When you’re building a company, every new hire is an investment. Your success depends on the people who make up your team, and having the right people in place at all times can be difficult to manage.

If your company is victim to employee churn, it is harder to scale. Turnover puts work back onto your plate and slows momentum.

This article will outline three tips for onboarding success to increase retention, improve employee engagement and keep YOU happy too.

1. Map the journey

Much like a customer journey maps your customer’s touch points with your company before, during and after the sale, the employee journey maps out the experience of your new hire after they join your team.

The employee journey considers how you want your teammate to feel in their new role and what they need to feel included. We believe the employee journey should be a healthy mix of learning process and building relationships. 

Assign them a mentor or buddy they can go to with big or small questions if they feel too intimidated to come to you. Lighten up onboarding by sending your new teammate some company swag, treats or a small gift for their family. 

In the past, we have sent gifts to new teammates’ kids and spouses because hell, they sacrifice too when an employee works for us! 

2. Set the first priority

Everything is important for you to offload. But rather than overwhelm your new hire and watch them crumble under the pressure, consider:

What is the first outcome you’d like your EA, or teammate, to successfully own? 

We always suggest giving your team member one thing to start with, like email or calendar management. As they get comfortable, gradually add more. 

Delegating too much too soon is a recipe for disaster. Think of onboarding like a snowball. It starts small and slowly accumulates more as it rolls down the hill. Your EA’s “accumulation” will be gradual. Be patient! 

Related resource: 10 Strategies to Delegate 10 Hours of Work Per Week

3. Keep your weekly meetings

If you want your new teammate, or EA, to own their role, they must feel empowered in their seat. That empowerment and encouragement comes from weekly meetings…with you!

We know you are anxious to get out of the weeds. And let’s be honest, nobody likes meetings. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs make the mistake of cancelling weekly progress check-up meetings and it hurts the new relationship after only 4-8 weeks.

It’s the realization that shit — onboarding still takes work. If you resist the urge to get lazy, you will prevent onboarding from falling apart. 

Consistent weekly meetings will help you stay invested in your new teammate. Keep in mind that it will take months before your EA is as equipped as you’d like them to be.

As much as you’d like to work at warp speed, onboarding requires you to SLOW DOWN and collaborate with your teammate to help them build the muscles they require to own their role in the future. 

See also: Onboarding Success Kit

Onboarding is an investment in time, empathy and patience. But it’s not something you have to do alone.

If you want help along the way and assurance that you are checking all the right boxes with your new EA, purchase our Onboarding Success Kit so you can lay the foundation for long-term impact.