Onboarding is an essential part of the hiring process. It gets new employees acquainted with your medical facility and gets them off to a good start. It can help them become more effective and productive team members early on and may improve their job satisfaction. Studies indicate that a successful onboarding program can boost employee retention rates by a significant margin. On the other hand, negative onboarding experiences can hamper a new hires’ integration into your team and ultimately drive them away.
Creating an effective onboarding program will keep your team operating smoothly and efficiently. It’ll reduce stress on your new hires as well as your long-standing team members. It’ll also ensure your patients continue to receive the highest possible quality of care. Use the following onboarding measures when staffing your clinic to streamline the process and make it a positive experience for your new team members.
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Start the Process Early
One way to make your onboarding process more successful is to start early. Allow newcomers to begin onboarding well before their first day on the job. That’ll give them a chance to get acquainted with your facility and daily operations ahead of time.
You can start with basic information. That may include a diagram of your parking garage and where they should park. Offer a map of your building with important areas, like your HR department, the cafeteria, and the doctor’s lounge, clearly marked. You could also invite new hires to tour your facility if they haven’t already done so. Those initial steps can go a long way toward making new team members feel welcome and easing those first-day jitters.
Provide Equipment, Access, and Other Essentials
After carrying out the first stages it’s time to draw new hires further in. Be sure to provide them with the basic tools and equipment they need to do their jobs and be effective members of your team. Make sure they have the equipment they need to work with. Set up their access to your computer system and be sure it works properly. Have their ID badges and other essential items ready for them. Assign them a storage locker if you have them, and make sure they know where it is and how to get into it.
Connect Newcomers With a Mentor
In some cases, connecting newcomers with a mentor may be effective. Allowing them to work with an established team member may help them to see in practice all the information they read in your welcome package. No doubt, they probably took in a great deal of information in the virtual onboarding process. Actually seeing it all in action can make a world of difference in acclimating them to your team and learning how your facility operates. It’s far more welcoming and more effective than essentially telling them to sink or swim.
Partner With a Healthcare Staffing Agency
Another way to improve your onboarding process is to work with a healthcare staffing agency. If you partner with the right agency, it’ll help with the entire onboarding process from credentialing and filling out paperwork to conducting orientation and providing ongoing support. Staffing agencies can provide role-specific onboarding and many other related services as well.
Creating a Successful Onboarding Program
Onboarding is crucial for all businesses, but it’s particularly important in healthcare. A streamlined onboarding program can benefit new hires as well as existing team members, your patients, and your entire facility. Use the measures mentioned here to ensure your new team members have smooth, successful onboarding experiences.
