Shaka Insights

Onboarding Practices to Keep Employees Engaged and Happy

Written By Olivia Daley

It is no secret that employee happiness is the key to a successful business. Employee onboarding is an easy way to keep your employees engaged from their first day of work to years later and a good way to reduce turnover and improve performance. The tips provided below will help your employees feel more passionate about their work, as well as to help them better understand your company culture.

What is employee onboarding?

Onboarding is the process of introducing a new hire into an organization. It is a very important factor in helping employees understand their new job, what their role consists of, and develop a feel for the company culture. You may be surprised to find that poor cultural fit plays a bigger part in why new employees choose to leave a company, compared to lack of skill. Explicitly introducing “the way things are done here” is crucial to the adjustment of the new hire. Many other activities can be included during the onboarding process, with the goal being to build confidence in taking on their new role.

The best onboarding processes should include relational onboarding, such as:

  • Setting expectations
  • Building relationships
  • Creating trust and confidence
  • Creating a clear definition of roles and responsibilities

What you can do

The first thing you can do is provide your new employee with helpful tools. A resource guide/internal document provides important company information and procedures that they can read through, sign off on, and ask questions about to help save time for both parties involved. By telling the employee what is expected of them, it will help give them an idea of what their day-to-day responsibilities will look like.

Only 66% of employees feel a sense of purpose at their workplace. This can be combated by communicating your company purpose and company values to the new hire so that they begin to develop a sense of passion for their work. Hitting personal goals is another way to feel a sense of accomplishment early on in their new job. Employee happiness is tied to a sense of purpose, and setting goals can help them contribute to that purpose.

Another important part of onboarding is introducing the new hire to their co-workers, bosses, and managers. When talking about company culture, it may be hard to grasp at first. Interacting with employees of the same organization will help them better understand the culture. Employee social events can be a good way to connect and the possibilities are endless. If your company has any planned, mention these in the orientation to get them excited for what is to come! With many jobs being remote now, it can be hard to interact with one another.Joinshaka.com helps to combat this by creating communities and fostering human connection at work, no matter where your newly hired employees are located, through team challenges, coffee chats, and more.

Do not forget to never stop onboarding. Regular check-ins, feedback, and celebrating accomplishments will continue to push employees in the right direction. In conclusion, investing time in your employees will pay off in the long run and provide higher engagement and retention within your company.

If you would like to request a demo of Shaka, please fill out the demo request form on our website or email contact@joinshaka.com