You don’t need any of the many recruitment firms in Belfast, Dublin or elsewhere in Ireland to tell you that your employees matter – that they make or break a company’s fortunes.

Indeed, you will be especially aware of that as an SME or non-profit organisation. After all, smaller firms can have terrible problems with staff turnover.

Why does onboarding matter?

Getting your onboarding experience right can make all of the difference. It’s a vital process that sets the tone for the rest of your new hire’s time at your company, potentially determining for how long they are employed and what contribution they make to your firm.

A great onboarding process gets a new staffer off to a flying start, with your company reaping the benefits for long afterwards.

If it all goes wrong or you don’t bother with the whole onboarding thing at all, however… don’t they shocked if they underperform or make a quick exit. That’s the kind of thing that ruins an SME’s already-slim profit margins, as they are forced to launch a recruitment campaign all over again.

Thankfully, you don’t have to be resigned to this. Here are five ways to onboard your next hire successfully…

1. Put together a staff playbook

Don’t bore your new employee with a staid document about the same old ‘missions’, ‘values’ and ‘policies’. Create a point of reference that tells them who your organisation’s customers and stakeholders are, what your company culture is and what success for your firm is all about.

2. Spend time with the employee

It sounds like obvious advice, but it’ll make your new staffer feel so much more connected and engaged if you can spare just 15 minutes with them each week to receive and provide feedback on how they are doing so far.

3. Create a checklist

What things must the new worker absolutely know about or have? It could be information about your company’s best-selling products and services, paperwork-related stuff or another thing entirely – whatever, give them the clearly laid-out plan that they need.

4. Develop a list of FAQs

Certain questions might repeatedly pop up whenever you take on a new employee. If you have a detailed list of frequently asked questions and answers already prepared, workers can refer to this document themselves and not have to seek out your guidance so often.

5. Arrange your recruit to meet your customers

…or stakeholders. Either way, when your new worker has contact at an early stage with the people that your company is designed to serve, they will have a much clearer understanding of its mission.

Be in no doubt that new employee onboarding really matters for an SME – because first impressions matter! A well-onboarded worker is also so often a highly productive and engaged one, so don’t overlook the importance of this process that immediately follows the hire.