What do you do to make sure your new hires hit the ground running and are positioned for success?

One of the most effective ways that new hires get up to speed quickly AND learn the secret handshake is to assign them 2 Partner/Coaches. One Partner/Coach should be a peer within their department and the other should be from a department or function that they will need to interact and collaborate with on a regular basis to be successful. In this way they see two sides of the organization, they have associates they can turn to for help, and they see things from 2 different human perspectives.Cross functional collaboration is every bit as important as functional collaboration. The more you encourage it and structure it-collaboration-the better will be the organizational, functional, and individual results.

While I agree with Dan, I think that there needs to be a thorough "indoctrination" program that introduces the new hire to key people, procedures, and culture.

So often, this is overlooked, and the new person is left to flounder. Working on a few projects that test your various abilities is a positive activity, but it's rare for them to exclude all others. Notwithstanding its importance to the project, it's critical to the sense of belonging that the new hire be integrated into the company as soon as possible.

Take the time to introduce your company to your new recruit. Help him/her to get off to the best possible start.

Great question Charlie. This phase of recruiting and hiring is often overlooked. The so called "on-boarding" process needs to be just that, a formal process with sign off's by key managers, senior individual contributors and executives.

We recommend looking at each hire and customizing a plan for meeting all the key individuals the new hire will have to build relationships with. This is where the typical "one size fits all" approach will not work. Each employee will need different touch points within the organization and will need personal introductions to the key individuals. The plan should be crafted by the hiring manager and HR.

Brian's point about having 2 Partners/Coaches is right on the money. New employees need help not only meeting the right people but in understanding the cultural and political landscape of the organization.

The hiring manager should review the plan and confirm the sign off's with the new employee within 90 days of the hire date.

Hmm. I think step one is to hire appropriately. The better the job you do of thinking about the whole job and whole person and hiring for that the more likely a smooth transition.
Another important period is post offer, pre start. If you have a social media presence, intranet, etc integrate them before they start.
I am a big fan of mentor/sponsor/buddy. Someone to guide their integration who is not their boss.
As others have indicated don't wait till day one to identify their initial project. Give them something that provides both context and can get some short term traction.
Check in often at the end of the first day, first week and weekly for the first 30 to sixty days. People need to feel the "love".

1- Orientation no more than 2-3 hours; all paperwork done on-line before orientation day, orientation consist of a company executive coming in and greeting them and talking with them about the company (town hall meeting style), a couple of pertinent videos about the company, their manager comes to meet and greet and take them back to work area where a buddy is assigned for the first week
2- Within the first week, the manager sits with new employee to exchange expectations for the next 90 days, 6 months, 1 year and start a professional development plan that first week. This shows we care and want you here. When this is not done...

It has been found that employees with no socialization or professional development plan within the first week lose engagement by more than 50% within the first 8 weeks.

Set them up with a 60-90-day acclimation plan so they know exactly what to focus on in those first 2-3 months on the job. This plan should include things such as meeting with key stakeholders and team members, actions they can take to get to know the culture and structure of the organization and the top 2-3 projects where they need to start to focus their efforts. As their manager, you need to specify who the key stakeholders and team members are (because they won't know). As well, specify the specific activities and tasks they should be doing to learn about the culture and structure of the organization. This is a great way for them to quickly get acclimated to the organization and learn who their key stakeholders are as well as what their new priority projects will be.