How to Create an Amazing Employee Journey for New Hires: 13 Best Practices

Jun 21, 2022 13 min reading

For new employees, the very first couple of days at a new workplace are usually quite stressful and intense. After all, there are so many things to learn and get acquainted with: colleagues, company rules, habits, company culture, various events, and more. As an employer, your goal should be to make this time for new hires as enjoyable and stress-free as possible.

While it’s natural for stress to be present during the first days, there are plenty of ways you could really make sure your new hires have a great first impression of the company and the environment. This will make this moment truly unforgettable for them – in a nice way.

In today’s article, we share these ways with you by presenting to you our top 13 best practices for creating a flawless employee journey for new hires.

What is Employee Journey?

Simply put, the employee journey is the series of steps that a new employee goes through from the first moment they apply for a job with your company until the moment they leave.

It can include getting their company card to get up and running with company amenities, meeting colleagues, getting to know the company culture, and attending training classes.

For every workplace, the new hire onboarding journey is slightly different and completely depends on the company and its nature: size, approach, and more.

One thing is certain though: any employer, no matter the company, should do everything in their power to provide an awesome customer journey. Read on to find out why.

Why should you care about the employee journey in your organization?

Companies should care about the employee journey because it can help them recruit better and retain employees for a longer period of time. When employees are engaged in their work, they are more likely to do better work and be more satisfied with their jobs.

Moreover, there is plenty of research on why it’s worth investing time into your employees, especially new ones. Here are some statistics:

#1 92% of workers say they’d be more likely to do the same thing again if they were recognized for it in the first place by their employer or manager. Moreover, lack of recognition is the third most common reason for leaving a job. For these two reasons, it’s important that you include appreciation and recognition as workplace elements very early on in your employee journey steps.

#2 Businesses with engaged employees see a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 17% increase in employee productivity. To take advantage of this fact, it may be beneficial to keep your employees highly engaged during the onboarding process. Your business will benefit from it, and so will your employees.

#3 Employees who are disengaged cost organizations an estimated $450 billion to $550 billion every year in the United States alone. Because of this, you need to make sure that engagement plays an important role during your employee journey. Otherwise, your business could be exposed to financial loss.

Employee journey – best practices

Our recommended employee journey best practices are the guidelines and steps that you can take to help you create an environment where employees feel valued, challenged, and connected to their work.

A lot of the time, employers don’t necessarily know what they should include in such an employee journey. This is because they struggle with imagining themselves on the other side of the workplace: as employees rather than managers or business owners.

Welcome new hires with open arms and make them feel comfortable

When it comes to welcoming new hires, it is important to make them feel comfortable. This will help them settle in and start enjoying their work. Making the new hire feel at home is crucial for their productivity and engagement.

As part of your effective employee journey, you should welcome new hires with open arms and make them feel comfortable. This can be done in various ways, for example:

giving them “welcome” kits, with a nice welcome letter and some company merchandise to make them feel like they already belong in the company,
presenting a nice first impression when greeting them on their first day at work, using welcome greeting messages.

It seems like something small, but it can go a long way in making your new hires feel welcome right from the start.

Give them a clear overview of the company’s history, values, and goals

Next, it’s important that your new hires quickly get a grasp of the company’s history, values, and goals. As a company leader, it’s actually you who has the highest impact on company culture. Thus, you should really use this power and make sure new hires know everything about the company that they should – right from the start.

While chances are high they already did their research before applying for a position at your company, giving them a true insider insight is always much better.

Again, there are many ways you could do it:

making new hires attend or watch lectures on company values, goals and history,
organizing fun games to teach new employees about the company,
asking other employees to have chats with new hires and share the important elements with them.

Whichever way you choose to do it, make sure you don’t miss this stage.

Help them understand their role within the company and what is expected of them

The history, values, and goals are all important aspects of a company. Now, it’s one thing to explain them all, and it’s a whole different thing when it comes to showing how your new hires belong to it and what their role is.

Providing an overview of these aspects can help employees get a better understanding of the company they work for. This overview should be available to employees at any time and it should be updated as necessary. Employees who don’t know what is expected of them will quickly become disengaged. As a result, their performance and effectiveness levels will drop.

It is also crucial that this information is easy to access so that it can be referenced when needed. Moreover, make sure these details are available in a variety of formats including videos, podcasts, and articles so that all types of people can have access to it.

Start with a comprehensive onboarding process that helps new hires get up to speed quickly

A good onboarding process is an investment that can pay off in the long term. It’s a chance for your new hires to get acquainted with the company culture, their job and responsibilities, and their colleagues. It’s also a chance for you to get to know them better and make sure they are feeling welcome.

Onboarding is not just about welcoming new employees – it’s also about making them feel like they’re part of the team. One of the best ways to do this is by getting them involved in company activities right away, such as team meetings or social events.

It’s also a great idea to develop a comprehensive onboarding process in which you should include all the steps and tasks to complete when accepting new hires into your company.

Benjamin Franklin once said: “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” – do think about these words in the context of developing a plan for your employee journey – you’ll thank us later!

Help them get acclimated to the company culture – encourage employees to ask questions and get involved in company culture early on

It is important for employees to get acclimated to the company culture relatively quickly. This can be done by encouraging them to ask questions and get involved in the company culture.

Employees should be encouraged to ask questions about how things work at the company, what is expected of them, and how they can contribute positively. It will help them feel more connected with the team and make their transition easier, as well as your communication strategies more effective.

Companies should also encourage their employees’ involvement in organizational activities such as volunteering, attending off-site events, or socializing with other teams during lunch breaks. These activities will help build camaraderie among employees which will eventually lead to better employee performance.

Make sure managers are available to help new employees navigate their way through the company

Managers are the ones who have spent the most time in the company and they know how things work. They are also in charge of helping new employees adapt to their new environment, which is why it’s crucial for them to be available at all times.

New employees often need help getting adjusted to the company culture and finding their way around. They might need help with paperwork, understanding how work is done there, or just general orientation. Managers are responsible for this task and should ensure that they’re available when needed.

Thus, don’t miss this step when it comes to preparing the perfect employee journey!

Celebrate employee milestones and accomplishments throughout the year

Celebrating employee milestones and accomplishments throughout the year is an excellent way to keep employees motivated and engaged.

Achieving milestones, like reaching a certain number of years in the company, promotions, or other achievements can be very rewarding for the employees. It’s also a great opportunity for managers to recognize their employees’ hard work.

This is what makes it so important to have company-wide celebrations that are open to all employees.

The best way to make these celebrations successful is by making them personalized and meaningful for each individual employee. You could hand out certificates, give prizes and even organize some competitions in the workplace in different categories to make things fun and exciting in the workplace.

Such little things mean a lot to employees, especially new ones. The perfect example of this is the fact that Gen Z, for example, would rather quit their jobs than be unhappy. Now, celebrations are perfect to make employees happy!

Make the onboarding process fun and engaging

You already know that the onboarding process is an important part of the employee journey. It is a time when the company can make a great first impression on new employees. If a company wants to get the most out of its employees, it should make the onboarding process fun and engaging.

There are many ways to make this happen but they all come down to one thing: making sure that your new hires feel welcome and supported.

This could be as simple as providing them with some swag or it could be something more involved like an orientation session. The goal should be to show that you care about their well-being and want them to have a good experience with your company.

If you want to incorporate some games into your onboarding process, check some of these suggestions out:

discussion topic shuffles,
two truths and a lie,
meet the team scavenger hunt,
ice shaker,
taboo,
lunch n learn.

Again, to you, it may be something very simple, but to employees, it makes a huge difference!

Show new hires around the office and introduce them to their team

Since the new hire will be working with the team, it is important for them to know who they are working with and what their roles are. This will help them to fit in better and feel more comfortable.

The new hire should also get a tour of the office: what it looks like, where different rooms are located, what equipment they have access to, and so on.

Because of this, it may also be a good idea for the new hire to meet some of the people who work at other levels of the company, so that they can get a sense of how their role fits into the bigger picture. They can also go on an office trip, have a laugh, and make the onboarding process slightly less stressful, making your new employee feel at home.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

Give them a project to work on right away

Moving on, another way to make sure that onboarding goes smoothly is by giving your new employees a project right away so they can start learning as soon as possible.

This is a very good way to get your new employee acquainted with the company and the work that they will be doing in practice. It also gives them an opportunity to begin working on tasks that are relevant to their position, which can help them get up to speed quickly.

Provide plenty of training and development opportunities to grow their skillset

There are many benefits to providing new hires with plenty of training and development opportunities. It helps the employee feel like they are being provided with the tools they need to be successful at their job. It also helps the company because it means that they have a higher chance of retaining employees for a longer period of time.

New hires should be given the opportunity to grow and develop their skills further at all times. They should also be given opportunities for training and development in order to help them succeed in their new role.

If you don’t provide such training possibilities, you might end up with some issues. This is because over 60% of employees quit jobs due to the lack of advancement possibilities. You know what to do to avoid this!

Keep them informed about their progress and give regular feedback

In order to create a healthy work environment, companies should provide feedback to their employees. Feedback can be given in different ways – through written reviews, regular one-on-one meetings, or even just a conversation in the hallway.

Feedback is important for understanding what is expected from the employee and how they are doing with their current tasks. It also helps new hires understand the company’s culture and expectations.

Check up on them regularly at the start to make sure they’re doing ok and are getting on just fine

Last but not least, you should always remember that every new hire is a big investment for any company. It is important to make sure that they are doing well, and that they are getting on just fine. This will help them settle in and feel more comfortable in their new environment.

Doing regular check-ups on them can be one way to provide this comfort. It could be done by asking questions, having one-on-one meetings with them, reminding them that you’re there if they need you, and more.

However you choose to approach this, what matters is that you should be showing empathy and care at all times – employees will see you care about them and will be more loyal.

How to create a great employee journey for new hires with Sloneek

Now you know the best practices when it comes to creating an excellent employee journey for your new hires. But it’s not the end of this article, nor the end of valuable knowledge you can take away from it.

Speaking of providing an excellent employee journey, there are plenty of tools out there that can help you with all the important preparation.

One of these tools is Sloneek – a human resource management software, excellent for managing all HR processes, including those taking place very early on when onboarding new employees.

With features for time management, people management, and even administration duties, you will be able to create the best employee journey process ever – for both remote and office-based employees.

Use automation, assets management, employee folders, and various integrations – all with high-level security guaranteed – and be excited about providing your new hires with unforgettable experiences!

Make your new hires feel at home with these useful employee journey practices!

And that’s a wrap from our side! We hope you enjoyed this article. Now you know what it takes to create a flawless employee journey: time, patience, preparation, and more. Once you master your plan, onboarding new employees will be as easy as ABC. Also, don’t forget that tools like Sloneek can be the cherry on top of your employee journey plan cake.

And if you like the idea of Sloneek – try our free trial!