You’ve just hired your first employee. Congratulations! Now it’s time to pre-board them and welcome them to the team.
You’ve taken a big step to make you feel like a real entrepreneur, even if it might not seem like much to the outside world. It’s time to pre-board them with all of the information they need to get started and avoid any awkwardness or confusion on their first day.
Read our blog post and follow those 7 easy steps to lead the way!
What is the pre-boarding process?
We unveil 7 tips on how to plan a successful employee preboarding and reduce the risks of ghosting. Click on the one you are interested in to jump straight to that section!
1. Finish the hiring process & Get the paperwork out of the way
2. Share information about the company culture
3. Orient the new hire to its new role
4. Introduce them to their colleagues
5. Let them have a look at the company’s learning resources & system
6. Send them some company swag
7. Make sure they have all the information needed for their first day at work
The perfect pre-boarding process
1. Finish the hiring process & Get the paperwork out of the way
One of the most important parts of pre-boarding is getting all the necessary paperwork. Because nothing’s more annoying than starting a new job and filling out a bunch of forms, right?
Get the employee engagement letters, contracts, W4, I9 forms, and any other required onboarding documents signed and ready to go before your new hire’s first day.
This will save you and them a lot of time and hassle. Alternatively, it will also allow your new employee to keep the motivation they have shown during the hiring process and be fully focused the first week rather than being busy signing forms here and there with HR.
2. Share information about the company culture
Before a new employee comes in, lots of information could already be shared without compromising the company’s confidentiality. Pre-boarding is a great opportunity to share information about the company with a new hire.
This will help the new hire feel welcomed and comfortable when they come in and start working, as well as understand better company’s culture.
This includes the company’s mission and values. Many companies send, for instance, the employee handbook explaining the ground rules, dress code, benefits, and much more.
Some go as far as recording a short video office tour!
3. Orient the new hire to its new role
An important pre-boarding stage is orienting new hires to their new role within the company.
Of course, they have already seen the job offer and description of the missions they are hired to fill in. But it’s always neat to give some extra explanation if needed, including their responsibilities, the team members they will work with, the organizational chart of the team, and overall, what is expected of them.
4. Introduce them to their colleagues
There’s so much uncertainty on the first day. Meeting your new teammates with whom you’ll be working 5/7 days can be a real source of stress!
Hopefully, you can easily reduce the first-day jitters by organizing a get-together with colleagues in-person or through a video call.
Don’t hesitate to meet over a coffee or a beer to keep things simple and friendly.
This pre-boarding process step can easily help new hires feel welcomed and comfortable on their first day, so don’t ignore it!
5. Let them have a look at the company’s learning resources & system
New hires could also have access to the company’s intranet and learning resources, such as procedures manuals, before their first day.
This is not a mandatory step in the preboarding process, but some employees like to come prepared.
If the information is too confidential, make sure that you at least have all of the passwords, logins, and systems set up and ready to go for their first day.
PS: Don’t forget to prepare all physical material, too, such as laptops, note pads, and any cool office gadgets you might want to add!
6. Send them some company swag
Did your company already invest in corporate branded gifts and merchandise?
If yes, pre-boarding is the perfect opportunity to send some of this company swag to your new hire!
If not, think about it: It’s an excellent way to welcome them into the company and reward your current employees with some team gifts.
This could be anything from a company mug, t-shirt, cap to a complete welcome package. It’s up to you!
7. Make sure they have all the information needed for their first day at work
The pre-boarding process should end up with a welcome email that includes all the information your new hire will need for their first day at work.
This could include reminding them of:
- The employee’s start date and time
- The directions to the office
- A list of what to bring on their first day
- A list of people they will be meeting with
- The onboarding schedule
- The calendar invites for the introductory meetings they will have in the week.
FAQ: Everything you ask us about employee preboarding
What is pre-boarding?
Pre-boarding is the first step to onboarding employees – and thus can also be called pre-onboarding.
It’s the process of getting new hires adjusted to your company culture and preparing them for their first day on the job prior to their arrival.
While it is very important in the integration of new hires, it gets too often overlooked.
What does it mean to onboard employees?
Onboarding is the process of integrating new employees into the company. It begins before the first day of work and extends throughout the probationary period.
The goal of onboarding is to help new hires feel welcomed, comfortable, and prepared to do their job well.
During onboarding, new employees learn about the company culture, their role within the company, the team, and their expectations.
The hiring manager follows them to ensure that everything is going well until they can fly with their own wings!
Onboarding can be a daunting task for both the new hire and their manager. But pre-boarding can make it much easier.
Never heard of onboarding? Have a look at how you can onboard employees easily with our guide!
What is included in pre-boarding?
The pre-boarding process involves getting them set up with the necessary paperwork, providing information about the company and the team they’ll be working with, and orienting them to the company values and culture.
Why is pre-onboarding important?
A pre-onboarding process is important because it allows you to make a great first impression on your new hire.
It will also help them feel prepared and excited about their first day and keep the motivation high from an employee accepting a job offer in your company to their actual starting date.
Finally, it can be a great tool to increase new hire retention.
What are the benefits of a pre-boarding program?
Overall, a well-organized pre-boarding plan can also make the transition from a new employee to a productive team member smoother and easier for everyone involved.
And successful integration obviously results in higher new hire retention. According to Talmundo, a great onboarding strategy can help increase new employee retention up to 82%.
What are the pre-onboarding activities?
Some pre-onboarding activities can include:
- Pre-employment paperwork, such as employment contracts, tax forms, W4, and I9 forms
- Orientation to the company – its mission, values, culture, and team
- Information about the new hire’s role within the company and their responsibilities
- Access to learning resources, such as the company’s intranet and policies and procedures manuals
- Introductions to colleagues, in-person, via email, or video call.
Is pre-boarding the key to a successful integration? The answer is a resounding YES!
Between the fact that it can help reduce new recruits to ghost on the new job (which represents about one person out of five!), create excitement, make sure the new hires feel engaged with the company and position they will be filling in, and help to make them more comfortable and efficient for the d-day. Pre-boarding is simply a win!
We hope this article has convinced you of implementing an onboarding process if you haven’t got one in place yet, or if you have, given you some new ideas to properly welcome your new incomers.
If you still have any doubts, contact us on social; we’ll be happy to help!
