Don't forget about effective onboarding in factories and logistics!

On the work floor, onboarding often stops at a handshake, even though safety and language barriers are major factors there.

New office colleagues can usually count on a bouquet of flowers and a coffee break with the team. With a bit of luck, there’s even a well-structured onboarding program ready to go. But what about the shop floor? Unfortunately, it often stops at a firm handshake, and then it’s straight to production.

That’s a shame. Effective onboarding is just as important in a factory or logistics company. If only to address the safety risks and the cultural and language differences that are more common there than in a typical office. We’d like to walk you through the how and why of onboarding your new production staff or drivers.

**What exactly is onboarding?**‍

Onboarding is the induction process that introduces a new employee to the organization. In our view, effective onboarding goes far beyond the rather dry training programs that used to be the standard when a new colleague joined.

With onboarding, you ensure that an employee truly comes aboard your organization. They are immersed in the company culture, understand how things work, and learn how to interact with one another. In short: the new colleague fully integrates into the company.

**Why is onboarding so important?**‍

Especially in the current labor market, finding good employees is like looking for a needle in a haystack. This applies to almost every industry and every level. So, once you’ve landed that coveted new colleague, you certainly don’t want them to disappear just as quickly.

Onboarding can make a significant difference in retaining those valuable employees, as shown by various studies.

If you provide effective onboarding, you will:

make the new employee feel welcome and at home, which makes them 18 times more likely to stay with the company in the long term;
increase new hire satisfaction with their job by 30 times;
boost productivity because employees integrate faster, work more efficiently, and experience less stress;
increase the newcomer's connection to the organization by 89% and to the team by as much as 91%.

Onboarding is important for everyone‍

Let’s be honest: it doesn’t matter whether you work in an office, a factory, a hospital, or on a forklift.

That first day is nerve-wracking for everyone, and every new employee is an asset that should be cherished.

Why, then, a blog specifically about the importance of good onboarding for shop floor staff? To name just a few reasons:

in a factory or logistics environment, there is often more emphasis on tight deadlines, production peaks, and meeting output targets;
on the shop floor, people with diverse cultural backgrounds often work together;
in a factory or logistics environment, colleagues may have lower language proficiency;
the shop floor is more likely to involve hazardous work situations and associated risks.

Therefore, pay extra attention to tailoring the onboarding program for colleagues in a factory or other logistics or production environment when it comes to:

opportunities for social interaction and connection
language and knowledge level
interpersonal communication
safety and occupational health

Of course, we have a few more tips:

1. A joint introduction day

Have you hired several new employees in a short period of time? Invite them together to a special introduction day. That is not only practical, it also creates a special bond between the colleagues. After all, they are all in the same unfamiliar boat.

During this day, cover, for example, the history of the company, but also the house rules, such as reporting sick and reporting recovered, requesting vacation, handing out company clothing, using safety equipment, phone use, and training opportunities, to name just a few examples.

Make it an informative but also enjoyable day, with plenty of room for conversations among the group.

Also arrange a tour of the company, introducing them to support departments that matter to everyone, such as HR, Payroll, the Works Council, and Facilities.

2. Personal online onboarding program

That first period at a new employer is very intense. And however enjoyable the introduction day is, some information may not stick right away. So make sure the key elements of the introduction day can be reread at a quieter moment. That can be done on a general intranet site, of course, but it is even better to give the employee access to a personal online onboarding program tailored entirely to their own education and language level.

Use a modular Learning Management System for onboarding new employees, and the sky is the limit. You can fairly easily take into account, for example, the knowledge level someone already has, but if needed you can also include lessons in other languages in the onboarding program. Make access to the knowledge modules as low-threshold as possible. An app that works on a phone is ideal. Not everyone has a laptop or computer at their disposal at home or at work.

The nice thing is that online onboarding can even start before the actual first working day.

For example, send a welcome card with a link or QR code to the onboarding modules along with the employment contract.

3. Pair your new colleague with a buddy

Especially in an environment with production peaks and deadlines, personal attention is a must to make someone feel at home. It is therefore a good idea to pair the new employee with a permanent colleague who can explain the ins and outs of the production process and answer any questions.

Of course, make sure there is enough time and space for both the buddy and the new colleague. For example, it helps to set a fixed time during the first weeks of work to catch up in a quiet setting.

That doesn't have to be set up in a complicated way. Preferably not, in fact, because that can easily raise the threshold for daring to ask questions. Half an hour together over a cup of coffee is often enough.

4. Build up knowledge and skills step by step

Especially with more complicated production processes, it is smart not to throw the new colleague in at the deep end all at once. Build up their deployability step by step, evaluate regularly how they like the work, and check whether anything is still unclear. Do you notice that someone finds it a bit harder to get up to speed? Ask what they need and look for a suitable solution together.

The modular online onboarding program mentioned earlier can help here as well. Make full use of the multimedia options. For example, check the knowledge gained with a pub quiz or other gamification.

Make parts of a safety procedure or production process visual with an instructional video that can be watched again and again.

Consider involving a colleague who speaks another language to explain important things clearly in a short video. That often works better than pages of written text!

5. Make it fun

Good onboarding is about connection and belonging. That is mostly a matter of feeling. So it is allowed to be fun, too! Regularly organize enjoyable team outings, where people can also get to know other colleagues in an informal setting. Are employees from different countries working in one team? Have each person take a turn preparing a nice lunch with dishes from their own culture.

Or just provide a good stroopwafel with coffee, or an ice cream in the summer. Sometimes it doesn't have to be complicated to provide that all-important extra bit of job satisfaction!