With the news that employers cut 533,000 jobs in November—the biggest monthly job reduction in 34 years—the idea of onboarding new employees seems fairly disconnected. (Is anyone even still hiring?) But several sectors did see jobs growth: government, education, and health care, according to an MSNBC.com analysis.

So for those who are still hiring in these bleak times, how can they bring employees into the fold more quickly and efficiently in order to get them producing results more rapidly?

In his article “How the Best Onboarding Programs Work” from ere.net, author Kevin Wheeler describes several common characteristics found in the best onboarding programs out there.

1) They are fun, are not overly formal, and engage employees.
2) They extend over several months.
3) They get the manager to be part of the onboarding process.
4) They offer coaching and mentoring to new employees right from the start.

In my opinion, mentoring may be the most necessary item in Wheeler’s list. With mentoring, you get the new employees interacting with existing employees in the organization right away, you get them learning more quickly about how the business runs and what is vital for your organization’s survival, and you get the new employees committed to your success because they feel you invested in them—even when things were down.

To make sure mentoring does not lose support in tough economic times, which can impact onboarding and other programs, tie the program to organizational goals and make it an integral part of the organization’s vision. Triple Creek Associates published a paper on their Mentoring Ecology Model™ that shows how to find ways to embed mentoring into organizations. They also published papers on key steps for success with mentoring. All of these papers can be found for free at http://www.3creek.com/resources/booklets.htm.

It seems like now is not the time where any of us want to feel alone and isolated. Now is the time when we want to feel connections with people and like we’re making a difference out there. We want to prove ourselves and show our worth. Mentoring can help make this happen.