What Should Onboarding Look Like?

This blog was written by Setup’s Chief Operating Officer (CCO), Amanda Thompson.

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The Society for Human Resource Management (better known as SHRM), a longtime authority in the Human Resources space, defines onboarding as “the process of integrating a new employee with a company and its culture, as well as getting a new hire the tools and information needed to become a productive member of the team.”

At Setup, we have the privilege of working with agency partners spread across the U.S. As part of the agency’s onboarding to the Setup network, we facilitate staff surveys on the agency’s behalf to get a sense of their strengths and weaknesses. New hire onboarding is an area we have asked agency employees about for the last six years, and it is an area where most agencies score particularly low. 

Fun culture? Yes! Fulfilling work? Yes! Onboarding effectiveness? Not so much.

Have you ever worked for an advertising agency? If you have, chances are you can reflect upon your onboarding at that agency for a brief moment. Chances are it wasn’t very involved and everyone at the agency was extremely busy. Perhaps they provided you a few guidelines, rules and paperwork, but then they likely threw you right into the work. Agencies tend to run lean, so by the time they decide to actually make a new hire, they really need that new hire to be working and producing immediately.

If you haven’t worked for an agency, perhaps you’ve had a similar experience at some point in your career. Most working people can relate to subpar onboarding experiences.

So, what should onboarding look like?

We asked two of our agency partners who ranked high in onboarding by their staff for some tips to successful onboarding procedures.  

Flexibility + Inclusion

“Onboarding a new team member starts way before and lasts long after the offer is accepted.”

— Dawn Evans | Human Resources Manager | Blue Sky Agency

At Blue Sky, Dawn Evans, the Human Resources Manager, focuses on a guiding strategy that’s all about flexibility and inclusion. She has personally committed to allow each new hire to set the pace of his/her onboarding rather than enforce a strict timeline. Some new hires need more guidance and ask lots of questions while others take off with minimal support, so flexibility is key. Evans errs on the side of inclusion, meaning that she includes the new hire, manager and many other team members throughout the process. She regularly checks in with the new hire, and managers create 30-60-90 day plans so the new hire has an idea of what his/her first three months will look like.

Takeaway:

• Allow for flexibility

• Set goals

• Schedule regular check-ins

Structure + Freedom

Courtney Kelly started at Dagger as a Project Manager and, with the help of the leadership team, was promoted to Operations Manager in charge of Dagger’s onboarding process. When it comes to onboarding, employees enthusiastically appreciate Kelly and Dagger’s mix of structure and freedom. 

Kelly explains that one of Dagger’s values is “elevate the team,” and they keep that value top of mind in their onboarding strategy. They provide new hires with an organized group of files – everything is in writing so it can be referenced later. Kelly will walk new hires through the paperwork during the early days, but they are careful to preserve unstructured hours at the end of Days 1 and 2 to allow each new hire to dig deeper into an area, review the info and have a chance to simply sit with the new material. The employees love this combination of structure and freedom, giving them a chance to absorb and process all the new information.

Takeaways:

• Write everything down!

• Provide some unstructured time 

Guiding Principles

Evans shares one of her favorite leadership quotes from Richard Branson, “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” She believes that just as a family is only as strong as their commitment to each other, an agency’s strength is in its commitment to its employees. Evans focuses on welcoming new hires and providing them the tools for success so Blue Sky’s commitment to its employees shines through, further flowing into an employee passion for the client work. It’s all related.

Kelly focuses on Dagger’s guiding principles with new hires – she finds it’s a way to get ahead of any nerves and help a new hire feel less overwhelmed. If they focus on the values and guiding principles of the agency, the new hire will find his/her way. She is extremely thorough and deliberate about the information shared – she never wants a new hire to have to ask “what’s that?” down the road. Dagger equips new hires with the proper tools to succeed and support from leadership. Dagger’s CEO will also meet with every new hire in his/her first couple of weeks to talk about his vision for the agency, its culture and what Butter (their media company) is. The CEO sets the tone that he’s approachable, and it makes a difference for each new hire to get that connection point.

Takeaways:

• Set the standard of excellence from the beginning 

• Show continuous support 

• Pour energy into the individual, who will then pour energy into the company

Mentor/Buddy System

Each new hire is assigned a Daguru upon starting his/her new job at Dagger. What started as a mentorship program has evolved into a way for employees to get to know someone from another department who they don’t/won’t work with directly very often. A Daguru will take the new hire to lunch or coffee in the first couple of weeks – or make 1:1 connections on video during the pandemic. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) speaks to the benefits of having a mentor or buddy by the end of the first month – more than 50% of survey respondents felt having one at work in the early days is very important.

If you’d like to read about what it’s like to start a new job during a global pandemic and some of the virtual ways that companies have been approaching onboarding, check out that post.

Takeaway:

• Create opportunities to enforce community or form cross-departmental bonds

Don’t Forget the Fun

On Kelly’s first day at Dagger everyone in the agency stood up and started clapping for her as soon as she walked in the door. She’ll never forget it! It was unexpected and lovely and embarrassing and fun. She chalks it up as her best onboarding experience ever.

Blue Sky Agency has new employees answer 10 questions like “What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?” and “Where’s your favorite place in the world?”, then emails the Q+A to the entire staff. It’s a rapid-fire way for existing staff to potentially find immediate areas of connection with the newbie, and it’s fun for the newbie to learn about shared interests with new colleagues so quickly.

Takeaway:

• Make your new staff feel special!

Human Capital Management (HCM) Tools

HCM platforms can take care of signatures required for NDAs and forms, government documentation, FAQs, assigning tasks, provisioning accounts and more. These tools are easing the burden for HR managers and new hires alike. Win-win.

Takeaway:

• The main message here is to use technology and tools to ease the burden of new hire paperwork!

Don’t Do This

Evans had one instance in her career where she was not notified about a new hire until a few days after the fact, causing stress due to noncompliance and a need to play catch-up with the newbie. Don’t forget to tell HR that you’re making a new hire!

Kelly once showed up for a new job at 9:00am, as specified, but the door to the office was locked. She knocked, but there was no response. So, she waited in the hallway…for a long time. Eventually a new colleague saw her and invited her in through a side entrance, only to discover that her new boss was still not there and no one knew quite what to do with her. 

Takeaway:

• Don’t allow your new employee to feel unwelcome, alone or confused about his/her decision to work for you!

TL;DR

Think about these areas as you bring on new employees, no matter the type or size of company.

• Create an onboarding strategy that aligns with your company’s values and purpose. Flexibility + Inclusion and Freedom + Structure are some ideas shared in this post. Implementing a strategic approach allows you to extend onboarding beyond the first few days for maximum impact.

• In addition to a solid strategy, determine your onboarding guiding principles (that likely align with your company’s values or principles) that will help a new employee understand who your company is at its core.

•  Establish a Mentor/Buddy System to ensure your new hire will meet and learn from people outside her core team.

• Infuse some fun and/or unexpected delight to make the first day their best one ever!

• Technology can truly be your friend – use HCM tools to ease the necessary paperwork pain.

• Don’t forget to tell HR about a new hire, and don’t forget about your new employee’s first day or start time. Seriously.

You don’t have to work in HR or Operations to share and implement good ideas. You can curate or contribute to a good onboarding experience by volunteering time or being a friendly face. The positive impacts of your involvement could be long-term and far-reaching.