Onboarding is defined as “the action or process of integrating a new employee into an organization or familiarizing a new customer with one’s products or services.”

Done right, onboarding new employees can increase productivity and improve retention. If done incorrectly or not done at all, it can lead to the opposite: frustrated, underperforming employees looking for other jobs.

In a February 2014 survey by BambooHR, 23 percent of respondents who left a job in the first six months said that “being given clear guidance about what my responsibilities were” would have helped them stay on the job. Twenty-one percent said they wanted “more effective training,” 17 percent said “a friendly smile or a helpful co-worker would have made all the difference,” 12 percent said they wanted to be “recognized by [their] one-time contributions,” and 9 percent said they wanted more attention from “manager and coworkers.”

Done right, the new employee onboarding process can:

• Create a positive work culture to attract and retain top talent

• Foster employee engagement and productivity

• Build trust and communication.

• Create connections between employees.

It’s actually quite easy to create an effective onboarding process. To make sure your new employees stay and succeed, here are some best practices:

Before your new employee starts

• Reach out to them to let them know you’re excited for them to join you, offer to answer any questions, and send them information to read about your company. Include information about your dress code, directions, parking, and who to ask when you arrive.

• Send them paperwork to fill out before they arrive so the first day isn’t spent just filling out paperwork (boring!).

• Schedule meetings with key personnel.

• Assign the new employee to a colleague.

• Set up the new employee’s workstation with office supplies, phone extension, email address, etc.

• Send out a company-wide email to introduce your new hire.

The first week

• Give the new employee a tour of the office, including your work station, restrooms, copier, etc.

• Schedule a company-paid lunch with the new hire’s teammates.

• Schedule a meeting between the new employee and their supervisor to discuss how to work together, the company culture, performance expectations, the role of the employee and how it relates to the bigger picture of the company, etc.

the first three months

• Schedule any required training.

• Schedule regular meetings between the new employee and their supervisor to give and receive feedback and answer questions.

• Be patient. According to an article in Training Industry Quarterly, it can take a year or two before an employee is “fully productive.”

• Ask new hires to complete an anonymous survey about their onboarding process. Use that data to make improvements.

Effective employee onboarding programs increase employee performance and retention. What other best practices in onboarding new employees have you experienced?