It was the first day of my first internship in college. When I walked in the doors, my boss gave me a brief, 20-minute rundown on how the organization was structured, what my role entailed, and what my first assignment would be.

Then, I found my cubicle and got to work … feeling both largely unprepared and frustratingly secluded.

Who was on my team? Wasn’t I supposed to meet them? Were there other interns, and where were they? And what was the culture like, really?

It was an internship, but nonetheless, it quickly taught me the importance of onboarding.

Almost 70% of employees are more likely to

stay with a company for at least three years

after a great onboarding experience.

Ultimately, your company’s onboarding experience is your employees’ initial introduction to the company.

If you don’t implement a memorable and helpful onboarding process that fully integrates new employees into your company, you risk higher turnover rates and less productive teams.

To ensure your new hires remain thrilled by your company and engaged in their roles long after the initial onboarding process, take a look at our onboarding checklist.

Onboarding Checklist

An onboarding checklist is one of the easiest ways to ensure your onboarding process includes all the necessary elements to fully integrate new employees into your company. However, it’s important to note, onboarding isn’t one-size-fits-all — a junior copywriter is going to need different tools to succeed at your company than a new marketing director.

While onboarding will vary for each employee, there are a few components you should include for any new hire.

The following onboarding checklists are for managers or HR departments to use when they are helping a new hire integrate into the company. Of course, certain tasks, such as necessary paperwork or required reading, will differ depending on the company or role.

Before The First Day

Gather the necessary paperwork (e.g. W-4, I-9, and insurance forms, direct deposit forms).
Ask your new hire to review your company’s employee handbook and sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Prepare a workstation for your new hire.
Gather the necessary tools, such as a computer, and/or access to any required software.
Provide your new hire with a company email.
Give your new hire any relevant reading material, including company-wide policies and procedures, an organization chart, and a description of her role, as well as the company’s values, mission, and culture (unless this is included in employee handbook)

Before the first day, you might also consider leaving a note on your new hire’s desk, welcoming them to the team. Perhaps you can share any branded material, like a sweatshirt or mug, as a welcome gift.

Additionally, consider sending your new hire an email, cc’ing all team members, welcoming them to the team.

On The First Day

Provide your new hire with all necessary information, such as your dress code, where they can park, what time they should arrive, and what they should bring.
Prepare your team ahead of time — let them know your new hire is arriving so they can greet her when she gets to her workstation.
Reserve time on your team’s calendar for a “Welcome” lunch for the new hire, and tell the new hire ahead of time.
Give your new hire a tour of the office, including bathrooms, kitchen, and support desk.
Set up a meeting between the manager (if not you) and new hire, so the manager can introduce herself, explain how the department is structured and how one-on-one’s typically go, and answer any questions.
Assign the new hire a mentor and ask mentor to set up a time to have lunch with the new hire.

The first day will vary depending on how many new hires your company onboards at one time — one new hire, of course, will require a different process than a group of 30.

However, it’s important to keep your new hire busy and engaged. You don’t want her to feel awkward sitting at her desk waiting for instruction. You want to demonstrate you’ve taken the time to plan a full, productive day for her.

To keep the employee engaged and excited, you could give her a “30-day plan”, which might include:

Names of people you suggest she reach out to for lunch or coffee. These are likely people she’ll be working with closely, or people you believe can offer her guidance.
Reading material that will help her succeed in her new role — if she’s the new social media manager, perhaps you can include blog posts about social media you’d like her to read.
The manager’s expectations for her first month (i.e. “I’d like you to brainstorm and present one marketing video campaign idea by the end of this month”).

During Week One

Consider asking both new hire and manager to take the DiSC, if they haven’t already — understanding work personalities can help meetings and projects go more smoothly.
Within first few days, assign the first project to your new hire. This will help her feel like a valuable asset to the team and allow her to become more comfortable in her role.
Ensure all required paperwork is filled out.
Review employee performance evaluations and set goals for the first month.
If necessary, set aside time to teach new hire how to use any new software.

As a manager, it’s critical to keep your schedule open if you’re solely in charge of your new hire’s integration into the new team. Take the time to thoughtfully consider one-on-one lessons you can set up to acclimate your new hire to your software or work processes.

Additionally, keep her educated on what’s happening with the larger team. Ask her if she wants to sit in on meetings that, while not directly relevant to her at the moment, might be useful to her as she grows in her role. This may also help her get a better sense of what your team does and what kind of culture your department fosters.

Ultimately, it’s critical she has a firm understanding not just of her own role, but how her role fits into the company as a whole.

For the First Month

Set up weekly meetings to give your new hire constructive criticism regarding her first couple assignments.
Provide her with additional reading material as you see fit — perhaps you suggest books related to her role or articles you feel will help with her professional growth.
Check that she is meeting the appropriate people and getting lunch or coffee with core members of the team
Ask for feedback from the new hire(s) — if its a large group, offer the option to fill-out an anonymous survey. If you have only one new hire, simply ask her what else she needs to succeed or what she wishes the company provided.
Organize a team outing to help the new hire bond with the team — if dinner is difficult to plan, consider getting lunch with the team away from the office.
Ask her mentor to check-in with her.

During the first month, it’s important your new hire has a firm understanding of what’s expected of her and who she can turn to for guidance.

Additionally, your new hire likely has particular preferences regarding how she’d like to be managed. After providing constructive feedback during each one-on-one, ask her if she has any feedback for you as her manager.

Towards the end of the initial onboarding process, ask new hires to fill out a survey regarding the onboarding process. Your HR team can use these suggestions to alter the process for future employees.

While we’ve only covered the first month, it’s important to note studies have shown companies with less than one month dedicated to onboarding are 9% less likely to keep first-year employees than companies with longer processes.

Your new hires need time to fully acclimate to their roles and the company culture. A good time frame is roughly one to three months minimum, but some companies choose to implement an onboarding process that lasts a full year.

Ultimately, a good onboarding process will take into consideration both what your team needs from your new hire, and what your new hire needs to succeed in her role. It might require flexibility and patience, but it’s worth it if you can show your new hire she’s a valuable asset to your team. You can also adjust your strategies as you learn more about her strengths and weaknesses.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Original Source: blog.hubspot.com

As the world’s attention remains focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, essential attention is turned away from other life-threatening epidemics, including opioid addiction. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, opioid misuse and addiction had become rampant in the U.S. In the late 1990s, drug companies assured doctors that opioid pain relievers were safe and nonaddictive, leading to an increase in prescribing rates.

Opioid overdose rates increased rapidly as it became clear that opioids can be highly addictive. In 2018, 46,802 Americans died from an opioid overdose while 1.7 million suffered from substance use disorders related to opioid pain relievers.

The economic burden of prescription opioid misuse alone is $78.5 billion in the U.S. annually, which includes not only health care costs but also lost productivity, addiction treatment and criminal justice involvement.1 The economic toll, and the death toll, from the opioid epidemic is, sadly, set to rise even further now that it has collided with the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Pandemic Heightens Risks for Opioid Addicts

There are physical and psychological reasons why COVID-19 poses a significant challenge for people with opioid use disorder (OUD), which affects at least 2 million Americans, and those who misuse opioids — another 10 million.2 Worldwide, 40.5 million people struggle with opioid dependence, a global prevalence of 510 cases per 100,000 people.3

Chronic respiratory disease increases the risk for fatal overdose in people who use opioids, and COVID-19 leads to compromised lung function.

Further, opioid misuse can lead to slowed breathing and hypoxemia, which can cause cardiac, pulmonary and brain complications, as well as overdose and death. As such, according to an article in the Annals of Internal Medicine, “these individuals may be at increased risk for the most adverse consequences of COVID-19.”4

People who are addicted to opioids may also be more likely to suffer from conditions that make them more vulnerable to COVID-19, including being a smoker who suffers from lung or heart disease, being homeless or having experienced other health effects from drug addiction.5 Threat of infection aside, there are a number of indirect ways that people with OUD may be adversely affected by COVID-19 as well.

“Before the first COVID-19 case in the United States, a different epidemic — the opioid crisis — was taking the lives of 130 Americans per day,” wrote two doctors from Yale School of Medicine in Annals of Internal Medicine.

“Given that infection epidemics disproportionately affect socially marginalized persons with medical and psychiatric comorbid conditions — characteristics of those with opioid use disorder (OUD) — we are gravely concerned that COVID-19 will increase already catastrophic opioid overdose rates.”6 Some of the challenges faced by people with OUD during the COVID-19 pandemic include:7

Closure of substance use treatment clinics
Focus of emergency departments on COVID-19 patients — not opioid overdose
Social distancing and shelter-in-place orders adversely affecting mental health

Disruptions in Care, Increased Anxiety Are Problematic

Disruptions of care during the COVID-19 pandemic are a major concern for people with opioid use disorder, who depend on regular face-to-face health care. Many rehab facilities have closed, limited programs or limited new admissions over fears of COVID-19 spreading in a communal living facility.8

Access to medications for addiction treatment may be restricted, while patients may also face simultaneous challenges like loss of work, housing and food security, which could trigger a downward spiral leading to relapse and delayed recovery.

“The COVID-19 pandemic strikes at a moment when our national response to the opioid crisis was beginning to coalesce, with more persons gaining access to treatment and more patients receiving effective medications. COVID-19 threatens to dramatically overshadow and reverse this progress,” according to researchers with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.9

The social isolation imposed by the pandemic is also highly problematic and, by increasing stress and anxiety, could heighten substance abuse, opioid usage and overdose.

In addition to limiting access to peer-support groups and other vital sources of social connection for recovering addicts, “Persons who are isolated and stressed — as much of the population is during a pandemic — frequently turn to substances to alleviate their negative feelings,” wrote Dr. Nora Volkow with the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Those in recovery will face stresses and heightened urges to use substances and will be at greatly increased risk for relapse.”10

There’s also the issue of social isolation indirectly contributing to overdose deaths because no one is there to administer naloxone, an overdose-reversing drug. Volkow continued:11

“Social distancing will increase the likelihood of opioid overdoses happening when there are no observers who can administer naloxone to reverse them and thus when they are more likely to result in fatalities.

Emergency department physicians with increased caseloads may be less likely to initiate buprenorphine therapy for patients with OUD, which is an important component of mitigating the effects of the opioid crisis.”

There are even reports of stigma and discrimination, according to Dr. Peter Grinspoon, who recovered from opioid addiction and teaches medicine at Harvard Medical School. “There are reports surfacing of police departments across the country that are refusing to offer naloxone to patients who have overdosed, on the pretext that it is too dangerous because the ‘addict’ might wake up coughing and sneezing coronavirus droplets.”12

Job Loss Associated With Opioid Overdose Deaths

The U.S. unemployment rate may skyrocket to 32.1% in the second quarter of 2020, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.13 Previously, the highest rate of unemployment in U.S. history was 24.9%, which occurred in 1933 during the Great Depression.14 The massive job losses may singlehandedly increase opioid overdose deaths, as a strong connection has been revealed between the two in the past.

A 2019 study in the Medical Care Research Review journal looked at the effects of state-level economic conditions — unemployment rates, median house prices, median household income, insurance coverage and average hours of weekly work — on drug overdose deaths between 1999 and 2014.15 According to the authors:

“Drug overdose deaths significantly declined with higher house prices … by nearly 0.17 deaths per 100,000 (~4%) with a $10,000 increase in median house price. House price effects were more pronounced and only significant among males, non-Hispanic Whites, and individuals younger 45 years.

Other economic indicators had insignificant effects. Our findings suggest that economic downturns that substantially reduce house prices such as the Great Recession can increase opioid-related deaths, suggesting that efforts to control access to such drugs should especially intensify during these periods.”

An earlier investigation, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy in 2017, also connected economic recessions and unemployment with rises in illegal drug use among adults. Twenty-eight studies published between 1990 and 2015 were included in the review, 17 of which found that the psychological distress associated with economic recessions and unemployment was a significant factor. According to the authors:16

“The current evidence is in line with the hypothesis that drug use increases in times of recession because unemployment increases psychological distress which increases drug use. During times of recession, psychological support for those who lost their job and are vulnerable to drug use (relapse) is likely to be important.”

Pandemic May Lead to 75,000 ‘Deaths of Despair’

In a report by the Well Being Trust (WBT) and the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care, it’s estimated that up to 75,000 people may die during the COVID-19 pandemic from drug or alcohol misuse and suicide. These “deaths of despair” are expected to be exacerbated by three factors already at play:17

Unprecedented economic failure paired with massive unemployment
Mandated social isolation for months and possible residual isolation for years
Uncertainty caused by the sudden emergence of a novel, previously unknown microbe

In order to come up with their 75,000 figure, the study used data on deaths of despair from 2018 as a baseline, projected levels of unemployment from 2020 to 2029 and then used economic modeling to estimate the additional number of deaths annually. Nine different scenarios were tested, ranging from quick recovery to slow recovery.

In the best-case scenario, 27,644 deaths of despair were estimated while in the worst-case example, 154,037 deaths could occur. While 75,000 was deemed to be “most likely,” the researchers noted, “When considering the negative impact of isolation and uncertainty, a higher estimate may be more accurate.”18

“Undeniably policymakers must place a large focus on mitigating the effects of COVID. However, if the country continues to ignore the collateral damage — specifically our nation’s mental health — we will not come out of this stronger,” Benjamin F. Miller, PsyD, chief strategy officer of WBT, said in a news release.19

A commentary by Dr. Jeffrey A. Lieberman, a psychiatrist with Columbia University’s department of psychiatry, similarly suggested a mental health crisis is looming.20 “The sobering reality is that high-quality mental health care is not available to most people,” Lieberman wrote. “This lack of strategy and access is especially concerning amid disasters such as COVID-19, which can cause considerable psychological trauma.”

Prolonged Isolation May Lead to Drug Abuse

As mentioned, prolonged isolation only exacerbates the issue. “The stressors from the pandemic are very, very real and how we cope with these stressors varies enormously,” Volkow told ABC News. “Social isolation is one of the factors that leads [people with substance abuse disorder] … to take drugs, and social isolation leads them to relapse, and the social isolation leads them to continue taking them.”21

With weeks of extended isolation already logged for most Americans, some communities are already reporting a rise in drug overdose deaths. Jacksonville, Florida, for instance, had a 20% increase in overdose emergency calls in March 2020.

Four counties in New York State also reported a rise in overdoses, while Columbus, Ohio, had a surge in overdose deaths, including 12 over a 24-hour period the first week of April.22

Whether overdose deaths are increasing across the U.S. is unknown, as Volkow noted that with COVID-19 shutdowns, collecting reliable data is difficult. However, a spokesperson for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told ABC News that officials are “aware of the concerns involving COVID-19 and drug overdoses and that it could affect some populations with substance use disorders.”23

Experts are recommending increased resources for people struggling with drug addiction, including access to online meetings. Remember that even if you’re socially isolated at home, you can reach out to friends and loved ones via phone or online. Connecting with others, even virtually, can help you to feel less alone. It’s also a good idea to set a limit on watching the news or browsing social media, especially if it increases anxious feelings.24

Original Source: articles.mercola.com