Masonry Product Distributors – How to Successfully Onboard New Employees

“Onboarding” is the process of teaching a new employee what’s expected of them, what their job duties are – in short, how to fit in with your company and be a successful and productive team member.

The work that goes into reading through resumes and job applications, scheduling and conducting interviews, and then beginning with a new employee can be exhausting. You don’t want to go through all that work, then have the employee fail because of a poor onboarding process. Here are just a few of the reasons proper onboarding is so critical.

Why onboarding is important

An effective onboarding process will result in an employee that is knowledgeable about:

• The masonry industry in general
• Masonry products installation procedures
• The specific products you sell
• How to accurately answer customer questions
• Your business’s brand, culture and procedures

When onboarding is successfully accomplished, you save time and money in the long run because your new employee will help sell your business and increase your profits. But if onboarding is not a success, you either have to go through the hiring process all over again, or struggle with poor performance from your new employee and hope it improves. The benefits of getting onboarding right include:

• Improved employee performance: Employees with a strong knowledge of their job, accurate, supportive feedback about their performance and specific measures of success will perform at a higher level than those who have learning gaps or feel like they don’t fit in to the company culture.
• Enhanced employee satisfaction and retention: Employees who are successful in fulfilling their job role will be happier and much more likely to stay on the job, saving you the headache and expense of having to go through the hiring process again. Studies by Deloitte show that the cost of replacing a salaried employee, including advertising, interviewing, screening, training, lost productivity and management time, can amount to 20% of the annual salary. An employee making $40,000/year, for example, would cost $8,000 to replace.

How to onboard your new hires smoothly

Onboarding doesn’t just happen by chance. You need a written, detailed and specific onboarding plan that you follow with every new employee. If you take a “learn-as-you-go” approach, you’ll be likely doing a lot of damage control or at very best picking up the slack for an underperforming employee. Why settle for that when you don’t have to. Here are three tips to secure successful employee onboarding.

Write out your plan

No plan is effective unless it’s written down. Chances are if you try to keep mental track of how it’s going with the onboarding, you’ll forget some things. Writing brings legitimacy to the plan, so take time to write down every step in onboarding new hires.

Map out measurable goals

When writing out your goals for the onboarding process, be specific. For example, you may want to have the employee watch specific videos related to the masonry industry such as “How to install BlockFlash.” Or you may want the new hire to read product overviews, review detail drawings, and read specifications for BlockFlash and the other products you carry. Provide accountability by writing down the goals and ensuring they’re met.

Add a socialization component to your plan

Getting your employee up to speed on job tasks is only one aspect of onboarding. You want the employee to feel fully integrated with the job, management, and other employees. Socialization allows your employee to feel like an integral part of the company family. This involves emotional bonding which leads to loyalty – an important but often overlooked element. Make sure you take the time to introduce him or her to all the other employees. Help the person feel welcomed. And if they’ll be dealing with manufacturer’s reps and key customers, be sure to introduce them when they come in.

At Mortar Net Solutions, we offer a comprehensive library of articles, videos, and product samples to help your employees learn about our products during the onboarding process. Equip them with the tools they need by visiting our website, and click here for free product samples.