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12 Tips for Onboarding New Team Members

Make onboarding effective and fun!

Gone are the days of going out to lunch and sharing a handover folder with new employees. Effective onboarding should be much more than that. It should showcase your organization’s values and culture while also helping new team members learn about your work, systems, and expectations. 

Maliasili has new people joining our team, and so onboarding is very much on our minds. Whether it’s virtual or in-person, we’ve identified a number of useful strategies to make onboarding informative, useful, and fun. Below we share tips and advice from old and new Maliasili team members on how to effectively bring new colleagues on board.


1. Make it a team effort.

Don’t make just one person on the team responsible for onboarding. Instead, spread out the responsibility as this will, 1) reduce the burden on a single individual; 2) allow the person onboarding to have more access and interactions to other members of the team, increasing team dynamics and helping to demonstrate the culture of the team early on.
 

2. Provide clear expectations of onboarding.

Be clear that the onboarding process has been developed in a deliberate way to help the individual better understand your work, your team, your values and culture - and that it’s not just about reading HR manuals and checking boxes. The individual being onboarded needs to take as much responsibility for the process as the team helping to onboard him/her.
 

3. Find out how they like to work.

While you can’t accommodate everyone’s preferences, it’s worth finding out how your new colleague prefers to work, e.g. the hours when they’re the most productive, the spaces where they’re work best (e.g. might be home or away from the office).
 

4. Strike a strategic vs. intimate balance.

Be prepared to have onboarders take the time they need to learn your work. Give them assigned reading, such as your strategic plan, program plans and reports, documents, etc. But also ensure they have time to interact and get to know the team and dynamics. Ask team members to reach out and have a ‘coffee’ (this can be virtual or in person). Ask that team member to come prepared with some things to cover so it takes the burden off the onboarder (and topics can simply be: “what do you enjoy doing in your off time”). Learn more about the strategic vs intimate balance in our Reader issue 23.
 

5. Give time & experiential learning opportunities.

Don’t just expect someone to step in and take over a piece of work right away. Instead look for opportunities for them to learn by shadowing a meeting or workshop or by taking on a smaller assignment. Along the way provide feedback on these activities (what you liked, what you’d like to see improved). This is critical early on as it helps your new teammate understand expectations and it allows you to assess their abilities without it being on something that is too ‘high stakes."
 

6. Set 30 and 90 day goals.

Ask your new team member to set their own goals, and then have their supervisor review and provide feedback on them. These goals should include things like getting to know the team and culture, learning how you work, as well as 1-2 assignments related to their work and new job.
 

7. Have 1:1 meetings with as many people as possible.

Get as many team members involved in onboarding as possible. Ask your new colleague to set up meetings with individual team members and provide ideas for topics they might cover based on that person’s area of expertise. At the same time, give those people who will be meeting with the new colleague a heads up and ask them to prepare some talking points and questions to guide the conversation as this can help take pressure off the new team member.
 

8. Do a lot of check-in meetings.

In the first few days and weeks, you should check in with your new teammate at least twice a week. Ask them to compile questions and reflections for you and discuss them when you meet.
 

9. Consider having an onboarding ‘mentor’.

An onboarding mentor is not their direct supervisor but rather someone who they can turn to with any questions about ‘how things work.’ This person should reach out at least weekly to check in and connect with their new colleague.
 

10. Include 1-2 onboarding conversations with leadership.

Ensure your new colleague understands the “whys” of your organization and their work: why you exist, why your work matters, and why their role and work is essential to your organization’s overall mission. Discuss your strategic direction, the vision for the organization's future, and leadership’s desires and intentions around team culture.
 

11. Integrate your finance and admin team in the onboarding process.

Provide detailed training around the required administrative tasks employees are required to complete, such as time tracking, completing expense reports, and how to request and track leave. You should also take time to go through filing and storage systems and expectations.This can help new employees avoid embarrassing mistakes and will be an early win, feeling like they know how to navigate their most basic responsibilities.
 

12. Don’t be afraid to extend the probation period.

Sometimes it’s really hard to know about someone’s potential after only just 3 months, especially since the onboarding process can take time. Don’t be afraid to extend the probation period (if you can, depending on country specific labor laws).
 

Useful Reads:   


Read the full newsletter here: Maliasili Reader Issue 25

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