Onboarding Your New Job Successfully
Intro
The big day is here: your first day on the job! To be successful in any job, proper onboarding is critical. Onboarding is the integration and acclimation of new employees. Some consider this process beginning as soon as you accept your offer.
Ideally before your first day starts, you should have received day one information from your new employer. This would include what to expect the first day, and what they expect from you. This should include details like where to show up, when to show up, what to bring, who you’ll be meeting with, plans for lunch, dress code, any documentation they need from you, and more. If you weren’t provided with this information, then certainly feel free to ask your contact with the company.
What does onboarding look like?
But typically, what you can expect from your onboarding is a well-defined process to get you prepared for your new job. Your new employer will likely have a checklist of items they will go through with you during your first few days, first few weeks, and even the first year. Those generally include:
Completing and gathering any necessary documentation
Providing you with your computer hardware (laptop, monitors, etc.) and access information (badge and keys, email address, logins, passwords, etc.)
Setting up your workspaceOrientation schedule and checklist
Attending new employee orientationReviewing your job description with your leader
Reviewing and acknowledging the employee handbook, polices, and proceduresReviewing and completing benefit elections (health insurance, etc.)
Introductions to your leader and their leader, your team, and other key people you will regularly interact with
Receiving a tour of the building
Setting up recurring check-ins with your leader (1:1s)
Although starting a new job is always somewhat nerve wracking, a well-coordinated orientation will help you feel comfortable and welcomed in your new job quickly. You should now have a good sense for the culture and expectations of your new company and new job. It’s expected that you’ll ask lots of questions during your orientation period, so feel comfortable asking away.
What goals should I have when onboarding?
There are a few main goals you should have when going through the onboarding process:
Take an active role in your onboarding: to ensure a successful onboarding, it’s critical that you take an active role in your onboarding. Ask questions, be resourceful, and take initiative.
Build Positive Relationships: this begins with introductions and overtime will develop into strong relationships as you get to know one another.
Learn the Company: learn who reports to who, gain an appreciation of the company’s culture, and understand the history and future plans for the company.
Learn Your New Job: even if you’ve done a similar job in the past, every company is different. They all have different processes and ways of doing things and this takes time to understand. Make it your goal to understand how to be successful in your new job, and work toward modeling this.
Add Value: jobs are only approved and hired for due to a business need. You won’t be adding as much value in your first week as someone who has been there for years but do your best to find ways to add value. Ask your leader what they feel is most important for you to work on first. Show them they made the right choice hiring you over other candidates.
Make sure that you’re ready to hit the ground running
Starting a new job is a big deal. Much of your time will be spent at work, and when starting a new job, you’ll need to have a laser like focus on your job during this orientation phase. Make sure that you’ve prepared for this being a busier time in your life. If you recently moved and haven’t yet started your job, this is the perfect time to take care of those common activities like switching banks, getting your kids registered for school, updating your driver’s licenses, establishing care with a new doctor, and more. Once you start your job, these things will become much more difficult to get and will often require taking time off from your new job to get them taken care of.
Easier said than done but do everything you can to ease the transition to your new job, like making sure to get plenty of rest as you’ll likely find yourself exhausted when you first begin from all the new information you’ll be taking in and just the general nerves of starting a new job.
Make a great first impression
Typically, your new leader will notify others that you have joined the company and will encourage them to introduce themselves to you. It’s also common for your new leader to introduce you directly to others who you will be working with closely. But it’s also possible that you may be on your own at times as they may get tied in other priorities demanding their attention.
Whether the introductions are done intentionally, or they occur organically throughout the day, here are some suggestions to ensure that you’re making great first impressions:
Always smile and offer to shake hands
With each new person, or group you’re in, share your name, what your new role is, briefly where you worked (or what you did before joining the company), and if the conversation lends itself to it, share a few facts about yourself like your hobbies
Make sure that for everyone you meet that you get their name and role within the company and do you best to commit it to memory.
Anyone who you’ll be working closely with, send a brief email after meeting them about how nice it was to meet them, how you look forward to working with them, and that they should always feel welcome reaching out to you.
Build trust with your leader, coworkers, and direct reports
Building strong relationships take time, so it’s best to start as soon as possible. When starting a new job, it’s important to put an emphasis on building relationships with those people you’ll be working with.
By showing interest in those you work with, being a great contributor, and being reliable, will go a long way to building strong relationships. If you have direct reports, it’s important to build rapport with them. Don’t be afraid to ask them for help and showing them that you appreciate their contributions and that you trust them, will go a long way.
When it comes to you leader, check in with them regularly. Ask them for feedback. When you’re ready, ask them to take on additional responsibilities, and if you want bonus points, ask to take something of your leader’s pile of work to help them with. Going that extra mile won’t go unnoticed.
Understand the history, culture, and structure
When you’re new to a company, or even to a new team, you’ll want to take some time understanding its history and culture. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t bring your true self to work with the hopes making positive changes. But it’s wise to take some time to simply observe. I’ve made the mistake before of being the new person with a bunch of ideas and then ended up struggling to have much success making positive changes. It takes time to gain the trust of others and to be given a chance to be heard. And in all fairness, it takes a fair amount of time spent observing to be able to recognize what is working well, and what isn’t.
Begin by asking how the team, or company, was formed.
What brought it into existence?
What problems were they hoping to solve when they were formed?
Who are the different players?
What did they do previously?
What problems do these people experience today, and what ideas do they have for solving them?
How does the team interact with each other?
Does the team work together well or are they major issues?
What does the reporting structure look like all the way up to the CEO?
And where does this team fit into the structure?
What’s the outlook for the team or company?
Is it growing or struggling (both create different kinds of opportunities)?
Have a plan for your first 100 days
The last point drove home the need to observe before pushing for change. But even so, it’s a good idea to have a high-level plan of what it is you’re hoping to accomplish in your first 100 days. I would recommend writing it out and then continuously adjusting the plan as you continue making observations. Are you looking to obtain a new skill? Provide specific value? Solve a particular problem?
This is even more important if you’re being hired for a role that has direct reports. Being a leader as a new employee is tricky because you have to balance onboarding, learning your job, and providing leadership and direction to your direct reports. Experience helps a lot here. But if this is the first time that you’ve been in this situation, that’s OK. Speak with your leader first and let them know you’re planning on introducing yourself to your team. Ask your leader if they have any advice or insights they can share. Perhaps your team is nervous, and your leader knows this. Or maybe you’ll have a direct report who will want to challenge your authority. Your leader should be able to provide you with valuable insight before you introduce yourself to your direct reports. But as soon as you possibly can, make sure to introduce yourself to your new team. Often, this works best in a meeting where everyone is present and can meet you at the same time. Set them at ease, let them know how excited you are to work with them, and let them know they can always come to you if they need your support. During this meeting, ask them to introduce themselves and to get you up to speed on what the team is working on and what challenges they are facing. Ask them how you can support them. Doing this right away will go a long way toward quickly building rapport. And the information you’ll gain during this meeting with help to inform your 100 day plan.
Remote Onboarding
It’s become very common for employers to offer hybrid or full remote working arrangements. Onboarding remotely can be tricky, but it’s very doable. I’ve remotely onboarded several direct reports over the past few years. In many ways, it isn’t much different than onboarding in person. Assuming the technology is robust, onboarding remotely just requires more intentionality. It still requires contingencies to be completed, paperwork to be submitted and filled out, benefits to be elected, hardware and access to be setup and provided, reviewing the job description with your leader, and all the other points listed above. Where it tends to require more intentionality is in the building of relationships (there is no running into someone organically in the office), ensuring communication and check-ins are done well and regularly, and that appropriate processes are in place to overcome the limitations of not being physically together.
If you’re going to be onboarded remotely, don’t fret. Once you receive your hardware, and have it setup in your home, and you’ve been given your access information, you’re almost set. It’s likely your employer has done this before and knows how to do it successfully. But the same points mentioned above still apply here. Be proactive in your onboarding, ask lots of questions, make sure you’re making progress through the onboarding checklist, and most importantly, make sure that you’re building relationships. If it seems like a good time, introduce yourself during meetings. Email your team. Send a quick message to those you work with closely and ask if you can get on a quick call with them to say hi. Make sure to be seen and be intentional in how you show up. I promise it works. I’ve seen it work firsthand and these employees are thriving today.
Bonus: Avoid these common mistakes
There’s a lot to remember when successfully starting a new job, but Robert Half has developed a list of 5 common mistakes to make sure to avoid1:
Failing to ask questions or clarify expectations
Talking too much about a previous job or company
Taking on too much workIgnoring corporate cultureKeeping to yourself
Sources
1: Starting a New Job? Don’t Make These 5 Mistakes (roberthalf.com)
