Employ­ees are crit­i­cal to suc­cess in any busi­ness. The best results are achieved when you have highly pro­duc­tive, ener­gized employ­ees who add long-term value. New employ­ees can con­tribute from the day they start.

Once the right per­son has been iden­ti­fied and hired, there is much more to do. The new employee needs to be prop­erly wel­comed into the com­pany, or “on-boarded.” There is much to learn and absorb.

All com­pa­nies, regard­less of size, need a well thought-out and inten­tional process to wel­come, train, and inte­grate new employ­ees into the com­pany. It’s more than skim­ming the employee hand­book, and learn­ing the required sys­tems. New employ­ees must under­stand the company’s vision, strat­egy, defin­ing prin­ci­ples, and cul­ture. They also need to know what is expected from them to suc­ceed in their role.

(more…)