For your new employees, the first days on the job are some of the most critical. As a leadership coach and creator of a leadership development platform, I've seen firsthand how crucial onboarding is in helping employees quickly become productive. Effective onboarding also pays off over the long run, with improvements in employee engagement and retention.
Despite its importance, though, many companies are still falling short with their onboarding process. According to a Gallup analysis, "only 12% of U.S. employees say their company does a good job of onboarding" and "nearly one in five employees either report that their most recent onboarding was poor—or that they received no onboarding at all."
So why do onboarding programs so frequently miss the mark? Based on what I’ve observed, there are three key areas that onboarding frequently overlooks; addressing them can make a real difference in the success of your new hires.
1. Help new hires build connections, not just gain knowledge.
Beyond just imparting knowledge, onboarding should help new employees start building relationships with their team and throughout your organization. In today’s hybrid work environment, it's particularly crucial that onboarding includes relationship-building because it's less likely to happen spontaneously, the way it does when people are in the same office.
2. Have proactive conversations about goals and preferences.
Besides introducing new hires to different aspects of your company, onboarding can also be a time for you to learn about them. When I worked in leadership roles at Deloitte Consulting before starting my own business, I made a habit of sitting down with new team members so that each of us could talk about our goals and work styles. This conversation helped me achieve alignment between what they wanted to gain from their experience on the team and how I could leverage their strengths to advance business goals.
Learning about each other's preferences also helped us work together more smoothly and avoid misunderstandings. For example, we would establish what we'd communicate about via email and what needed to be discussed face to face.
3. Connect new hires with learning opportunities early.
Perhaps the biggest missed opportunity in onboarding is connecting new hires with training opportunities early, especially if they express interest in leadership training. Development is crucial for retention and engagement, and younger generations crave development opportunities. Don't wait until you see signs that they're a high performer or have high potential to consider them for leadership development. There's a lot of leadership potential at lower levels, and providing training helps strengthen your leadership pipeline, which is a big concern for many companies.
Investing early in new hires also signals your commitment to their success. And it can alleviate some of the pressure on managers, who are likely already too stretched to onboard their new hires effectively. Finally, going through a shared learning experience early on can help new hires form relationships that will give them much-needed support.
Final Thoughts
By focusing on these three often-overlooked aspects of onboarding—building connections, having proactive conversations about goals and preferences and connecting new hires with learning opportunities early—you can set your new employees up for success and create a more engaged, productive workforce.
This article originally appeared on Forbes.com. To read more of my contributions to Forbes Coaches Council, click here.