A Tale of the Best and the Worst of Onboarding Experiences, and How to Get It Right! Why the Best Companies Get It Right From the Start, and Tips On How to Do This

Warning. This is a somewhat personal and lengthy tale of two onboarding stories buried deep in my past that couldn’t be more opposite. Now is a good time to share them as they provide valuable lessons for hiring managers struggling to attract and retain great talent in a virtual hiring world.

Company A, for A-mazing was a global software manufacturer, with a state-of-the-art headquarters and 25,000+ employees. They made me an offer to join their team, advising that I would have a home office in Long Island, but that I’d be working mostly out of the NYC office, next to Penn Station. The offer letter was complete with all the details of the compensation package, healthcare benefits, employee matching for 401k, etc.

Day 1 was a dream.

Here’s what was impressive about that onboarding process:

1)  Explicit instructions on when and where to go and who to meet.

2)  Greeted warmly by an HR representative, along with multiple other new hires equally excited to be joining.

3)  A package that included my accurate job description, all the benefits and instructions on how to get my healthcare and payroll setup.

4)  A bag full of company-branded swag… very exciting… I immediately felt connected!

5)  The HR representative showed us a video about the company that included a welcome message from the President. It felt good to hear/see him, even if not in person.

6)  I was escorted to the large and elegantly furnished cafeteria and given a lunch voucher covering a full meal and even snacks for the day.

7)  After lunch and some idle chatter with the other new hires, I was taken to my new office “cube”, where I found my newly configured computer, new stationery, a working office phone with my name associated to the extension, and last, but not least, my name tag associated with the actual cube, along with my title.

The day ended as well as it started… on a complete high, with me feeling like I’d landed the dream job.

That was the most “red carpet” new hire experience I’d ever had. Talk about feeling special! Everything was thought of and planned in advance. My benefits, my learning, my location…even feeding me. The icing on the cake was an assigned parking spot! The best day and the best onboarding experience ever. Day 2 and beyond…that’s a different story, and the ending, a saga for another time. But for onboarding experiences, it was a Maserati!

I was eventually recruited out of Company A to Company B.

Company B, (for Beyond insane) was a healthcare insurance provider situated in NYC, with a headquarters office midtown and the main IT location downtown by Wall Street (I’ll explain the relevance in a minute.).  To say I was excited to be joining this company would be a complete understatement.

Day 1 was a complete nightmare on multiple levels.

Here’s what was completely distressing from that experience:

1) I was told to arrive for orientation on at the midtown office. With only 3 others starting that day the HR person decided that instead of doing a full day orientation, we would be done in 1 ½ hours and sent to the IT location to meet with our manager.

2) The title and location of the role on the job description I was handed were both different than what was in my offer letter. This got me immediately worried, and no one could explain the discrepancy.

3) This next part isn’t anyone’s fault, but it did happen. Transiting between orientation at HQ and the meeting with my new manager at the IT location, I managed to get mugged on the subway, arriving with no picture ID, cash or credit cards. I was in an agitated and frightened state, not how you want to start your first day in a new role.

4) When I finally arrived, shaken and stirred, at the IT location and asked for my new manager, I was told he was not in for the day. In fact, NO ONE KNEW I WAS COMING! HR had neglected to advise the IT office that I was on the way. The hiring manager had an emergency situation and understandably had taken the day off, but shockingly hadn’t given instructions to anyone at the office about what to do with me, and he was expecting to be out for several days.

5) The receptionist found another manager who also reported to my manager to come fetch me from the lobby, which he did, and then with me in the room, he called the hiring manager asking “What do I do with her?”

6) I was then told: “You need to leave the building”. Why? Because the incumbent from that (my) position had not been told she was to be transferred out of her (my) role into another department, so she was still sitting at her (my) desk in her (my) office, doing her (my) job, with no clue as to what was happening.

7) The instructions as I left were to go back to the office I’d just come from and spend the day there getting to know another colleague until instructions were given for next steps in the days ahead. By the way, he had only started 2 weeks earlier than I did, so he didn’t have a wealth of knowledge to impart.

Talk about a horrific first impression and feeling. Not only did I feel confused, nothing felt good or warm or welcoming. There was just a feeling of chaos. All I could think of was “What did I do? What did I sign up for? And is it too late to go back to my old job??? This can’t be real, can it?”

While things did get much better after that false start, unfortunately you never get a 2nd chance to leave a first impression. Here I am 20 years later, still remembering and relaying how much that onboarding affected me in a negative way.

I shared these 2 stories because they’re true, and they couldn’t be more different, yet both moved me. The lessons I learned as a person feeling vulnerable as a new employee on Day 1, either getting the red carpet or the raw deal, have stayed with me for a long time.

This is why I think the onboarding experience is critical, even pivotal to the success of your efforts to create a positive employee experience.

From these experiences, I learned to get these basics right!

Employees need to have their personal situation worked out before they can give you their best. Make sure their initial focus is on their benefits, how they will get paid, how they will care for their families. Without that, they can’t focus on work.

Employees need to feel welcomed. This includes all the niceties of introductions to their colleagues, staff members (if reporting to them), and customers. This also includes having the majority (or at least 80%) of the resources they need to do the job; office (or remote office) assignment, computer equipment, application/remote connectivity setup, rights to different platforms/systems, and even stationery. It may include a lunch to welcome them (yes, this still works.). Beyond this, taking the time to plan a week or two of meet and greet meetings and activities to integrate them into the role will go a long way.

Employees need to learn about the company and the culture. The company’s mission/vision are one thing they can usually learn and read about in advance, but the history of how we got here and the way we do things around here is also very important. Giving them a tour of the facilities and/or a rotation within multiple departments is very helpful. Some companies do this for a few days, others for a few weeks. Whatever it takes to acclimate, it will pay dividends in the end.

Employees need to be familiar with what is expected from them in their role. Yes, that includes the job description (the right one), but it’s also having the initial conversations around what their first 3 months, 6 months and 1st year will look like by way of learning the role and assigned responsibilities/projects (even goals.). It’s letting them know what open doors they can walk through, and the “rules of engagement” with you as a manager and with their colleagues/customers.

Employees need to feel proud of the role and the company they work in. This is almost too easy and obvious, but it’s true. Proudly displaying a name tag, a business card, a LinkedIn post, or even a company-branded bag or swag is a sign of pride. You can’t take your family and friends to work with you, but when you’re proud of where you work, you want to take a piece of your work with you to your family/friends. So having that to share connects both worlds.

Hiring managers, pay attention to the onboarding process! It makes ALL the difference in the world. Believe me, you want to be on the right side of the story for this….not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it really matters to the process of starting your employees on the path of engagement and eventually, loyalty.

Remember, people don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses. And they don’t quit bosses that get the basics (and other things) right!