate. Right out the gate.

Tonya D. Harrison: 21:44

One of the stats that I saw that made me really think about this topic is great. Onboarding improves retention by 82% and productivity by 70%. If that's enough reason to make you want to do it like I don't know what is, but if you can increase retention and you can increase productivity, then that is a reason to do it, but there's no better reason to do it than it is the right thing to do. An action step would be to audit your current onboarding process. What does that look like If you even have one? If you don't have one, this is a good opportunity to develop one and think about what's a couple of things you know, one to three things that you can improve before your next employee. And if you do not have a 30, 60, 90 day plan, it's a 90 day plan. I put the 30, 60, 90, because you want to have the milestones. If you don't have that plan, I would start with that plan. Get really clear on what you are expecting so that you can share that with them, because you want them to be successful. You want the people that you hire, the people that you bring into the organization, to be as successful as possible. Even if you leave, you still want to set them up for success. All right. So that is it. And if you'd like help designing an onboarding process or building a high-performing team, these are some of the things that we can talk about in the Leadership Shift.

Tonya D. Harrison: 23:25

The Leadership Shift is a one-on-one private coaching that is geared towards you. It's a safe space for you to share some of the challenges that you are encountering and for me to provide you with some tools and strategies, or even, if you are ready, to position yourself for your next level as a leader. This is a great opportunity. So you can go to signalpartnerscom. Slash the shift Again. That's signalpartnerscom. Slash the shift Again. That's signalpartnerscom. Slash the shift and I'll drop it in the show notes as well. Thanks again for joining me, because I know you can spend your time doing a lot of other things. If you find these episodes helpful, be sure to give us a five-star review and then also share with somebody else. Don't make us a five-star review and then also share with somebody else. Don't make us a well-kept secret. Share with other leaders who could benefit from some of the topics that we are sharing. All right, have a great week.