It’s nice to welcome new staff members with some company merch and a team lunch. But while this can help you make a welcoming impression, it doesn’t let new reps know how they’re doing. That’s where onboarding feedback comes in. As a leader, it’s important to help new hires find their footing so they gain confidence faster and feel like part of the team.
Vantage Circle’s Lupamudra Deori says onboarding feedback is the two-way exchange of input during a new hire’s first 90 days. Managers give feedback on early performance and new employees give feedback on the onboarding process itself. The stakes are real on both sides, Depro says.
In this issue of PromoPro Daily, we share her best practices for giving truly helpful feedback to new reps.
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Be specific, not general. Don’t just tell a new hire they’re doing good work. Instead, Deori recommends naming the exact behavior. This way, the new employee knows precisely what earned the comment.
Give it early, not at the 90-day review. If there’s an issue, don’t wait until a new rep’s formal review to bring it up. If you delay telling them, they could be continuing the bad behavior for weeks with no chance to fix it. Plus, they probably don’t even know they’re doing something wrong.
Separate praise from correction. According to Deori, it’s not a good idea to sandwich a real issue between compliments. This can lead people to distrust the praise, since they learn to wait for the “but” instead of hearing the compliment on its own terms.
Tie feedback to what the role actually needs. Vague encouragement doesn’t help a new hire calibrate against anything real, she says. A specific tie to an actual expectation of the role does, and it also signals you’ve been paying attention to their work specifically.
Put some of it in public. A private comment teaches one person what’s valued. A public one, through a channel like a recognition feed, teaches the whole team at once, she says. For example, if a new rep handled a difficult client conversation well or caught an order issue before it became a problem, celebrate it publicly. It reinforces the behaviors you want everyone to repeat.
Great onboarding doesn’t end after the company merch gets handed out or the team takes the new person to lunch. It continues through consistent feedback. When people know what’s working and where they can grow, everyone benefits — including your clients.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Lupamudra Deori is a content marketing specialist at Vantage Circle.
