Essential Practices for Executive Onboarding

Onboarding familiarizes new hires with the employing company. Getting new hires to complete compliance requirements is another crucial objective of onboarding.

93% of companies affirm that onboarding experience is crucial in influencing an employee’s decision to stay with the company. Employees exposed to a positive onboarding experience are 18 times more likely to develop commitment to their organizations.

Substantial costs, time and effort are involved in hiring executives. An effective executive onboarding process helps the HR team to impress new hires, improve engagement and inspire loyalty.

Given here are some essential practices for positive executive onboarding. These practices can be infused into organizational executive hiring solutions, for sustained best results.

Executive Onboarding Best Practices

While onboarding is unique for each company, some best practices help maximize the efficiency of the process. Measure the impact of onboarding based on the experience of the new executive hire and team members. Revise the process accordingly for maximum positive impact.

Put Forth the Good News

Announce the arrival of the new executive beforehand. Share details about the new executive, including his/ her achievements, hobbies, and the value he/ she is bringing to the table. This strategy builds talk, spreading curiosity and excitement, about the new executive.

Give a Comprehensive Position Round-Up

Impart interesting information about the team the executive is going to be a part of and his/ her role. This strategy equips the new executive with key insights without making the process boring.

Ensure that this information is available before the new hire’s onboarding.

You can share information about:

• Current goals of the executive position
• Accomplishments of previous position occupants
• Information about direct reports
• Brief job descriptions of team members
• Details of current projects and deadlines
• Upcoming event information

Allow New Hires Time with their Team and Direct Reports

Spending time is important for new executives to familiarize with their team environment. Let them interact with team members as well as direct reports. Encourage new executives to talk to teams about team achievements, challenges, and the type of support expected.

This practice builds familiarity and sets the foundation for a trustful relationship. With positive interactions, new executives and their teams will find it easier to develop a connection.

If there are larger teams reporting to the new hire, then split them into groups and allow them to interact group-wise.

Let the New Executive Use their Voice

While building excitement with new arrival announcements is great, allowing the new hire to talk by themselves is equally important. Using their own voice to share opinions and ideas encourages the new executive to interact with authenticity. Executives can use information shared in the earlier strategy to familiarize themselves with teams.

The Human Resources (HR) team can initiate such interactions with specialized strategies. For example, the team can request the new hire to share their take/ idea/ solution regarding a persistent team or management problem.

Set Onboarding Objectives Instead of Deadlines

Onboarding need not necessarily come with a deadline. People are different as are processes. For example, a new executive for an Operations team may take more time to acclimatize than others.

Define objectives rather than deadlines for the best onboarding experience. Allow new hires enough time to familiarize themselves with their duties and teams.

Encourage Feedback

Request new executives to leave feedback on their onboarding experience. Executives are professionals with real-life experiences. They can help improve your onboarding process and candidate experience with some genuine solutions.

 

Executive recruiting does not end with hiring. It is important to make new executives feel welcome. With the best executive onboarding practices, you can nurture a sense of belonging in new hires.

Good onboarding motivates executives to align with the company culture with greater understanding and confidence. With positive onboarding, organizations can encourage executives to get into their roles faster and nurture a lasting relationship.

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