Top 10 Things to Include when Onboarding Senior Leaders

The introduction of new senior leaders requires intelligent modern onboarding as these additions need to be brought up to speed quickly and seamlessly integrated into the organization. They need more information than general staff to understand the company culture, get to know their team, and grasp the current state of affairs. The simplest way to do this is to include a digital repository – or even a physical binder – filled with critical information.

 The list below is comprehensive, but we encourage you to discuss the content with your team to create an onboarding program for your senior leaders that’s customized to your organization and standardized. It’s also beneficial to interview your current senior leaders and ask what additional information they would have liked to have when they started with the company.

 Top 10 things to include:

1. Information about direct reports and administrative support, including:

• Name, title, birthday, and photo 
• Contact info
• Employment anniversary date and tenure
• 3 fun facts and favorite candy
• Preferred communication style (text, email, phone, Slack)
• Location – onsite or remote

2. Pre-scheduled meetings with direct reports

Have their admin schedule meetings with their direct reports and include the schedule in this binder. Also include all the meetings already in their calendar.

3. Strategic initiatives and current status

Share the company-wide and department-specific strategic initiatives, goals, and current status.

4. Org chart

Include a company org chart so new leaders can familiarize themselves with the structure, key players, and names. It’s also helpful to include staff tenure in the org chart to give them additional context about their new colleagues.

5. Dress code

Provide clear guidance on the dress code so they can feel confident on their first day showing up in the proper attire.

6. Office address

Provide all the information needed for a smooth office visit their first day, such as where to park and where to go. A virtual office tour is always a welcome touch.

Also include the other office locations and what each location handles, such as manufacturing, sales, service center, headquarters, etc.

7. Security

Explain the security procedures, such as ID badges and office access. Include the guest access rules and policy so they can smoothly greet and host external visitors.

8. Company communication style

Does the company use Slack to communicate? Or favor phone calls, email, or text? Help them assimilate more quickly by providing insight into the company’s preferred communication style.

9. Company handbook (including all policies)

Your senior leaders are expected to be experts in your company – and this includes all the policies, from travel to company credit cards to client gift guidelines. Make sure they have a copy of the company handbook so they can get up to speed.

10. Information Access (i.e. shared drive)

Include information about how the company stores and shares information. Is there a shared drive, a Google drive, or something else? Don’t forget to add the naming convention for shared documents and a primer on how to search, if needed.

Providing these ten items as part of a well-structured, modern onboarding program eases new senior leader’s entry into your organization and makes it easy for them to quickly feel like part of the team.

Don’t Make Good Employees Turn Bad with Poor Onboarding

Onboarding is the first real glimpse into an organization – after the polished interviewing experience. It gives new employees a sense of the company culture, expectations, and norms. Your new hires are looking at everything with a keen eye, trying to understand the organization and assimilate as quickly as possible.

What do you suppose an antiquated onboarding process filled with paperwork and broken lines of communication tells them? If your onboarding is poorly managed, it could easily (and inadvertently!) give new employees the wrong impression and skew their perception of what’s acceptable in the company.

Employees rise to the level of expectation you set for them and your employees will work the way you onboard them. A seamless, modern, and consistent onboarding process sets the stage for engaged employees who can zoom to full productivity. You’ve spent a ton of time, money, and resources wooing the ideal candidate, don’t accidentally lull them into laziness with bad onboarding habits.  

Manage the perception of your new hires by making sure your onboarding process is NOT:

Old-fashioned

Paperwork-based onboarding appears dated and makes the company seem complacent, unwilling to change, and unlikely to embrace innovation. This could inadvertently stifle new employee’s ideas and creativity.

Poorly Communicated

If your new hire shows up the first day after not hearing from anyone after the background check, they’ll assume that radio silence and nonengagement is OK.

Inconsistent

Some employees get the red carpet. Some hear nothing. Onboarding should be consistent but also curated to the individual. This inconsistency speaks to the organization not placing importance on the details – certainly not a trait you want your new employees to emulate!

Ineffective

Is everything ready for your new hire on their first day – equipment, security, log-in? Does everyone know who they are and when they’re starting? If it’s a scramble to get everything together on a new employee’s first day, it’ll make them think that disorganization and chaos is the norm instead of efficient cross-functional processes.

Slow & Boring

There’s no need to greet your employees with a stack of stagnant paperwork. Engage them on their phone with a custom onboarding experience that’s a breeze to zip through and filled with company culture and information to help them feel comfortable. Clinging to old, slow processes will encourage your new employees to just stick with the status quo.   

Don’t risk losing good employees to bad onboarding. Review your process today and make sure your onboarding is none of these!