Integrate and train your new recruits without a hitch

In France, 1 out of 5 people leave their company after 3 months because of a bad integration and 4% after the first day! Do these figures make your blood run cold? Discover in this article everything you need to know to integrate your new recruit in the best possible way and make a success of his onboarding process.

Onboarding: a delicate moment that must not be missed

For both the new recruit and the employer, onboarding is not an easy task. Here are a few tips to help you prepare for the onboarding process if you are a new recruit, and to welcome them if you are an employer.

Whether it's for the new recruit

The new recruit has already passed the first step: they got the job! Now it's up to them to prove theirselves: to make a grand entrance by being properly dressed, to be ready to work and to be determined. But they must be accompanied. At the beginning, it is essential to discover, to ask questions and, once the moment of onboarding is over, to be integrated and participate fully in the development of the company. The new recruit must surely feel pressure on their first day, and this is quite normal, but this stress is positive, and it must be used as an engine to integrate the organization with determination.

Improve your onboarding

As well as for the employer

It is a fact: new recruits who are not well received do not manage to understand the company's stakes and functions. This is a real challenge for companies because they are under pressure to make the right choice upstream, but also to do everything possible to ensure that the chosen profile matches the company's spirit downstream.

So when you're not sure where to start, you can start here:

Step 1: Plan the first day. Step 2: Explain all the practical information about the company: the process, the way you see things, the company, the employees, the premises, the spirit... this is crucial. Step 3: The follow-up over the next 2-3 weeks.

Step 1: Plan for the first day.

This step is far from being negligible. Indeed, the new recruit must feel expected. The first few minutes are therefore important: their office is ready, their computer is waiting for him, small goodies as well (for the most corporate boxes) and finally their tutor is ready to stand at attention! The tutor has also prepared a list of the first missions of our dear new recruit so that they feel at ease right away. The tutor must be available to answer any questions. We forget about the meeting with HR for all contractual matters.

• 2nd step: Present the whole process!

This is important so that the new recruit can properly take ownership of their role. It is therefore necessary to present the entire process, the members of each division, and the locations in a rigorous manner. Each employee must understand the work of the others: this is essential for the new recruit as well. This way, the new recruit has a global vision of the company, they know why they were hired and understands for whom and for what their missions are valuable.

• Step 3: Let's do a little check-up ?

What I can advise you to do is to have a small meeting with your new recruit once the first month is over. It is important to discuss with them how they feel after this integration period. Find out if the onboarding went well and how you can improve it. This assessment will be instructive for you! The new recruit's view can help you improve the onboarding for future recruits but also identify improvements on a more general level.

How do you get people to be effective as quickly as possible?

Here's a short, non-exhaustive list that you can complete your own way! But for those who don't know how to proceed you can always start with this:

• Support from the beginning
• Make people understand the jobs and roles within each division
• Give access to as many tools as possible and explain them so that the new recruit takes them in hand immediately
• Encourage the new recruit to ask questions (a new recruit who asks questions saves everyone time, doesn't it?)
• Take the time to show the new hire around
• Present the missions quickly so that they have an overview
• Communicate with them: onboarding can be overwhelming for some recruits, so it is important not to let the new recruit drown in all this new information.
• Show understanding (at least the first month, but even after that ;))

Finally, when it comes to onboarding new recruits, while some good practices can be generalized, it is above all a matter of custom-made. An efficient process must be designed according to the specificities of the company and its organization.