Welcoming a new team member into your organization is critical. Follow these 10 best practices to improve the onboarding process to make your new hire’s onboarding experience smooth, welcoming and productive.

1. Put Yourself In Their Shoes: Pretend you are new and think about what you would expect or like to happen on your first day and create a plan accordingly.
2. Tell The New Hire What To Expect: Before the new hire’s first day, save time by explaining not only where to show up, but how to dress, whom he/she will be meeting with, work hours, pay dates, vacation/sick day policies, and any other details that can be handled before day one.
3. Make Sure Help Is Available: In addition to yourself, have another staff member shadow the new employee so they have someone that can answer any questions that may come up.
4. Paperwork: Provide all the necessary paperwork such as payroll/direct deposit forms, I-9 and etc. If you provide it before day one, the new hire can come prepared with everything filled out so you can start training right away.
5. New Hire Checklist: Create a checklist for internal processes that need to be done before the first day. You’ll want to make sure it includes tasks such as getting the new hire’s computer setup with the proper software they’ll be using and access to internal folders. Don’t forget to setup an email address and a phone number for them!
6. Company Tour: Show the new hire where to find the restrooms, kitchen, printers, mailroom, conference rooms and any other key points in the building. Don’t forget to introduce them to team members with whom they will be working with.
7. Welcome Kit: Give your new hire a welcome kit. Setup the new hire’s desk with miscellaneous supplies like a notebook, pens, scissors, email and phone directories and etc. It’s a small gesture that goes a long way.
8. Stay Organized: I get it, things don’t always go smooth and sometimes there’s an emergency that comes up. However, if you schedule training classes and reserve conference rooms, you’ll be more likely to stay on point and be more efficient with your time. Provide the schedule to your new hire as well as any other staff members that may be involved.
9. Don’t Keep Training A Secret: Tell your new hire what the training will look like. Explain what it is and why they’ll be going through it. The more information the person has, the better prepared they will be.
10. Ask For Feedback: The more information you can get out of your new hire about the onboarding experience, the better equipped you’ll be to improve it. Ask what went right, what went wrong, and what could be improved.

Not only can these tips be used for new hires, but you can apply them to employees when they get promoted to new roles within the company as well.