Onboarding new finance team members: Our tips to make the process go without a hitch
Bringing onboard new staff members can be time-consuming, but it will be worth the effort in the long run when they’re able to support your team and provide valuable insight.
Initially, though, you’ll need to spend a lot of time supporting them and helping them to settle into and understand their new role.
While the quality of the onboarding process is incredibly important to employees, as many as 88% of organisations don’t onboard new staff satisfactorily, which could hinder employee retention.
As such, creating a smooth and mutually rewarding onboarding process is crucial for all businesses and departments.
It’s particularly important for companies in specific niches with staff shortages or for departments with valuable and skilled employees.
One such sector is finance, where staff are in high demand and require specific skills to do their jobs effectively.
So, if you’re hiring finance team members, you need to make sure that you create an effective and efficient onboarding process.
Here are some practical tips to help you make the onboarding process for your new finance staff as organised as possible.
Map out their first week
The first week can feel daunting for both a new team member and the individual who has to train them, but it doesn’t have to be that way. By mapping out their first week, or even month, before they start, you can provide them with a plan that ensures that everyone knows what’s going on and understands how the process is going to happen. You can then start supporting your new team member and helping them to work through their plan.
Make important introductions early
Whether your new staff are working remotely or in the office, it’s crucial that they know who they report to, and what function other members of their department have, as soon as possible. After all, they’re going to need to know who to ask when they need specific help, and who to report to when they need more work or advice. So, it would help if you made important introductions as soon as possible to ensure that your new team member integrates into the team and always knows where to go when they need support or help.
Provide comprehensive compliance training
Compliance in important areas such as data protection, anti-money laundering and fraud awareness is crucial for all finance employees, whether they’re working in a financial institution or an internal accounting department. New staff members might not have the skills required to implement the processes you are teaching them, so consider exploring compliance courses that you can use to enhance their knowledge. Provide this training early in the employee onboarding process to avoid potentially costly mistakes.
Onboarding new employees is rewarding but time-consuming, so be prepared to invest time and effort into guiding new finance team members. These tips should help you to make the process easier and device a plan that is beneficial for your organisation and your new staff member.
