One of the first opportunities organizations have to build a strong case for retention starts on day one of an employee’s experience.
According to Gallup, “70% of employees who had exceptional onboarding experiences say they have "the best possible job." These employees are also 2.6 times as likely to be extremely satisfied with their workplace and far more likely to stay.”
But onboarding has to be more than checking off boxes. Yes, we know the ceremonial 27 required training can’t be overlooked, but when you balance them out with something, perhaps, fun, you just might impress your new hire enough to be even more excited about their new gig.
So, where to start?
We suggest sprinkling Cloverleaf activities (like magical pixie dust) throughout the onboarding process to break out some of the more “paint drying” onboarding activities.
Consider the following onboarding activities during the first 60 days of a new hire’s journey with an organization!
Within Week 1
Assign the required Cloverleaf assessments to the new hire and tell them approximately how long it will take to complete all of their assessments (this may vary depending on the number of assessments you require)
Even if they have taken some of these assessments in the past, invite them to take them newly in Cloverleaf.
Share with your new hire the purpose of the Cloverleaf daily insights and encourage them to receive them 5 days a week, especially within the first several months of getting acclimated to the team and organization.
Invite the individual to download all their reports and jot down at least 3 interesting insights from their results that they might share with their manager in a future 1-1 meeting.
Within 2-3 weeks
Consider integrating the following activities within the first 30 days of employment and customize them to your specific organization or team dynamic. There is no “right” way to do this, so add your own leadership and creativity to it!
Invite the individual to explore the team dashboard by clicking on and reviewing the profiles of their team members and their manager.
They might also use the relationships/team thinking style feature to notice where they are similar or different from their team member or manager.
If applicable, invite the new hire to bring at least one insight about themselves from their Cloverleaf results to a 1-1 or meet and greet that might happen within the first 30 days. Managers may also consider reviewing the new hire’s results and coming to a 1-1 or meet and greet with a question for the new team member or direct report.
Examples of this may be:
For the New Hire: Insights about oneself
The one thing that’s spot on about me is….
One of the coaching insights that best describes how I work is…
One of my areas for development is…
For the Manager/Existing team member: Questions for the new hire:
I noticed one way we are similar is _____________; given how we will be working together, how can we leverage that similarity?
Is there anything about my insights that you have a question about?
What’s the most important thing I should take away from your assessment results?
Within 4 weeks
Provide the new hire with best practices to leverage and use Cloverleaf regularly. Here is a sample of information to share! You can amend the below list and include it in any onboarding materials to match your employee branding and language. Use this as a jumping-off point and make it your own!
Daily coaching tips: Be sure to review your coaching tips regularly at the start of each day. Ask yourself how this tip about you may be relevant to your daily activities. How might your coaching tip prepare you to engage with specific team memes?
You can do this through your coaching tip emails OR by engaging in your daily coaching on your “ME” Dashboard
Meeting preparation: Make sure to integrate your calendar with Cloverleaf! Each day you will receive a calendar digest that will give you a key tip to interacting with people you have scheduled meetings with. Review this to prepare for meetings, and prepare information, data, or any other deliverables.
When faced with a communication challenge: Feeling frustrated with someone on your team? We ALL communicate differently. It takes time to get to know the workstyles of other people and for them to get to know us. Before jumping to conclusions or responding to gut reactions, take a step back and review some of the insights about the other person
Consider going to their profile and reading relevant coaching tips (for example, around workstyle, communication, and conflict triggers). What might you have misunderstood? What questions do you have for this person? What can you share about yourself to help them work more effectively with you? Bring any necessary insights to your direct manager for support if appropriate.
How can you turn conflict into an opportunity for growth? Check out this guide.
Preparing for Performance Conversations with Cloverleaf. Check out this helpful guide.
When preparing for collaboration or working on a project: Check out the workstyles, communication patterns, and leadership styles of the people you’ll be interacting with. How can you leverage their strengths? What do you need to remember to communicate and work effectively with them?
Goal Setting: Review your coaching insights when setting performance or professional development goals. What goals might some of your insights suggest that you incorporate? What existing goals can your coaching insights enhance? Use your coaching insights to prepare for goal setting before discussing them with your manager.