How to onboard a new hire

Recently I hired someone new here at Know Your Team. Here’s exactly what I wrote on Day 1 and the 23 questions I asked as a part of our employee onboarding process.



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Something new happened recently: We hired a new employee at Know Your Team – and it caused me to rethink our entire employee onboarding process. As a small, profit-focused team, we don’t hire often. As a result, this time around, I wanted to be intentional about how to onboard a new hire.

After all, the numbers on how likely it is for a new employee to leave within the first 90 days are astounding: 30% employees leave before their first 3 months are up, according to a survey with 1,500 people.

It got me reflecting deeply… How to onboard a new hire, and make sure that person feels welcomed, encouraged, and well-equipped to contribute to the team?

What 1,000+ managers recommend for employee onboarding

From the insights of 1,000+ managers in our online leadership community, The Watercooler, I noticed clear commonalities for what leaders view as best practices for how to onboard a new hire. Here were the most frequently cited elements of their employee onboarding processes:

Mentorship – At many companies, new hires are usually paired with the lead as a mentor (or a more senior person). One company mentioned how the new hire sits right next to their mentor in the office.Weekly one-on-ones – During the first month, the new hire has weekly one-on-ones with the lead/mentor (and a couple with the CEO as well). After the first month, the one-on-ones slow down to a more moderate pace such as biweekly or once a month. (You can read my piece on the best questions to ask during your first one-on-one meeting with a new hire here.)Nailing the basics – Many companies have a document that explains processes and details like getting their computer all configured. Other companies set up the new person’s desk with welcome notes, headphones, etc. and/or have an office seating chart with everybody’s name so they know who is who. (For our new hire at Know Your Team, I wrote “Welcome note” that I include in its entirety below.)A clear first project – One recommendation is to design what the first month of the new hire will look like project-wise. What will they be responsible for, and what’s the ideal outcome? You want to have something to help the person get acquainted with the company, but also have the feeling of accomplishment at the same time. (I also did this for our new hire.)



What I did for our employee onboarding process

Given the consensus around these recommendations on how to onboard a new hire, I incorporated these elements into our own employee onboarding process.

However, I also knew from our research through Know Your Team over the past 5 years with 15,000+ people, that as a leader, it would be crucial to provide our new hire with (1) as much context as possible about the business itself (2) direction as to what “success” looks like (3) encouragement in carrying out the role, and (4) a sense of rapport and trust so that we can work well together.

As a result, on our new hire’s very first day at Know Your Team, I sent her an Icebreaker through our software (it’s a set of fun questions that help break the ice).

I also wrote up a “Day 1 Welcome Note” and sent it to her. We’re a remote company, so we default to written, asynchronous communication – but I also wanted something in writing she could refer back to, if needed.

Here’s what the “Day 1 Welcome Note” included…

Why we hired you – When you tell someone why you hired them, you’re essentially saying to them: “I believe in you.” Few forms of encouragement are better. You show your support for them on Day 1, and simultaneously set your expectations for the things you want them to continue doing. Not to mention, I’ve always found it strange when you join a new company, and you’re not exactly sure why they picked you.

Context write-ups – “What are all the things someone new has no clue about, but would love to know?” I asked myself that question, and then wrote up a series of documents that attempted to answer it as much as possible. The result was separate documents on our company’s history, our purpose + vision + values, how we work (communication, meetings, etc.), business context (market analysis, product vision, etc.), and the key milestones we’re looking to hit in the upcoming six to eighteen months.

Work preferences survey – Annoyances, pet peeves, proclivities, and communication tendencies… I wanted our new hire to have an opportunity to share all those things about how she prefers to work. And I wanted her to know what everyone else on the team’s work preferences were, too. And so I wrote up a survey with 23 questions: