The First 90 Days: How to Help Your Employees Succeed

Congratulations, your search for the perfect employee is over! You have found them, finally! Now, since you have spent hard-earned money and your valuable time recruiting this top talent, you want to do all you can to ensure their continued success.

By adhering to the guidelines outlined below, you will ensure your new hire feels appreciated and supported by detailing specific objectives and intentions for you both to follow. Here’s everything you need to know to onboard a new employee and help them succeed, all in the first 90 days of employment: 

What is Onboarding?

Before delving deeper into the topic at hand and looking at a 90 day plan for onboarding, it’s important to understand what the process of onboarding is in terms of employment. Onboarding is a human resources term that refers to the process of introducing new employees into your organization. It is sometimes referred to instead as organizational socialization. 

This is a process that is vital to helping a new employee integrate seamlessly into an established team. In fact, the difference between a well-adjusted employee and one who feels overwhelmed can be made by a well-constructed onboarding process. 

Day 1

The first day is arguably your new employee’s most significant. It is vital on this day to set up a positive work environment within which your employee feels welcome. This way, they can hit the ground running.

• Take them around the office, showing them where everything is, so they become familiar with the layout. If your office is very complex, perhaps even give them a map to get to important locations like the break room, copy room, or where you clock in and out.
• Make sure all the necessary paperwork is complete. This is ideally accomplished even before their first day. However, if you or they haven’t completed any applicable paperwork, put that on the agenda for the first day. 
• Introduce them to the team. Be sure to go beyond names alone. Try to paint them a picture of what each member of the team does and who will be responsible for training and supervising them. Give them a clear idea of who is their boss and who they are to listen to in terms of training. 
• Give them access to all systems, such as email, building codes, etc. Make sure they are actually equipped to do their job.
• Provide an employee handbook so that your new hire has an overview of all company goals, expectations, policies, and procedures."

Day 15

By the time your new hire arrives on day 15 on the job, they should feel pretty comfortable in the office as well as be accurately informed about their responsibilities and their role on the team. They are likely deep into training and ready to handle more meaningful tasks at this point. Day 15 presents the opportunity to check in on your employee, ensuring they are adjusting well to their new team and company. 

• Arrange a meeting with your new employee to discuss their progress. Ask for feedback about their onboarding and training experience.
• Set and communicate both short-term and long-term performance goals. This can be for them personally like where they see themselves short term or long term or can include the job overall, where the company wants to be, and how the new hire can play a role in reaching that goal. 
• Give them a small project to complete. This will give them a sense of worth and make them feel trusted to do a job well. 

Day 30

At this juncture, your new hire should feel like family. Ideally, they will be confident in their role and have successfully accomplished their work assignments. 

• Formally check the progress of your employee. Ask them how they are settling in. Don’t make this seem like an “evaluation” instead it’s just a chat between two people about how things are going. 
• Provide relevant and constructive feedback to your new hire. 
• Note the progress that has been made towards their short-term goals that were set at the meeting on day 15. 
• Consider giving them a more substantial project, so they can work in conjunction with the team. 

Day 60

Your check-in on your employee on day 60 will be similar to your check-in on day 30. 

• Ensure they are comfortable with the company’s workflow, goals, and culture.
• Ask how you can help them succeed. 
• Review the status of both short-term and long-term goals. 

Day 90

This evaluation day marks a time by which an employee should feel like a valuable member of the organization. They should be capable of working independently by now and producing consistent results in doing so. 

• Continue to provide actionable and meaningful feedback, and address any necessary training they might still need. 
• Involve them in more long-term, important projects. 
• Be respectful and thank them for the job well done, as you would any other employee.

A 90-day onboarding process like the one outlined above will help you ensure a new hire’s success at your company. By being available and meeting with new employees regularly, you can help them feel supported and appreciated and increase their likelihood of achieving both their short-term and long-term goals.