The 30-60-90 day plan: An Ultimate Guide to Improve New Employee Experience (+5 Free Templates)

You need a 30-60-90 day plan more than ever.

Hiring the right person can be insanely difficult. Not to mention that the hiring process itself can last up to 23.8 days. That means you’ve invested over three weeks before your new hire starts.

Whenever a new hire joins your company, do you wonder how long they’ll last? Well, 20% of new hires quit within their first 45 days. Moreover, they could be on another company’s poaching list. In a talent shortage, that’s all you need. Especially with all the recruitment emails you’ve been sending out.

With many areas in human resources that can go wrong, how can you go right? And how are other employers getting it right? Specifically, companies such as:

The best way to ape the success of these companies is by nurturing talent. That all starts with great onboarding and a retention strategy from day one. That’s where the 30-60-90 day plan can help you.

This Process Street post will guide you through using and understanding a 30-60-90 day plan. You can even use the template immediately with your free Process Street account!

Here’s your guide to using a 30-60-90 day plan to improve new employee experience:

An introduction to the 30-60-90 day plan
Using a 30-60-90 day plan
Tips for HR managers using the 30-60-90 day plan
The 30-60-90 day plan for new hires
Performance review for a 30-60-90 day plan

An introduction to the 30-60-90 day plan

A 30-60-90 day plan is the best way to convince new hires to stay with your company for the long term. Furthermore, it allows them to adapt to your company smoothly and quickly understand its culture.

It’s a great tool to have in your HR toolbelt, especially during a talent shortage. Even the technology sector has been struggling to deal with the demand for talent:

What is a 30-60-90 day plan?

A 30-60-90 day plan is a framework for new employees to help them decide what their goals are and then work towards achieving them. In particular, this means they can set SMART goals. These are the targets which are:

To set these targets is to discover what the new employee hopes to achieve during their onboarding. In other words, an HR manager needs a template that helps the employee identify their:

Why make a 30-60-90 day plan?

All new hires want to succeed, and a plan like this will help them do just that.

Whether a new hire is an HR assistant or a seasoned HR manager, their intention to perform to the best of their ability is the same. Together with a 30-60-90 day plan, human resources can allow employees to show their enthusiasm.

One of the main benefits of a 30-60-90 day plan is structured progression. It can new hires with long-term development, as well as clearly focusing:

Their short-term ambitions;
Long-term ambitions they aspire to;
Primary career interests they have;
The skills, knowledge, and experience they’d like to acquire.

How to make a 30-60-90 day plan

Ideally, you’ll want to create a plan that considers both the employee’s objectives and the company’s objectives. In their early days, it can be very impactful to have this kind of conversation with your new hire about their short and long-term goals.

With this in mind, the 30-60-90 day plan deals with one of two things:

A candidate who is preparing for an interview and wants to show how they will hit the ground running;
A new hire’s learning and performance targets.

As an HR manager, you’ll want to help a new hire be realistic and focus on what they can do every 30 days. You can do this by listing a goal. You then decide how to measure the goal’s success. For one thing, in the first 30 days, it would be best for the new hire to be learning about their new company. The new hire should therefore start with their learning goals:

Goal 1: Meet with different departments to learn how the company functions.

Measurement of the goal: Have six short Zoom meetings per week with department leaders.

Goal 2: Join an outside-of-work social group organized by the company.

Measurement of the goal: Learn about the company culture and identify possible mentors.

In addition to measuring their aims, the new hire can also record metrics. A new hire could show data on task completion statistics. For example, they could document that they made 300 calls in one week if they’re in sales.

Using a 30-60-90 day plan

New hires use a 30-60-90 day plan to show their current skills and initiative. It also helps them see which direction they would like to move forward in.

They should be looking to set goals that will demonstrate their commitment. In particular, they should show they know what to aim for in the future.

At the end of their first 30 days they should move on to their initiative goals, such as the following:

Concentrate on understanding essential processes in their role;
Coming up with ideas for a first project they can show to a superior;
Taking the time to consider if they were successful with their first 30-day goals.

Tips for HR managers using the 30-60-90 day plan

Use the 30-60-90 day plan to focus on your new hire’s performance goals.

In general, the idea is to help the new hire get up to speed quickly. In the new hire’s plan, you are looking to include targets related to their role.

For example, it might be best to set weekly targets beginning at the end of their first 30 days. To emphasize, include a reasonable metric such as 20 customer service complaints resolved per week.

Another critical point is to meet with your new hire and ask about their goals and targets.

The new hire’s objectives will show you where the new hire could contribute to the company the most. They can also inform the new hire what the company’s expectations are. You could encourage your employees to decide what their KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) will be.

Some examples are:

What is your desired outcome in the next 30 days?

To learn HTML5, then I can tweak existing guest posts.

How will you know you’ve achieved your outcome?

I will have refreshed ten old posts by the end of the next 30 days.

Use Key Performance Indicators

The best idea is to ask the new hire to give a presentation when it comes to KPIs. Presentations are an opportunity for the new hire to provide feedback. They can also back up their feedback with relevant evidence.

Another tip for HR managers is to provide feedback on the new hire’s performance. Feedback will help the new hire incorporate it into their performance goals. At the same time, be sure to get input from your new employee.

The 30-60-90 day plan for new hires

New hires should use the 30-60-90 day plan to focus on their personal goals.

Additionally, it would help if you encouraged them to develop work relationships that will last. Employee communication will be vital to the success of the new hire.

The new hire’s objectives are to integrate with other employees on their team. This kind of aim should not be subject to strict guidelines. The employee could achieve their targets with informal activities such as:

Meeting a colleague for coffee outside of working hours;
Attending a voluntary company activity outside of work;
Discovering shared hobbies with colleagues.

The new hire should use these occasions to identify members of their team that would be able to help them. Some of their colleagues might make great mentors. You should seek out potential mentors from existing staff for the new hire. For this reason, it’s best to do this early in the onboarding phase.

“When onboarding, the organization needs to design how to best get this employee up to speed and successful. That isn’t just HR’s job. That is the job of every single function and person who will come into contact with this individual.”
– Tim Sackett

A new hire will want to build good working relationships with those they respect. They will also want to show their team they are dependable. As a result, the employee will be able to take on more responsibility.

You can help them to achieve this with our free 30-60-90 Day Plan for New Hires template.

Performance review for a 30-60-90 day plan

The 30-60-90 day plan performance review should assist new hires by:

Reviewing their current responsibilities;
Assessing their strengths;
Understanding their weaknesses;
Considering their long-term developmental needs.

Remember that new hires can bring fresh insight into problems your company may have. With this in mind, ask if they have noticed issues in your employee onboarding process. Consider asking for any suggestions they might have.

Make the new hire feel noticed by continuing these initial conversations about their longer-term goals. For instance, you can explain company benefits. It might be worth telling them about your EAP (Employee Assistance Program). Maintaining close communication will encourage the new hire to commit to the 30-60-90 day plan. It should also indicate they are working on a career progression plan.

“Although it might seem counterintuitive, organizations should support employees in their career progression, even if that meets supporting their exit.”
– Scott Dust

The performance review must be a conversation. Anonymous surveys are beneficial, but they lack the personal touch that a one-on-one review can generate.

“There’s nothing about engagement surveys that truly aim to understand what motivates people on a personal, emotional, human level. Conversations, whether one-on-one or through focus groups, produce rich qualitative insights that get closer to the “why” behind engagement survey data. And closer to understanding employees on a deeper level as people, individuals.”
– Shannon Smedstad

Automate your 30-60-90 day plan

Paperwork can seem never-ending, and it soon mounts up – especially in large organizations.

Workflow software can help contain and structure information regarding your new hires. For one thing, you can use it for uploading documents. These could be 30-60-90 day plans, performance reports, or even SOPs you’ve shown to your new hire.

Structured templates can walk you through the whole process of reviewing employee responsibilities and duties; they do this by utilizing workflow management.

Make plans easier with automations

Another way to cut down wasted time is by automating your recurring tasks. In other words, cut out mundane, bureaucratic tasks so that you’ve got more time to focus on the human aspect. In addition, you also get the bonus of reduced errors and reduced costs.

Related HR workflows

Have you used a 30-60-90 day plan in the past? Are you thinking about using one now? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

The 30-60-90 Day Plan: An Ultimate Guide to Improve New Employee Experience (+ Free Template)