Hiring in the new year? 4 critical steps for making your team successful

I was talking with a client last week and he mentioned that he was planning to add several new associates to his team in early first quarter. I asked him how he was planning on integrating them to the existing team. He answered that he hadn't really thought about it, but wanted to know what I had in mind.

I told him that adding one person certainly affects the team, but adding three people will significantly impact the team, and without preparation and intentional onboarding, he may not get the results that he hoped for.

This is a pretty common event. Hiring managers get so caught up in the "selling", budgeting, and recruiting of their new staff, that they forget to plan for their smooth onboarding. By the time they get the positions approved, it gets through HR and they then finally get the people hired, they are "done". The new associates and the team are supposed to integrate seamlessley and figure out how to work together on that huge backlog of work that accumulated during the last weeks and months.

Well, that smooth transition doesn't usually happen and the new people may not be able to make the "positive cultural changes" that the hiring manager had in mind. Why? Because a formal onboarding plan was not created and the right communication was not shared with the existing team.

Hiring managers who are thoughtful and prepared for their new hires will be the ones with the most successful teams. It is not an option in most very lean organizations for the team members, even the new ones, to not be able to pull their weight. However, in order to hit the ground running, the organization must set up the new hires for success.

Here are the four critical steps to making your new team successful:

First, have a plan. Clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of each new position, as well as any changes to the existing ones. Restate the team's purpose and how it supports the overall organization.

Secondly, put objectives in writing. This leaves nothing to assumption or interpretation.

Thirdly, communicate both the above to everyone on the team. This includes existing staff and new hires.

Lastly, allow for discussion, questions and input of the team members. They just might have some ideas that you didn't think of--and they are probably right.