Employee Onboarding Mistakes to Avoid

By September 12, 2018

According to a recent study, the overall cost of losing an employee within their first year can cost a small business nearly three times their salary. Rather than creating an environment that focuses on sales rather than the growth of your employees, you need to take employee training seriously.

Properly onboarding new employees will make your company run better and will reduce the amount of mistakes these individuals make. While most business owners see how beneficial using things like online employee scheduling software is, they fail to realize how important proper training is for the long-term success of their company.

Read below to find out more about some of the most common employee onboarding mistakes you need to avoid at all costs.

employee onboarding

Providing Employees With a Well-Appointed Work Station is Crucial

One of the first things you need to do before bringing on new employees is get well-appointed workstations constructed. Most business owners fail to realize just how important making a good first impression on a new employee is. If a new team member comes into work for the first day to a workstation that is equipped with the latest technology and tools, they are more likely to feel engaged right way.

When constructing the workstations for your new employees, you need to do a bit of research to find out about the latest tools being used in your industry. While investing in updated technology and tools may be costly, it will definitely pay off in the long run.

Overwhelming New Team Members With Too Much Information

Some business owners try to cram about 20 hours’ worth of information into a 3 hour training session. While this may save a business owner time, it can lead to a new employee becoming overwhelmed. Developing an onboarding program that is broken up into smaller increments is a great idea.

By doing this, you can rest assured that new employees can get a handle on what is expected of them. In some instances, you may need to outsource the development of an adequate onboarding program to professionals.

Putting Too Much Pressure on an Employee Too Soon

Even if you hire employees with previous experience in your industry, it will take some time before they are ready to take on bigger jobs. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm an employee with too much responsibility too soon. Not only will this lead to mistakes being made, it may make a person second guess taking a job with your company.

You need to assess just how comfortable a new employee is with taking on a project before assigning it to them. By speaking with them one on one, you can get more information about whether or not they feel as if they are ready for the task at hand. If the new employee seems a bit apprehensive, you may want to pair them up with an experienced team member.

employee onboarding

Every Employee is Different

Trying to develop a one size fits all onboarding process is not a good idea. Realizing that every employee is different in regards to how they learn and interact with new information is the key. Speaking with a new hire can help you figure out what they need to successfully integrate themselves into your company.

If you are apprehensive about onboarding employees on your own, working with seasoned human resources professionals is vital. Not only can they help you see the importance of onboarding, you may be able to outsource key parts of this process to them.