Contents

1. The importance of onboarding
2. The theory of onboarding
3. In practice: our best practices for onboarding
4. How can you successfully onboard online?
5. Reboarding: the importance and the approach
6. Offboarding for a new beginning
7. An on- and offboarding workflow

1. The importance of onboarding

What does an effective onboarding process get you?

1. Employees integrate 79% smoother. They get an overview of your organisation and your product or service from all possible angles. It also ensures social cohesion and atmosphere on the work floor.
2. When you provide an initial introduction to the supervisor during onboarding, new employees' attitudes toward their employer are 78% more positive.
3. You increase the engagement of your new employees by 78% if you involve them in everything from the first day. This gives them a sense of belonging and commitment to the company.
4. You help new employees become productive faster. In companies with structured induction programs, employees can get to full capacity 51% faster.

What is the ROI of an onboarding process?

2. The theory of onboarding

How do you plan an onboarding?

1. Pre-boarding
   It is important that your new employee feels part of the team from the moment of recruitment. So keep in touch, even before the first day at work. Inform the direct colleagues and arrange the necessary material and the correct on- and offline access in good time.
2. Onboarding
   "I'm welcome here!" That's what the new employee should feel after the first day. A thorough introduction to the company, the team and the new position are on the agenda in the first week. Clarify the role that the employee will take on and what results you expect. Schedule meetings with those colleagues with whom the newcomer will often come into contact. They can help " acclimatize" the new colleague.
3. Follow-up
   Apart from regular, informal 'check back' moments, it is best to plan regular formal meetings to closely monitor the progress of the onboarding. Be sure to engage in discussions after one month, after three months, after six months and after one year

The 4 C's of onboarding

1. Compliance stands for all the practical and administrative aspects of onboarding. Think, for example, of contracts and policies, (digital) accesses and a well-equipped workplace.
2. Clarification means that new employees get a accurate picture of what you expect from them. The Vlerick study also draws attention to this: 64 % of new employees indicate that this is not entirely clear, while only 29 % of professionals are aware of it.
3. Culture introduces newcomers to the company culture and unwritten rules. Employee immerse themselves in the mission, values and future vision of the company. This culture is also expressed in the way in which employees interact with each other and with external parties.
4. Connection can be taken literally: make sure that new people quickly feel connected to the company and the people who work there.
5. An additional but indispensable C. Don't forget to organize a check back where you check in an informal way whether the new employee is gradually finding his way.

3. In practice: our best practices for onboarding

Checklist

Questions your new employee wants answers to

1. The "what-will-my-first-day-look-like" questions
   Send them an e-mail with all practical and organizational answers during pre-boarding.
2. The "what's-my-value-here" questions
   Show them why and how they can contribute to the company.
3. The "will-I-figure-out-my-way" questions
   Plan a check-back or follow-up moment to see how everything is going.
4. The "are-my-colleagues-friends" questions
   Provide a mentor or coach at onboarding.
5. The "do-they-care-about-my-developement" quesions
   Ask them from the start which direction they want to evolve in and provide training.

How do you create a unique onboarding?

4. How do you set up a successful online onboarding?

Offline versus online

1. Compliance
   What needs to be put right practically? A workplace. Even if it takes on a new meaning here. Have the material needed to do the job properly delivered to your new employees' homes, so they can install themselves.
   
   What needs to be put right administratively? This involves access to software, data (e-mail address, logins) and contracts. Sometimes it is difficult to keep an overview. What has already been done and what hasn't been done yet. Keep track of this easily via our onboarding software in Officient where you can create a remote onboarding workflow.
   
   To make the communication personal from the start, we think it's a good idea to organize this part via a video call right away.
2. Clarification
   Creating clarity and certainty on a first day is essential, especially if everything is going to happen remotely. This is what the company does and where it stands, this is your team, this is your task and this is your planning. Share this information with the new employees before or on the first day. Via a collaboration platform (we use Notion) you can address two important issues:
   
   1) You provide a clear picture of what the coming weeks will look like
   2) You ensure that there are sufficient learning and collaboration opportunities available.
   
   Make sure that it does not become too overwhelming. For this reason, we are also great advocates of video meetings in this part of the remote onboarding. When you have visual contact with new colleagues you can better anticipate their attitude.
3. Culture
   Employees are ambassadors for your company. So introduces them to the company values and company culture right from the start. The biggest challenge here? Distance can have the disadvantage that new employees cannot discover these values and culture for themselves. Therefore make sure that the way you communicate about it online already communicates these values and culture. This way you show that you put your money where your mouth is.
4. Connection
   A tricky one. But don't let that deter you, because it also means that there is still plenty of room for creativity and innovation here. How do you convey the feeling of your company online? How do you create an online connection with someone new? We recommend that you immediately get the new employee very involved online. For example, organize a video lunch to get acquainted.
5. Check back
   A very important C for online onboarding. Check regularly whether your new employees understand everything, are not overwhelmed by all the information, or whether they already feel at home. If not, ask where the pain points are and see what could be improved. This is new for both parties, try to grow together with the challenges you are facing.

Postpone onboarding

5. Reboarding: the importance and the approach

A reboarding timeline

1. Pre-reboarding
   Welcome your employees a few days before the restart. Inform them about how the reboarding process will preceed. Also make sure that your administration and organization is already up and running before the return.
   
2. Re-situation
   What are the most relevant changes within the company? Where does the company currently stand? Your employees will be able to resume the normal way of working faster and with more commitment if they are up to speed with these changes. Communicate these updates as soon as possible during reboarding.
3. Re-integration
   The employees are not new, but the company can be. That is why it is important to involve returning employees in the way they work now and the possibly renewed values and mission. They need to be reintegrated into the story in order to work as motivated as possible.

The state of affairs

6. Offboarding for a new beginning

The importance of offboarding

1. You keep the organization running
   When someone leaves the ship, you have to react quickly to avoid losing course. With a pre-designed workflow, you immediately know what you have to do. You say goodbye to an employee in a sensible way, while the department can keep running and you start looking for a replacement.
   
2. You protect your (intellectual) property
   Departing employees take sensitive information with them. Even if you have departing employees sign a document in which they promise not to divulge any company secrets, you'd better make sure that they simply don't need to.
3. You radiate something as an employer
   The way in which you say goodbye to an employee tells a lot about how you deal with them. A company that takes employees seriously from their start to their departure - and beyond - proves that it really values these people. And that this goes beyond what they have brought to the company.
4. You get better at what you do
   Employees who are leaving are more likely to give their blunt opinions about how the company works. In exit interviews, you are given a lot of information that you can use as a basis for improvements. In this way, you become a better HR manager or manager, you can create better opportunities for the existing team and achieve better results.
5. You leave the door ajar
   Pull the door shut on good terms? Then maybe one day they'll come back, with a lot of new knowledge and experience.

In practice: our best practices for offboarding

1. Why did you go looking for something new?
   
2. What did you like and dislike most about your job?
3. Did you have all the necessary tools to do your job properly?
4. Did you feel your successes were celebrated enough?
5. How did you find your supervisor's support? Did he or she give you the necessary support?
6. If you had to give us 3 tips to improve our processes, what would they be?
7. Would you recommend our company to your friend?
8. Are there any unresolved issues you'd like to discuss? Things you want to add?

7. An on- and offboarding workflow

1. You can create multiple workflow templates that can be split up according to the team and the process involved (on- and offboarding or custom).
   
2. You will be assigned an overview of workflows per employee via the employee profile. There you can see which workflows are running for this employee. If you click on one of these workflows, a detail page will open which gives you more insight into which tasks are still to be done, or which have already been completed.
3. You can also navigate to the 'Workflows' tab in the main navigation to see all the workflows assigned to you as administrator. There you will also find what their progress is and the date when they were set to be active.
4. Tasks can be assigned to both admins and employees. These appear as a separate 'tasks' tab in their self-service. This ensures a better distribution of the workload and makes it possible to better involve the employee in various HR processes.
5. You receive automatic reminders based on current deadlines. You will be notified in the app via notifications, but we will also notify you via email.