Stepping into a field or workplace environment for the first time can be daunting for a new hire. A new place, a new position: it is hard to know exactly what to expect with no experience. It is no secret that post-pandemic new hires are experiencing an entirely different type of workplace with more remote positions hiring new talent and hybrid style jobs that offer flexibility.

As they enter the workforce, the first glimpse of how your company is run is through the onboarding process. That onboarding process is critical in setting up your new hire for success on day one. By making the transition into a new, professional career as smooth and as enlightening as possible, you set them up for long-term success. Here are six ways to help create an onboarding process to match your new hire’s willingness and to invest in their success.

Make What is Implicit, Explicit

When first starting their career, many will not understand what most intuitively do; appropriate workplace mannerisms come easy to a seasoned professional, not to a fresh face. Even if they do have some background, it may be difficult to grasp specific office politics or industry language when it is not explicitly defined for them. One way to help new employees is by being specific in your communication and making the implied, defined.

A great way to provide tangible information in a digestible form is by creating a cheat sheet. Give them something that defines specific terms that are common within the industry, phrases that are often used, or other in-house processes that would be good to know when starting.

Take Jerica for example. As an engineering manager, she keeps a document with up-to-date important industry items. “Sometimes,” she explains, “you need to help them out by permitting them to feel like they can ask questions. Doing so gives them the confidence to safely speak up.”

Show Them What Success Looks Like

It is no secret that your new hire is talented and intelligent (you hired them for that reason!) but do they know what success looks like when it comes to their new role? Of course, they may have some grasp on what that means, but not nearly enough. Every workplace environment is different with specific standards that need to be met. Getting the work done with the quality and rigor you want them to have will take time.

So how do you get them up to speed? You need to give them a starting point and you can do that by taking time to help them understand what success looks like. David, a former teacher-turned-marketing-manager, shares his approach by following the “I do, we do, you do” model.

By giving them a barometer for your expectations, you give them examples of how to succeed. Take time to show them the ropes, talk them through processes, and give them specific feedback with examples and explanations. “After they go off on their own, it’s important to follow up to review what they did,” David offers. You can apply this show-try-do method to many things all while providing them with a toolkit for success.

Connect the Daily Input to the Larger Output

As a new hire, it is easy to learn and execute your provided to-do list. The excitement of the new position and new role will only fuel that desire to get in and hustle. The smaller, bite-sized to-dos can easily consume the bigger picture of why we do what we do.

As a Product Manager, Tariq works in a role that requires working with many different teams that are all wanting and pushing for different things. As a senior, he noticed others often got lost in the hustle and struggled to connect everything back to the big picture and they impacted each other.

By putting together a map and workflow organizational chart, Tariq was able to see a change in the way his team connected what they did to what the organization needed as a whole. “My team began seeing how the specific things they were working on, which at the moment seemed small, made an impact on the larger goal.” By helping his team connect their day-to-day with the broader company vision, he was able to have a better understanding of the larger goal that everyone’s job fed into.

Highlight Additional Learning Opportunities

There is no shortage of knowledge intake when you are a new hire. As they are onboarded, they take in a lot of information not only about company basics and etiquette but also about the processes and their job responsibilities. In his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink points out that most of us need autonomy, mastery, and purpose to stay motivated. Having all those things is important for a hard-working person, but by focusing on mastery, your new hire will be able to see their progress and be motivated to continue to learn and grow in their new position.

As a manager at a consulting firm, Rob is constantly onboarding new hires for big projects. “There is so much learning…, especially with new hires.” To help create a thriving and welcoming learning environment, Rob sets his new hires up by encouraging them to write three things down they want to learn when tackling a new project. At the end of the project, he reviews it with them. “It’s important to help them see the progress they are making,” Rob adds. By shining a light on their growth, you establish a space of continued educational efforts and a new hire that is excited and ready to take on that next project.

Encourage Them to Grow Their Social Capital

Networking as a young professional can seem like a job on its own, but it is a crucial skill to have when growing your social capital. Having these healthy working relationships is critical to succeeding in a workplace environment and proves to be important for employee effectiveness. Research from McKinsey and Co, proves employees that feel more connected with people in their networks are one and a half times more likely to be more engaged than their peers who are not.

As a Product Marketing Director in a large technology organization, Amy understands the importance of strong relationships and visibility amongst peers. “In our role, we cannot be effective and get things done without having the right set of relationships.” In doing so, Amy works with her new hires to bridge the gap by creating partnerships. “People build relationships with others based on their interests and shared values,” she says. With the new relationships in place, these new hires and interns feel more confident in their roles and within the organization.

Celebrate Their Strengths

Stepping into a new role, it is hard to feel confident, and being new to the workforce it is harder to pin down what their strengths are. That is where you come in. By spotting strengths in these younger professionals, it helps them develop confidence in themselves and gives them context on how they can use it in their current role.

Sarah, a Public Relations Director, uses talent spotting when working with interns and younger talent. She encourages them to write down the strengths of her new employees for future conversations. “During that conversation, make sure to tell them what specifically they did well, how it made an impact, and offer 1–2 opportunities where they can use that specific talent.” By pointing out their strengths, it encourages them to continue to build upon their current role.

Companies are constantly spending time, effort, and financial resources to bring in the best new talent. The first stop for these recruits is the onboarding process. Working to ensure your onboarding process runs efficiently and smoothly and providing a look into your company culture so they can be an engaged employee is critical. By focusing on your internal onboarding process and using these six tips, you can ensure that your new hire will be set up for success in their new role.