what is an onboarding process

Onboarding is the process of integrating new hires into the workplace, helping them understand their work environment, company culture, and making them feel welcomed in their team. It begins from the moment an offer is made to the employee until the time the employee becomes a productive member of the organization. Onboarding is valuable for externally recruited executives, as it may be difficult for those individuals to uncover personal, organizational, and role risks in complicated situations when they lack formal onboarding. An effective employee onboarding process is both comprehensive and efficient and should not only handle the necessary legal paperwork but also help to painlessly acclimate a new team member to a workplace community. Some common onboarding activities include job offers, salary negotiation, new hire paperwork, policy and culture training, job training, employee handbook training, benefits paperwork, benefits education, facility tours, executive introductions, and team introductions.