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How Not To Fail At Onboarding
There are five hiring stages that affect onboarding right where it could hurt when left unattended.
Alex Illingworth
May 11, 2023
What makes or breaks an onboarding? Having a new hire in the midst of your company's door can make for a perfect first impression or a disaster, jeopardizing their commitment. To have the best results when Building remote teams , you need to start planning beforehand to have a clear roadmap of what needs to be done and when.
Most companies fail at onboarding new hires. You should never miss these five stages of a hiring process if you are looking to offer your new hire a successful integration experience.
In this Blog:
A hassle-free onboarding experience
1) Interviewing Stage
Positive first impressions are an important goal when you want to onboard someone to your company's team successfully. First impressions go both ways, you want to be impressed by your candidate, but you should also aim to do the same while representing your company.
You could define the job interview as the first phase of onboarding (even if you have yet to make your choice) because it will be your first direct interaction with the candidate face-to-face. Before your interview, make sure you:
- Define your company's culture: Prepare what you want the candidate to know about your company; this will give them a sense of what goals move your team forward and what kind of working environment you offer.
- Make relevant questions: Question only what is essential to the job you are trying to close for your company. Make a list of the things you want to ask or check; always pinpoint why your question is relevant.
- Chemistry: Yes, you will get the first glance of a long-term working relationship or not during interviews. Be yourself, but more importantly, allow a space where the interviewee can do the same.
Make your best to cause the right first impression and define your expectations of the candidate to make the best out of the interview phase, an essential first step towards a successful onboarding.
2) Negotiation Stage
Congratulations! You've found a candidate you think would make a great addition to your company's team. What's next? Setting up an arrangement between you and the developer is a primordial part of the onboarding process.
During this stage, your goal should be to define what will happen next and what you are willing to offer the candidate for fulfilling their position in your company. Here's everything you should discuss during negotiations:
- Compensation agreement: Define how much the candidate will receive monetarily for the job opening. Also, ensure a clear understanding of the workload that amount represents and the responsibility that comes with it.
- Perks: Contractors also receive days off, sick leaves, and other perks, so communicate which apply and which don't. Flexible hours, paid Vacation, and even equipment are sometimes offered as perks depending on how you negotiate.
- Candidate's expectations: It goes both ways; listen to what the candidate expects from your working environment, values, and culture. Expectations can sometimes come from misinterpretation, so correct anything the candidate has wrong about your company.
Being transparent makes everything more manageable when you are in the negotiation stage of the onboarding process. It's not about driving a hard bargain; it's about reaching an agreement about what your company will offer the candidate and vice versa.
3) Legal Stage
Misclassification could be a big problem when hiring international members working remotely for your team. Using the right wording avoids problems and sets in stone the working relationship between your company and the candidate in the eyes of the law.
Understanding the difference between contractors and employees is vital to conquering the legal aspects of onboarding, especially in Latin America. Here are three things you can't miss about the legal stage while you prepare for the most common stages of the onboarding process:
- The contract: Your agreement should turn into a lawfully-written contract with the help of legal aid. Misclassification could become a problem to look out for if you are hiring internationally.
- International laws: If hiring remotely, you must comply with your country's and the candidate's laws. Remember, every country is different, so clearly understand the little and significant differences when writing the contract.
- Employee or contractor: Companies find hiring international team members as contractors less stressful. Learning the difference between managing employees and contractors is essential.
Related: The troubled waters of legal misclassification when hiring remotely
Sure, it's a heavy part, but trust us when we say that you need to be precise regarding the legal aspects of the onboarding process. Awana offers a Talent Management service for companies seeking help dealing with the legal aspects of hiring internationally.
4) Before starting
Now that the more abstract parts of onboarding are over, it's time to explore what you need to have ready before the candidate's first week on the job. This stage is the one most companies are familiar with, but that doesn't mean some miss critical aspects of it.
Mapping out what the candidate needs to learn during the first week is essential when onboarding the candidate. It serves as a second-first impression since the candidate will experience your company's working environment for the first time. Here's what you shouldn't miss having ready:
- First-day essentials: You must ensure the candidate receives relevant information surrounding their job and company policies during day one. Working hours, tools needed for meetings, days of leave, equipment responsibilities (When needed), the person they will report to, and even payment cycles should be considered. It’s all about answering need-to-know questions that usually start onboarding.
- Clear onboarding roadmap: The first week on any new job is a rollercoaster for both parties. Ensure you create a clear roadmap of the information the candidate needs to receive and who should share it with them.
- Equipment and resources: Prepare the tools the candidate will need to do their job, alongside reading material they need to learn from. Set up means for communication and give them some context of what each is for.
- Assign a mentor: Having an onboarding buddy is necessary and will serve to answer any questions or doubts a candidate may have during onboarding. Having an onboarding buddy will be the first organic contact the candidate will have in the workplace.
Some companies don't prepare enough before starting the official onboarding, which could hurt the candidate's impression of your company. Starting on the right foot is better than making your workflow appear messy.
Related: The Critical Aspects of Onboarding
5) 3-month trial period
It's not over; you need to keep an open eye during the well-known three-month trial period most candidates go through when they get hired for a new job. In this case, you must determine how the candidate adapts to your working environment and correct misdirection.
Be easy on the candidate; let things develop but have a sharp eye and indeed act if they are not working out for the position. Here are three things you need to look out for during the 3-month trial period of the onboarding process.
- Room for feedback: Create a healthy and efficient way to provide feedback for the candidate when needed. It would be best if you did not overwhelm the candidate, so discuss it with them and expect them to comply with any changes you suggest that could improve their work.
- Monitoring progress: Define how you will follow the candidate's progress based on the goals you expect them to fulfill. Have performance reviews each month to make a decision when the e-month trial period.
- Ending contract: Worst case scenario, you'll have to undergo another onboarding process if the candidate doesn't cut it. You will have legalities spot on, so there shouldn't be any issues if it doesn't work out.
Once you've finished this stage, you will have officially ended a bulletproof onboarding experience successfully.
A hassle-free onboarding experience
Working on a straightforward onboarding process will only benefit the investment you've made for a new hire.
We’ve helped companies place the brightest professionals in LATAM for long-term remote jobs and are always glad to share our experience and knowledge.