09 Apr
17, 33, 100.
17 is the number of employees our client had in their new department 6 months ago.
33 is how many employees are now in that department.
100 is the number of projected employees who are going to be part of that department by the end of the year.
That is a big increase and very fast growth. Can you imagine trying to successfully onboard and train 67 new employees in 11 months? The only way that is possible is with good documentation and good systems.
Did you know that new employees don’t actually want to be thrown into the proverbial deep end to see if they will swim or sink? They want to have resources that guide them through onboarding, and training materials that walk them through how to be successful in their new position. People don’t want to fail where they don’t need to.
What does it look like to have good documentation and systems in place for onboarding and hiring?
It all starts with having processes documented. If you don’t have processes documented you cannot build training materials. This is by far the heaviest lift when it comes to creating a good onboarding and training process. Getting things documented is not an easy feat. But let’s pretend it is one of those cooking shows where we already have all of our ingredients neatly chopped up in little bowls and documented processes is one of them.
With your processes documented, you can now build what we like to call “onboarding paths”. These are the paths that new employees take when they join your organization. Some of it looks the same for everyone, such as an overview of your company, who you are, who you serve, etc. After this is where the path veers off based on the department and sometimes even position that someone has been hired on for. (Cue: bowl of perfectly chopped onions thrown into a sizzling frying pain).
In order to be able to take someone through an onboarding path like we just described you need to have the information set up in a good system. The best kind of system for this is a Learning Management System (LMS). There are a ton out there and some HRIS systems now boast having their own LMS inside of them. When you are selecting your LMS, think about what will integrate best with your existing tech stack, consider whether you want to be able to have assessments along the way, if you will use it for continued learning and development once someone is onboarded, etc. (Cue: perfectly seasoned salmon added to a sizzling frying pan).
Last, but not least, do you have a system and someone responsible for making sure that system gets executed on for new employees? Does Sue in HR make sure that all new employees get set up with a 30, 60, 90 day onboarding experience? Is that experience tracked in the LMS, HRIS, project management system, etc.? (This is the sauce that brings the whole meal together).
If you have big growth goals for 2025 and plan on bringing on new team members, it is well worth the effort to make sure these things are in place. Not only will you have happier employees, you will also have employees who will be trained and proficient at their new jobs much faster. We have seen rates as high as 6X once onboarding and training systems were put in place!