Onboarding: It’s Your Opportunity Responsibility!

Employee onboarding refers to the way a new employee is welcomed and trained into a company. We know that when an employee is given the proper support and tools to learn the job, they find clarity in their role, show increased self-efficacy, and feel valued. In fact, Research by Brandon Hall Group found that organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by more than 70%! And 70% of employees who had exceptional onboarding say they have the “best possible job.”

At our practice, we believe onboarding is not only our first opportunity to support and set expectations; it’s our responsibility! The employee’s success is the company’s success, and a quality onboarding can improve productivity, reinforce strong employee culture, and help the employee to feel valued and become a successful member of your team. Nevertheless, the process needs to be strategic and scalable.

Here, we set out practical ways, and goals for onboarding our new employees. (Psst…Onboarding begins before their very first day on the job!) For context, we are a multi-location dermatology practice, and our onboarding process spans over 90-days regardless of the new employee’s job title or experience. Every new employee is assigned a mentor and given a checklist that details what the employee needs to be competent in by Day 30, Day 60, and Day 90.

Before Their First Day

Share first-day logistics. What is their schedule? Where do they park their car? What should they wear? Who should they ask for when they arrive? Where will they place their personal belongings? Any special instructions on how employees enter the building or clock-in? Share a standardized FAQ with your new employee for day 1 success.

Administrative paperwork and tasks before their first day. When possible, send any necessary paperwork you need the employee to complete before their first day. This way, when they arrive to work, they can spend their first day orienting themselves with your space, the technology, your patients, and your staff; not completing paperwork they could have done at-home.

Mentor/Mentee introduction. By Zoom or by email, 1.) Share your Mentor Program’s Standardization, 2.) Explain who their mentor is, and 3.) Explain why their mentor was specifically selected for them. Add a photo of the mentor and exchange contact information. This sense of preparedness can help your new employee feel like they have an advocate on their very first day and onward!

Day One

Communicate a warm (credentialed!) welcome of your new employee. Send an email to your staff on the employee’s first day introducing him or her. As the decision-maker, you know the reason why you hired the employee and what you foresee them to achieve, but your entire staff may not. Goals of this welcome email are to make the new employee feel oriented, to credential the new employee to your team, and to reinforce your company’s mission. Work with the new employee to prepare this welcome email; include the following:

• Name / Nickname
• Favorite Photo
• Fun Facts
• Work History
• Main Reason They Wanted to Join the Practice
• Contact Information (phone extensions, email, desk location);
• Summary of Work History

Pro Tip: Use real quotes from their references to describe them, too!

Have all important logins clearly listed. If you were a new employee, which would you prefer?

• Option 1: Knowing you need a login, asking around for someone to help you find it, waiting until the username is retrieved, and then calling the tech company for a password reset a few hours later.
• Option 2: On your desk, having a sheet printed with all important work links, already created usernames, and temporary passwords, so all you need to do is login and reset your password.

Option 2 shows preparedness, limits confusion, and supports efficiency.

Gift them a swag bag. In a branded re-usable bag, we gift new employees branded notebooks, pens, ice packs, skincare products, a phone case, t-shirt, and much more. Swag builds pride, and this gift shows your excitement.

Provide a tour and opportunity to feel settled. Give them a tour of the office. Introduce them to your staff. Show them the staff lounge. Provide them a company directory. Set up their desk. Allow them time to set-up their desk in a way they would like. Similar to college, you needed a day to move-in and get settled before beginning your coursework. Ensure the employee has the opportunity to feel settled at their assigned desk, too.

Week One

Encourage Mentor/Mentee meeting to discuss ongoing expectations of each other. Our mentorship program allows the mentor the autonomy to schedule check-ins in any way the two of them (mentor and mentee) see fit. We’ve seen mentor/mentees text daily about how they were doing; schedule weekly check-ins; or have the mentee submit journal entries. Most important, the mentor describes the 30, 60, 90 days goals and helps to keep them on track.

Review the employee manual. Verbally review the employee manual. This is obvious for operational reasons, but it is important to also get candid about expectations, policies, and core values to set them up for success.

Add them to your marketing channels. Add the new employee to your marketing channels (website, social media post, team photo). They will feel officially welcomed once they’re added and you want your patients to know who they can expect to see at their next appointment with you!

Set up expectations on training. Explain the difference between observation and active observation. Show them where your training manual is. Advise them the topics they need to study on their own. These clear expectations can help them to be proficient sooner and with more competence.

Months One – Two

Provide team-wide updates and wins. Credential the new employee to your team on any big or small wins achieved. Did they handle a challenging customer with ease? Give feedback that made an operational difference? Complete their 60-day training early? Acknowledge this! The employee will feel good, and staff will see their value.

Involve your staff and your sales representatives to support learning. Get everyone involved. Set up trainings with staff members who are proficient in certain tasks, such as front and back office. For instance, our aesthetician leads 20-minute product trainings for 4 weeks one-on-one with the new employee. This is how they learn skincare. And our Marketing Manager has a one-time one-on-one on best practices of social media, as well as the dos and don’ts of our social media and our policies.

Assigning most team members a topic they’re expert in to teach the employee gives them the chance to meet the employee and be an expert educator. We believe every employee is an expert in something!

Welcome the employee with an all-staff event. We plan a monthly event with our team that all employees, regardless of their location, must attend. This could be a Grand Rounds Event, Team Dinner, Exercise Class, or Volunteer Morning. By hosting a team event regularly and outside of the office, the entire staff gets to the meet the employee and it prevents those instances in which people are on a team but have not met each other for weeks, (or months!) outside of email or Zoom.

Ask for company feedback. Have the new employee tell you what they need. Everyone has different learning styles. It is important to give them the resources that you know are helpful, but there is a chance that you are missing something. Ask them for feedback on how you can better support them.

Month Three

Provide a “Completion Interview.” This meeting indicates that the employee’s onboarding is complete. You’re checking to ensure their 90-day goals are met and they are proficient. It’s also the opportunity to ask them about your interview and onboarding process: Did anything surprise them? For the next hire, what can we do differently? What did they like or need more from of their Mentor? Is the job accurately described (in real life) as we said during the interview process? It’s important to congratulate them on their completion but remind them that the learning never stops. Review how employees get involved in ongoing education.

Update the Employee on their Benefits. After an employee completes their onboarding, they tend to be eligible for contractual benefits, such as commission, stipends, paid time-off, staff treatments, insurance, etc. List out what they are eligible for and help them to enroll accordingly.

A Critical First Step

Onboarding is key to engaging and developing talent. To find great talent is hard enough, but to maintain great talent takes intention. Onboarding is the first step in maintaining a great staff and developing a strong employee work culture.