Table of Contents
Definition
Preboarding involves preparing a new recruit for their new role between a candidate accepting the job offer and starting in the role. It differs from onboarding because the candidate has not yet begun in the new role.
One way of looking at preboarding is to see it as the introduction to the whole onboarding experience. The preboarding process sets the tone for the onboarding experience, which in turn sets the tone for employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity.
Benefits
Investing in employee preboarding has several benefits for business:
- Establishes a positive relationship from the start: taking the time to make someone feel part of the company before they start in a role helps them to feel valued and supported from the get-go. A positive relationship with your employees means they are more likely to be loyal and stay in their roles longer.
- Secures the candidate: new hires may still be looking for other roles elsewhere between accepting and joining a new organisation. Providing a positive preboarding experience helps to confirm that your offer is the best one.
- Supports the new candidate: candidates can become anxious about their new role between accepting the offer and starting, so an excellent preboarding process can help reduce the worry and ensure that they are excited, motivated and energised when they start.
Preboarding Process Step-By-Step
Preboarding has two essential parts: ensuring candidates feel welcomed and supported as they join your company and completing administrative tasks. Our step-by-step process will ensure you cover everything needed during the preboarding period.
- Send a personalised welcome note.
An obvious way to send a personalised welcome note is by email, ideally written by the new line manager or the hiring manager and tailored to the candidate. While you may want to use a template to ensure you don’t miss including anything essential, spend some time writing it to ensure it feels as personal as possible.
Some companies also send company swag such as mugs, t-shirts and totes. These gifts are an excellent way to reiterate the company’s identity and values to the new employee.
Ideally, the new employee should receive the personalised welcome note when the candidate accepts the role or within a few days of the company receiving their signature on their contract.
- Complete the necessary paperwork.
With any new hire, there is a lot of paperwork to be completed both by the candidate and internally.
These tasks include:
- creating company accounts, eg email, messaging apps, databases
- supplying personal details for the company directory
- providing payroll with the necessary information
- completing any essential government paperwork
Working together to complete the administrative tasks before the start day helps the candidate be confident that the role is theirs and excites them about their new job. It also frees up time in the first few days to focus on the role, meeting team members, and so on rather than worrying about paperwork.
Not all candidates will have time to do all the paperwork before starting their new role, so this step must be voluntary. Explaining why you ask them to complete it before starting can be helpful if you sense any reluctance.
- Ask for feedback on the recruitment process.
Asking for feedback sends an important signal to employees: when people feel their views will be considered, they are more likely to be engaged and empowered to do great work. When you start the employee experience by asking for feedback, it is clear to them from the start that you value their input. Asking for feedback can also mark the transition from candidate to employee.
Let’s not forget that asking for feedback benefits the company by providing up-to-date, relevant information on the recruitment and hiring process.
- Make time to answer any questions the new employee has
Communication between the new employee and the company should be consistent, reliable, and professional, reiterating at all times that the candidate has made the right decision by joining you.
It can be helpful to have a list of FAQs ready that you can send to all candidates, but it is also beneficial to set up a time to talk through any specific questions they have. At this stage, a proper conversation can help build a relationship with the new employee, helping them feel supported and providing a clear go-to person for other questions that may arise during the onboarding process.
Some questions to cover in the FAQs are:
- Where do I come on the first day?
- Do I need to bring any equipment?
- What are the expectations in terms of dress code?
- What do people do for tea, coffee and lunch?
- What do I need to know about the company culture? e.g. any traditions, significant achievements, inside jokes
At this stage, it can also be helpful to supply the new employee with the company and employee handbook or give them access to the company directory and learning platform if you have one so that they can start to get a feel for their new employer’s internal workings.
- Create a schedule for the first day, week and month on the job.
Provide a clear structure for the first few days and some landmarks for the first week and month, and send it to the new employees before they start the role so that they have time to understand what is going to happen to them. This knowledge will ease some of their anxiety about starting a new job and help them feel more in control.
It can also be a positive experience to populate their calendar before the start with invites for future events, such as training days, team events, company-wide celebrations, or all-hands meetings. These invites may not be seen until their first day, but they reiterate to the new employee that they are joining an active community.
- If possible, organise a pre-joining meeting with existing employees
Introducing the new employee to their new future colleagues in person is a fantastic way to use the preboarding process to establish connections before the person starts. Inviting the new employee to a pre-planned event can be an easy way to do this, or organising a short video call where everyone can introduce themselves can also be helpful. Anything that allows the new employee to put some names to faces and introduce themselves can significantly impact their transition into the company.
Connecting the new employee with a more established employee during the preboarding process can also be useful. Someone acting as a ‘buddy’ for the new starter can answer questions and help them to feel welcome.
- Consider asking the employee to introduce themselves via video or email
Getting the new employee involved in how they are presented to the rest of the company can empower them to take active control over their first impression. A short video can be really fun and personable but not everyone is comfortable with being filmed. A brief email or even a ‘get-to-know-you’ quiz can work just as well to help people within the company get a sense of the person they will be welcoming into their team.
Onboarding With Factorial
Once you’ve followed our step-by-step preboarding process, it’s time for the onboarding process to start. Here at Factorial, our onboarding and offboarding software allows you to:
- automate the paperwork required for new hires, including the signing of contracts
- ensure communication about new employees is communicated properly
- store information from the recruitment process
There is also our onboarding checklist.
