Onboarding is a set of processes to acclimate new employees to your veterinary practice, team and culture. It builds a foundation, leading to greater employee retention and engagement. Animal hospitals hire new team members all the time, but are practice leaders doing it right? No matter how technically qualified your new hire is, nobody can hit the ground running without knowing the direction they need to go. If you hire someone who shares your practice’s values and is motivated by its orientation, focused onboarding results in effective integration.
Onboarding is different than training. Leaders are responsible to their teams for getting it right and not letting new employees sink or swim.
The onboarding process starts with acceptance of the employment offer and ends when the team member understands the daily happenings in your practice. Allow a month to complete everything. New employees are most impressionable during the first 30 days, so you’ll have a recipe for success when you combine onboarding with focused training. Have written plans for Day One, Week One and Month One.
Day One
The first day on the job is crucial for the employee and practice. The goal is to welcome your new technician to the team and reinforce your commitment to a long, mutually beneficial work relationship. Don’t rush to get the new hire on the floor too fast.
The following steps should be on the list of Day One activities. Compliance with state and federal regulations is essential.
- Complete or confirm the receipt of all paperwork, including required forms and acknowledgment of the employee handbook. Order an individual dosimetry badge.
- Review the job description with the new hire and set expectations for the scope of the job.
- Conduct initial safety training and signoffs.
- Introduce the technician to the team and discuss the person’s role within the practice. Employee nametags can help in the transition.
- Give a hospital tour and share the practice’s history.
- Pair the new hire with a technician mentor to shadow for the day.
By day’s end, meet with the new technician to reinforce your commitment to the process and to keep the lines of communication open. Find out how everything went. Answer questions and outline what the rest of the week will entail regarding onboarding and initial phase training.
Week One
Resist the temptation to turn your new technician loose during the first week. Things still need to be addressed and evaluated. Start by pairing new employees with a leader in each department for two to four hours to help them understand the hospital’s flow and how the departments interact. A good understanding of departmental processes and challenges will help the person integrate within the entire team, not just the technical group.
Choose good mentors for the new hire during this phase. The mentors should align with your practice’s values, embrace its direction and have an excellent performance history. You don’t want negativity to taint the process.
If your new technician is unfamiliar with your practice management information system, set aside daily time for hands-on training with an experienced mentor. Take advantage of tutorials and other resources provided by your PIMS platform. Each department will use different aspects of the computer system, so early maximum exposure is essential in learning to utilize the system as fast as possible. Fortunately, most PIMS platforms are intuitive and user-friendly.
The first week is also the time to introduce phase training so your new hire knows what’s coming. Start the activities at the very beginning, even with an experienced technician, so that you can evaluate the employee’s skills and understanding of your patient care model. Experienced technicians will progress faster, but you should expose everyone to the same training materials. Consistency in your training approach is essential.
Month One
Onboarding and training will continue daily past the first week. Check in with the new technician frequently to assess the process and address concerns. Customize the training to meet the person’s needs.
Focusing on what your practice does and why is critical. As you evaluate the technician’s skills and knowledge, modify the training to focus on where the person needs the most guidance and support. Remember to choose the trainers based on their areas of expertise, skillsets and dedication to the practice.
Learning to do the job is only part of the onboarding challenge. Every employee needs to fit in. Integration and a fully trained technician are the immediate goals when you bring on a new employee. You can’t have one without the other.
Remember, too, that practice and team culture start at the top. It’s shaped by practice leaders and carried out daily by the team. Evaluate your onboarding procedures and modify them as needed to integrate new employees best.
At the end of the first month, your new hire should feel part of the team, embrace your practice’s culture, and be prepared to step into the technician role confidently.
CHECKMARKS AND BALANCES
Phase training documents should outline the skills and processes related to a job. The documents should allow for signoffs as skills are learned, mastered and confirmed. Two-way accountability is essential. New employees who think they are proficient should sign statements to that effect, and the designated trainer should verify the assertions.