Onboarding inception

- Before leaving the train station, you might hear the infamous phrase, "All aboard!" When you're getting ready to board a flight, you'll hear an announcement, "Now boarding." When you are about to engage in some elaborate plan, you might hear the ringleader ask, "Are you on board with this?" In all of these phrases, there is one large implication. And one larger question: Are we all together, and going in the same direction? Starting a new job is a season filled with loads of emotion: Excitement, nervousness, anxiety, hope, uncertainty. There is a lot going on. As an employer, you are probably feeling similar feelings about your new employee: Excitement, nervousness, anxiety, hope, uncertainty. Bringing a new person into your work family is a big deal. And, it is up to you to bring them in all together to make sure that we are going in the same direction. And this brings up an important aspect of onboarding new employees. And that is that we begin onboarding our employees from the very beginning. That's right. We onboard our employees from the very beginning of our relationship with them. Now, when is that exactly? We begin onboarding our new employees when they are filling out their application. In the application process, we are setting forth an expectation of how clear and clean our documents are. What is expected in our hiring process? And what is described in our job and company description? The first major aspect of onboarding is setting expectations. And we do that in the beginning with our application. We continue to set forth expectations in our communication with the new employee, while they are still an applicant. If we have poor communication with our applicants, while they are not yet on payroll, how can they expect good communication with their HR and management team, whenever they are an employee? We set forth an expectation of clear and timely communication and preparedness in the relationship in the new hire process while they are still an applicant. Furthermore, we set an expectation for person preparedness in the interview stages, that will likely carry over into the employment relationship. Every step of recruitment begins to set an expectation for the company culture, and standards for employees in the team. I want you to look at your recruitment process, and analyze if you are setting the desired expectations and standards. Ask what adjustments you can make to better set expectations for your new hires.