Attracting top talent doesn’t end after they accept your job offer. To build an exceptional workforce, you need to go beyond sourcing top mechanical design talent. You need to focus on developing a successful onboarding strategy that will ensure new team members seamlessly fit into their roles, company, and culture.
Onboarding checklists
Onboarding is the process of introducing new employees to a company. Whatever job, industry, or role, employee onboarding is significant to ensure your new hire will stay with your company to help it thrive. The better the onboarding, the longer recruits are likely to stay.
Pre-onboarding
Successful onboarding will begin before the recruit’s start date. This is referred to as pre-onboarding. In most cases, this will usually consist of a welcoming email that provides all the essential details the recruit needs to know. This includes information, such as:
- Start date details
- Any point of contact, such as HR
- Work schedule for the first day
- Preliminary forms and paperwork
In terms of mechanical design, some additional pre-onboarding tasks that may also happen include:
- Setting up IT credentials for any relevant systems, such as CAD, product data management (PDM), and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
- Ensure access to appropriate IT systems and infrastructure, such as any relevant databases or intranets.
- A suitable workstation is set up that provides all the vital working equipment.
- A computer with relevant mechanical design software installed, such as CAD design programs.
First-day onboarding
First-day onboarding usually getting a recruit acquainted with the company’s operations and processes. On the first day, it’s important to ensure new hires feel welcome and engaged. The activities of the day make a big difference to how well new recruits fit into the role.
This will usually begin with a welcome meeting with any relevant personnel, such as hiring managers or HR. Introducing their team manager and team will also happen on this day so the new recruit becomes familiar with who they will work with.
Depending on the company, new hires may also be introduced to cross-functional teams. As such a new mechanical design recruit may be introduced to those working in electrical software or manufacturing engineers.
During the first day, new hires will also be walked through relevant company policies and engineering-specific procedures. Some of the company policies new hires may be walked through include:
- Security
- Health and safety
- Confidentiality
- HR policies
Specific engineering processes that may be covered on the first day include CAD file management and document control. Allowing the new hire to become familiar with their working environment will also occur on the first day and may involve:
- Confirming login to relevant IT platforms
- Introduction to the company’s CAD/PDM/PLM systems
- Setting up emails and introducing team communication tools
First-week onboarding
Onboarding also continues throughout the new hires’ first week. During this time new mechanical design hires will become familiar with the design and development process. This will include internal design standards and best practices.
Any relevant software training will also take place during this initial week by providing hands-on practice through simple design tasks. This can include CAD software orientation and introduction to simulation analysis tools, such as finite element analysis (FEA).
During the initial weeks, the new hire will also integrate more into the team. As the new hire settles into their role, they will work on smaller projects with the guidance of a mentor. This will gradually switch to the new recruiter getting much more involved in team projects.
Post-onboarding
After the first initial weeks, the new hire should have settled into their role being much more familiar with the team, processes, and company culture. Beyond the first week, additional onboarding tasks may occur to improve the new hires’ efficiency and performance, including:
- Advanced CAD training, including parametric design.
- Design simulations and validation, including FEA.
- Quality assurance and testing, including compliance procedures and testing standards.
- Project development by beginning to contribute towards larger projects.
- Weekly check-in and feedback with manager or mentor.
Mentorship programs
Mentorship programs are one method of onboarding to help new hires settle into a company and their role. A successful mentorship program has the potential to help the mentee’s professional growth while developing soft skills for the mentor.
Mentorship programs involve pairing an experienced colleague with someone with less experience to provide guidance, knowledge, and support. New mechanical design hires can also benefit from an effective mentorship program to settle into a new role or company culture.
However, most mentorship programs are not effective and can leave both parties dissatisfied and missing out on the growth potential. However, there are some elements you can consider to improve the effectiveness of such initiatives, including:
- Spend time to set clear objectives, timelines, and methodologies that align with the participant’s needs and organisational goals.
- Ensure a careful match between mentor and mentee by considering the compatibility of skills, experience, personality, and goals.
- Inclusivity and diversity are important elements to improve the success of mentoring programs as participants feel more valued and supported.
- Leadership support by ensuring they provide resources, visibility, and endorsement to reinforce the program’s legitimacy.
- Track progress and measure outcomes by using suitable programs to establish the progress of the mentorship program through gathering feedback and measuring the impact towards organisational goals
Career development opportunities
Alongside mentorship programs, there are many other career development opportunities. While different methods will depend on the skill and level of an employee, providing career development opportunities boosts motivation, productivity, and job satisfaction.
Here are some of the most popular career development opportunities:
- Coaching – where an experienced, trained, or qualified person supports someone through training and guidance to support a learner’s professional goals.
- Internships – where an organisation provides an individual with work experience for a limited period.
- Certifications – gaining accredited documentation to verify meeting certain requirements or standards, such as CAD and Digital Manufacturing, Certified Manufacturing Engineer, or Certified Systems Engineering Professional.
- Networking events – building business relations with people in a similar or same role to raise your profile, get access to opportunities, and get relevant career advice and support.
- Feedback – identifying areas of growth and improvement. This can be positive or negative to give someone areas to improve or strengthen to support their professional development.
- Job shadowing – where a colleague observes a professional at work to understand their role better. This allows them to gain greater insight and experience into the shadowed role.
Successful onboarding and retention are vital for ensuring that top-talent mechanical designers fit into their roles and company culture. While the recruitment process is vital for attracting top talent, ensuring they fit into the role and culture is vital for ensuring they stay with your company. This helps minimise turnover while ensuring better success for your company.