The first day, prepared in advance
Nothing on a good first day is difficult. All of it has to be done before the person arrives, which is why it so often is not.
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Onboarding
The first day, the first week and the first ninety days — the period in which most avoidable early departures are decided.
Home/Onboarding
Onboarding is treated as paperwork and a tour. It is actually the window in which a new employee forms a durable judgement about whether the job is what they were told it was. For broader independent guidance on this point, consult CIPD induction guidance.
Most early departures are set in motion in the first three weeks, usually by something mundane: no equipment, no clear first task, no one accountable for the new person's progress. All three are cheap to fix in advance and expensive to fix afterwards.
A thirty, sixty and ninety day plan that is not a formality
The value of the plan is not the document. It is that both parties have agreed in advance what progress looks like, before either can be disappointed by surprise.
Read the guideWho owns onboarding when nobody owns HR
Onboarding fails in small companies less from bad intentions than from diffuse ownership. Three people each assumed one of the others had it.
Read the guideTraining when nobody has time to train
The person best placed to teach the job is the person most fully occupied doing it. Every small company hits this, and most resolve it by hoping.
Read the guideOnboarding someone who will not be in the room
Remote onboarding fails at the informal layer. Everything the office transmitted by accident now has to be transmitted on purpose. For a product-level comparison in this area, review remote workforce management software.
Read the guideProbation periods, used properly
A probation period is a review commitment, not a licence to postpone a decision. Most are allowed to lapse by silence.
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