The 6 C’s of onboarding

A well-executed onboarding program is essential for retaining new hires and maximising their potential. Onboarding is the process of integrating new hires into a business and ensuring that they are productive and engaged in their roles. In this blog post, we’ll explore the six C’s of onboarding and why they matter for companies regardless of size.

What are the 6 C’s of onboarding?

The six C’s of onboarding are a framework for effective employee integration that helps businesses achieve their goals. These C’s are:

Compliance

This refers to the legal and regulatory requirements that employees must follow. For example, new hires in the UK must provide the necessary information for right-to-work checks to be completed and conduct any training to comply with company policies, procedures, and relevant laws or certifications.

Clarification

This means providing a clear understanding of job responsibilities, expectations, and performance standards. It is crucial to set realistic goals for new hires, give them feedback, and help them navigate the organisational structure.

Culture

This refers to the company’s values, norms, and practices. Ensuring new employees understand the company culture, values, and history is essential to help them feel part of the team and create a sense of belonging.

Connection

This means helping new hires build relationships with their colleagues, mentors, and managers. Creating a sense of community and inclusion makes them feel welcome and supported.

Check-back

This involves ongoing support and feedback from managers to ensure that employees are on track with their goals and performance. It provides a chance to correct any misunderstandings or mistakes early on and ensures that new hires feel valued.

Continuation

This means providing ongoing training and development opportunities to help employees reach their full potential, including coaching, mentoring, and career development programmes.

What is the best framework for employee onboarding?

The best framework for employee onboarding is one that aligns with your business’s values, culture, and goals. The six C’s of onboarding provide a comprehensive framework that covers all the essential elements of effective onboarding.

However, the specific onboarding program you develop may depend on your business’s size and structure, the roles’ complexity, and the skill level of new hires. For example, a program for entry-level hires may look vastly different from one for senior executives.

Is onboarding the same as training?

Onboarding and training are related, but they are not the same. Training refers to teaching new employees the specific skills they need to perform their job tasks. Onboarding, on the other hand, is a broader process that includes orientation, socialisation, and other forms of support that help new hires integrate into the company culture and the team.

While training is essential to onboarding, it’s only one element. A comprehensive onboarding program includes training, coaching, mentoring, and ongoing support.

Why use onboarding software?

Good onboarding software helps simplify the process and improve the overall experience for new hires. It provides a central platform to manage employee documents, checklists, and training materials. It also automates administrative tasks, such as sending reminders, enrolling on payroll and setting-up devices & software, freeing up time to focus on the more important onboarding tasks.

Moreover, onboarding software can also help track employee progress, capture feedback and facilitate communication, enabling the People department to better understand new hires’ needs and concerns and monitor the onboarding programme’s effectiveness.

In conclusion, the six C’s of onboarding provide a comprehensive framework for effective employee integration. By focusing on compliance, clarification, culture, connection, check-back, and continuation, organisations can maximise the potential of new hires and improve retention rates.

Software such as Zelt can help save people leaders time by automating the admin parts of the onboarding process, allowing them to spend time on what matters. People!Today