How to Onboard a New Team Member Into Your Small Business With Ease
Introduction
We’ve all been there as small business owners– we seek out the services of an independent contractor to join our team, after many weeks of searching we find someone we like, the contract is signed and invoice is paid, and then…we’re not really sure what to do!
This is a common problem for small business owners. We know that we need help for our business, but we have no idea how to integrate new team members so that they feel included and the team feels cohesive.
As someone who has had to join a team as an independent contractor, the onboarding experience can make a huge difference in how a freelancer feels towards the company and the business owner. Disjointed or nonexistent onboarding processes can leave the new team member feeling frustrated and excluded, which is never the way to start off a working relationship that you expect to be long-term.
So now you may be wondering what makes a good onboarding experience for anyone joining your team. I always advise business owners to ease the new team member into your business, spending 2-4 weeks as part of the onboarding process.
Here’s what it looks like when I help plan out the onboarding experience:
- Formally introduce the new hire to the rest of the team.
- Schedule a formal meeting with the new hire.
- Give the new team member access to any platforms and login credentials they will need to perform their duties.
- Check in with the new team member periodically to see how things are going.
Formally introduce the person to the rest of the team:
Always start by composing an email to the entire team, introducing the new member and informing everyone what their position is, and a little bit about their background. If you have weekly meetings with your team over Zoom, invite the new member so that everyone can put a face with the name. Don’t expect the new member to just hop into work for the business without anybody except the people who were originally involved in the hiring process to know who they are.
Schedule a formal onboarding meeting with the new team member:
The onboarding meeting can be in person or virtual. This is the time to spend a little time with the new team member so that they can have an appropriate introduction to your business.
During onboarding meetings, I encourage business owners I work with to spend a little time telling them about your business, your values, and a little bit more about yourself, and allowing the new team member time to reciprocate.
You may want to share how your team communicates with each other, how you all manage projects, and background information on any projects that they will be working on.
This is also the perfect time to share what the first month of working with you should look like in terms of responsibilities. I usually reserve the first week for the onboarding meeting, and for them to look through SOPs and to complete any assigned training.
Ease them into your business and start them off with tasks that should be pretty easy to handle. You can easily add more responsibilities as they become more comfortable with how you work.
Before ending the onboarding meeting, be sure to share when you will be checking in with them and who they can contact if there are any questions.
Give the new team member access to any platforms they will be using while working for you:
This can include the project management tool and Google Drive folders used by the team. If the new hire will be in contact with clients outside of your organization, you may want to set them up with an email that uses the domain name of your business.
If there are platforms they will need access to with specific log-in credentials, use Lastpass or some other cloud based password keeper to give them access.
Be sure to check in with the new team member to see how things are going:
A lot of business owners forget to check in with the new team member once the hiring phase is complete. If the new hire doesn’t have to meet with you regularly as part of your contract together, then be sure to send them an email to check in with them after the first week or two. Ask them how they are doing and see if there are any questions that you can answer for them.
In Conclusion:
I hope these tips help you plan out your onboarding process for new members of your team. Having an organized and helpful onboarding experience can influence the culture of your business and how valued your team members feel.
Let me know in the comments if you have an onboarding process for new team members and what has worked well for you!