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4 Tips for Smooth Onboarding

Monday, January 28th, 2019

In a busy church or faith-based organization, it’s important to ensure all employees and volunteers are on the same page. Nothing can accomplish this faster than a good, solid onboarding process.

Onboarding allows all of your employees and volunteers to become familiar with the official rules and functions of your organization. Consider it some of the most valuable information that you can offer them. It may also be instrumental in helping you retain volunteers.

When you have employees and volunteers go through onboarding, it teaches them the skills they need to perform required tasks. In addition, they also get a sense of purpose and may feel more connected to the organization.

Each organization should establish an onboarding process that works for them. Ideally, your onboarding process should accomplish the following things:

  1. Communicate expectations. The first thing you should do in the onboarding process is to introduce employees and volunteers to the organization and take time to outline expectations. Let them know the type of work they will be doing and give them a chance to meet key leaders and staff members.
  2. Provide formal training. During this time, employees and volunteers should be taught necessary skills to do their jobs. They should also be allowed to shadow other employees and volunteers as well.
  3. Establish procedures and protocols. Learning procedures and protocols will give employees and volunteers a clearly defined way to do things within the organization. They will know where to go for particular duties, how to accomplish certain tasks, and who to see for specific issues.
  4. Develop personal and professional connections. This is the perfect time for employees and volunteers to get to know other people within the organization. By participating in activities like ice-breakers and informal social gatherings, they will start to feel more comfortable with others and develop stronger connections to the organization and the people who are part of it.

By having a strong and effective onboarding process, you’ll make sure that both your employees and volunteers get off to a great start!