Feb 14, 2022
Onboarding matters. 64% of employees will leave a new opportunity due to a poor onboarding experience. With the healthcare industry already facing a provider shortage, you need to ensure you’re providing new hires with the best experience possible. We’ve collected some of the best onboarding practices that are most often forgotten.
1. Prioritize the information presented
New employees can feel overwhelmed when joining a new facility. Part of that stems from employers providing too much information during the initial onboarding. Are you providing a comprehensive history of your facility, information across departments, area information, and more during orientation? While it’s important to make this information accessible, it all doesn’t hold importance when an employee starts training. Go through your onboarding manual and ask, “How much will this information impact their job performance in the first month?” If it won’t impact their patient and coworker interactions on a daily basis, it can wait. Provide this information, but as reading material or something to be discussed after the new provider has settled in.
2. Provide a designated point of contact
New employees have questions during onboarding. But do they always know who to ask? Depending on the question, maybe not. In healthcare, it’s crucial to leave nothing to uncertainty. Providing new employees with a single point of contact (POC) eliminates confusion. It doesn’t matter whether or not the POC has the answer. They’ll know where to go for the answer, which then allows the new provider to stay focused on orientation.
3. Team introductions
Depending on your facility size, the new “team” may be overwhelmingly large. However, you should consider who the new provider will interact with the most on a regular basis. An event as simple as an employee lunch will suffice. Create a space where team members can drop in for a snack and make an introduction. Your new employee will feel “at home” quickly and the rest of the team will feel more informed about changes within the organization.
4. Provide multiple check-ins after onboarding
Some knowledge can only be gained over time. Providing monthly or bi-monthly check-ins during the first six months of employment allows your new hire to fully experience your facility and learn what is or isn’t working for them. As a result, you’ll increase retention and learn how to better onboard future employees. So how can you effectively conduct a check-in? Be prepared with questions to guide the conversation. But also create an open space for your employees to simply speak about their experiences. By creating a casual, guided conversation, you’ll learn a lot about your facility!
5. Remember that onboarding extends beyond the first week
In fact, it never ends. View onboarding as an ongoing process in which you continue to learn about your employees' wants and needs. In an ever-changing industry, healthcare facilities and providers regularly adjust to the public’s needs. This means you need to check in and ensure your employees aren’t confused or overwhelmed. This long-term approach to onboarding creates yet another opportunity to increase retention at your facility.
Curious how you can bring in more employees to onboard? Click here to learn how Inline can make it happen.