Your onboarding strategy is crucial for setting up your new hires for long-term success, but many companies often overlook its potential impact. While recruiting the perfect candidate is essential, the real work begins when that employee steps through the door. A well-executed onboarding program can significantly improve retention rates and productivity. But how do you make sure your onboarding approach is as effective as possible? The secret might just lie in assessments. Here's how you can use McQuaig assessments to level up your onboarding game and get your new hires off to a great start.
Tailor the onboarding experience
Did you know that a whooping 88% of new employees report feeling like they didn’t receive a good onboarding experience? If you have the tools to personalize the onboarding process and align it to how your new hire learns best, you’ll be ahead of the curve right off the bat. The McQuaig Word Survey® can help you understand how your new employee learns, prefers to work and interact with others, deals with conflict, and any other potential obstacles that might hinder their ability to get up and running quickly.
Additionally, by using these insight to tailor your onboarding approach, you’re showing the employee that you not only are you willing to go the extra step to understand them, you value their unique strengths and differences. Making employees feel seen and understood right from day one can have a lasting impact on their view of the team and company.
Build stronger manager-employee relationships
Managers play a critical role in onboarding success, and assessments can strengthen this relationship from the start. Once you have your new hire’s Word Survey results, take some time to review them with your new hire. Discuss where they have strengths that will help them in their role and what areas might require more support as they get up and running. That way there won’t be any surprises down the road when your new hire starts working on their own.
This is also a great opportunity to bring in your results into the mix. Grab a copy of your own report and look at them side by side. This creates an open dialogue where you can identify potential areas of alignment or conflict between your working styles. Transparency builds trust, which is key to a successful onboarding process. By using assessments to guide these early conversations, new hires and managers can discuss how they like to receive feedback, approach problem-solving, and even deal with stress. Wouldn’t it be nice to build such a strong and informative connection with your manager from the first day on the job?
Read more: Don’t miss our eBook “The Quick Guide to Onboarding” for more best practices
Harness team dynamics from the start
New hires aren’t just joining a company; they’re joining a team. Getting them integrated quickly can boost morale and productivity for everyone. That’s where McQuaig TeamSync® comes into play. TeamSync in a new and innovative tool that allows managers to gain a view of their entire team in one place and examine how they best fit together. With TeamSync, you can see which teammate are likely to work well together and which may have conflict. Plus, you can access personalized management and coaching recommendations for every team member. Using your insight about the composition of your team allows you to better manage the introductory stage of a new hire joining the existing group. You can assign buddies or mentors more accurately, improve interpersonal understanding and awareness, and provide your team with a shared language to help them work together more effectively.
Make feedback meaningful
Another powerful aspect of assessments is their ability to guide meaningful feedback. As new hires progress through their onboarding journey, assessments can highlight their areas of strength and identify where they might need more support. Managers can use this data to provide targeted feedback that is both constructive and actionable. Regular check-ins, paired with assessment insights, ensure that new employees are on track to meet their goals and feel supported in their development.
Read more: Check out these 10 tips to improve onboarding
Look to the future
Onboarding isn’t just about the first week or month; it should be about a long-term strategy of how the new hire will fit into the company. While the initial few days or weeks will be about getting your new employee set up in their daily tasks and processes, when it’s appropriate you can also work together to create an actionable development plan to support areas they may not be as strong in. Aligning personal growth with the goals of the organization can help keep employees in their seat longer and give them a clear path for improvement within the company. Assessments such as the McQuaig Self-Development Survey can provide that insight, along with a development plan that can be owned by the employee to work at their own pace.
Happy employees are stable employees
Effective onboarding is more than just paperwork and introductions. It’s about making new employees feel welcomed, understood, and ready to succeed. By integrating assessments into your onboarding program, you can provide a personalized, structured, and engaging experience that sets your employees — and your company — up for long-term success. So, don’t let onboarding be an afterthought. With the right tools and strategies, it can be one of your most powerful retention and engagement tactics.