Preboarding: 8 Steps To Deliver An Awesome Experience

Investing in creating an excellent preboarding process is just as important as onboarding your new employees to improve new hire performance and reduce attrition.

Candidates are applying for more jobs than ever before. As such it’s more likely that your candidate may still be engaged in other recruitment processes even after they’ve accepted a position with you. Effective pre-boarding minimises the risk of candidates accepting but not starting with your company.

In recent years, employers have had to up their game. Not only do you need to attract your candidate’s attention away from other opportunities, but you also have to lay the right groundwork to keep them there. 

It pays to hold on to your employees; let’s look at some facts:

• Studies show that starting a new job might be more stressful than moving house. (https://www.indeed.com/lead/science-behind-job-search)
• 22% of new employees leave within the first 45 days. (https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/business/talent-solutions/global/en_us/c/pdfs/onboarding-in-a-box-v03-06.pdf)
• 33% of fresh hires start searching for a new job within 6 months. (https://hbr.org/2015/03/technology-can-save-onboarding-from-itself)
• Employee turnover costs 100%-300% of a replaced employee’s salary. (https://hbr.org/2015/03/technology-can-save-onboarding-from-itself)

This is pretty scary stuff, and the purpose of preboarding is to avoid the costs incurred from premature employee attrition. But what exactly is it preboarding?

Definition: Literally, preboarding is the period between a candidate signing their offer letter and their first day. However, a preboarding process aims to ensure that the accepted candidate is prepared and excited about working for you in the run-up to their first day.

Why is preboarding important?

Of course, cultivating loyalty is important with new employees. Not only will you avoid the incurred costs of failed hires we’ve already mentioned, but you’ll also see many benefits. A robust pre-boarding process will ensure your employees are committed and highly motivated before they walk through the door!

You don’t get a second chance at a first impression, so it’s always essential to make sure an employee’s first day is stimulating and enjoyable. Removing tedious admin processes will ensure your new hire can spend their time making introductions, getting to know the team, and getting stuck into work instead.

Effective pre-boarding can also impact speed to productivity, an important recruitment metric. Selling prospective employees on the employer value proposition before they join will increase their motivation to get off to a good start. 

8 steps to effective preboarding

Pre-boarding should be personal yet also consistent with your employer brand. Here are eight essential steps you need to consider.

1. Say congrats & celebrate!

Whoever you hire is probably as happy to get the job as you are to have them onboard. The first step to building an excellent pre-boarding process is a simple as saying congratulations. Let them know how glad you are to have them join the company. Even something as simple as a phone-recorded video message of the team saying they’re looking forward to you joining can go a long way.

2. Get admin out of the way

There’s no better way to kill the excitement of a new job than with paperwork. A typical new employee will have tax forms, P45s, emails to set up, and new software to get familiar with. While certain elements, such as health and safety briefings, are essential first-day tasks, the tedium of excess paperwork doesn’t have to be. 

Before they join, we recommend the following:

• Setting up your new employee’s work email
• Send them relevant employee guides and documentation so they can go through it in their own time
• Any training videos can optionally be watched in the candidate’s own time 
• Ask for signatures with remote signature software (such as DocuSign or E-Sign) rather than post

3. Remember your employee value proposition

Your employee value proposition (EVP) is the deal you make with your workforce. They promise to work hard for you on the condition that you meet the promises you made in the recruitment process. Honour your side early, and your new employees will want to honour theirs.

What wowed your applicant enough to want to work for your company? Use your pre-boarding process to reinforce your EVP. Often, the recruitment process can take a long time, and the likelihood is that your candidate has also applied for other jobs. Remind them why they decided to apply to your company. 

This is also a great way to show your employees that you deliver on your promises. For example, send them a rota if your applicant chose you because of your working hours. If they like your product, send them some.

4. Welcome to the family

We’ve all been there: it’s your first day, you’ve been introduced to dozens of people, and you find yourself lost in a sea of names and faces. 

Instead, have your new employee’s teammates contact them on their new work email or via your in-house messaging system before their first day. This way, they will get to know the relevant names and faces beforehand and can start to build virtual relationships before meeting in person. 

You can also extend your welcome beyond their work “family” to their real family. Does the role offer childcare or parental leave? If so, let them know what they’re entitled to if they need it now or in the future.

5. Minimise anxiety

The first day in a new job is an emotional rollercoaster. Yes, it’s exciting, but you’re likely to be anxious, too; it’s unavoidable. What will my colleagues be like? Will I get there on time? Am I dressed smart enough? Am I dressed too smart? These are the kinds of questions everyone asks of themselves when starting a new job. However, you, as an employer, can take steps to minimise anxiety for your new hire in your pre-boarding process. We’ve already covered some ways you can do this: making important introductions over email, sending a welcome pack, etc. You could also set out clear guidelines such as dress code, expected arrival time, specific address, name of the person they must report to and anything they might need to bring. Structure and specificity should remove all doubt and let your new hire walk confidently into their new place of work.

6. Scheduling

Preparing a first day (or even first week) schedule is a fantastic way to reassure your new employee and boost productivity. Nothing is more daunting than the unknown, and while your candidates will hopefully know your products and mission, they probably don’t know what the day-to-day office is like. Break this into a schedule, and let them know what’s in store. 

The best cure for anxiety is excitement: tantalise your new employee by emphasising the enjoyable items in the schedule, such as lunches and socials, and added value items, such as training and resources. A bonus is that a well-prepared new hire will likely be more productive in their first week; they want to make a good impression, too!

7. Freebies!

Sending candidates a card, a gift, or some company merchandise in the post ahead of their joining is a really nice touch. It’s a welcome change from the mandatory forms and other electronic information they’ll have to fill out. Company swag (t-shirts, water bottles, etc.) will promote your brand identity and hopefully help your new hire feel that the company is now part of their identity. 

But! Make sure that your welcome pack puts quality over quantity. No one wants to receive an abundance of items that will quickly end up in the recycling bin.

8. From preboarding to onboarding

Lastly, you want to make sure your preboarding process smoothly transitions to an onboarding process that takes your new hire from a productive rookie to an established team member and, hopefully, company leader. Creating a new hire checklist can help here.

We’ve explored ways the preboarding process reduces costs by reducing employee turnover and boosting productivity. You’ll want to try to move seamlessly from preboarding to onboarding by being clear about who is responsible for both. After the first day, your onboarding process should turn that productivity simmer you’ve built up into a boil, powering up your employees with training and a work environment that’s enjoyable and conducive to top-level performance.

Closing

Starting a new job will always be stressful for new hires, but it needn’t be for you! With this eight-step plan, you can make employee preboarding an enjoyable and productive experience for all. 

We’ve seen how the modern talent marketplace puts you at risk of losing recruits to rival employers, incurring costs from premature employee turnover and slowing speed to productivity. These eight steps demonstrate how to minimise these risks and reinforce your employer brand. 

Remember that happy and productive new employees become long-term investments. You know what makes you a great employer. Use this process and personalise it to play to your strengths and show the world how great you are to work for before new hires step through the door.