{"id":146089,"date":"2024-01-03T18:44:30","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T18:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/?post_type=definition&p=146089"},"modified":"2024-02-07T16:32:37","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T16:32:37","slug":"what-is-employee-onboarding","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/what-is-employee-onboarding","title":{"rendered":"Employee Onboarding"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is Employee Onboarding?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Employee onboarding is the process of introducing new hires to your company and the team they’ll be working with. It’s typically done either before a new hire officially joins the company or during their first day\/week.<\/p>\n

The main goal of onboarding is to empower the new employee to become a productive member of your team as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

Employee onboarding involves collecting the required documentation and HR<\/a> information, familiarizing the new hire with the company’s culture, processes, and policies, and providing them with accounts and access to the tools and apps they’ll need to start working as a part of your organization.<\/p>\n

Depending on the role and the complexity of the job, onboarding may also involve training, the orientation process, one-on-ones with their direct superiors, and similar activities that help integrate the person with your existing team.<\/p>\n

How Does Employee Onboarding Work?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Onboarding is unique to every organization and is typically designed by the company’s HR department according to the structure of the organization and its unique policies. It typically involves an HR representative and the hiring manager (team lead\/department head).<\/p>\n

The HR representative’s job is to introduce the new hire to company values, vision, and mission, and talk about HR-related aspects of the job, such as signing the contract, choosing the benefits package, PTO, team building exercises, and similar.<\/p>\n

The hiring manager is in charge of explaining the technical aspects of the job to the new team members, introducing them to their colleagues, and provisioning accounts for the various tools and apps the person will be using.<\/p>\n

All this is typically done on video conference calls, where the new hire has a chance to talk to the HR rep and their team lead face-to-face. Video calls also enable screen sharing, so they’re a much more effective way of conducting onboarding than emails or chats on communication platforms like Slack.<\/p>\n

The Role of HR in Employee Onboarding<\/h3>\n

In addition to welcoming the new employees and introducing them to the key aspects of the company as a whole, HR’s job in the process is to collect all the required documentation. This includes the signed employment contract, the employee’s personal and contact information, their banking information for payroll, and other relevant data.<\/p>\n

All of this information is typically entered into the company’s HRIS<\/a> (Human Resources Information System) for quick and easy access in the future. In most cases, HR representatives will also introduce the new employee to the rest of the company, specifically the department heads and other executives the employee will be reporting to.<\/p>\n

In the event that the new employee is an outside hire for an executive position, HR will also introduce them to the entire team and give them the opportunity to introduce themselves and directly address the team.<\/p>\n

Employee Onboarding Phases<\/span><\/h2>\n

Onboarding typically consists of four distinct phases:<\/p>\n