You’ve worked hard to recruit, interview, and hire the right fit for a key position. Your job is done, right? Wrong! Too often new hires are thrown into the workplace with little or no company knowledge or resources to help them succeed. This is one of the main reasons as many as 42% of new hires leave their jobs within the first year.
Providing new hires with a positive, memorable experience during their first few months, and providing them with tools, knowledge and resources to help them succeed is essential to their engagement and retention. Here are some best practices for doing so.
Start the process when they accept the offer. There’s usually a time lapse between when they accept the offer and their start date. Time to change their mind. Send them a warm welcome letter and a small gift (something with your company logo on it) and follow up with a phone call. Include an agenda for the first day, and what to expect during their first week. Advise them about parking and any other logistics that will help them get started.
Be ready for them. Make sure their workspace and technology is set up and ready to go on the first day. First impressions do count. Put together a starter packet of supplies. Have a welcome sign on their desk.
Plan for a 30-90 onboarding process. Onboarding is more than just filling out forms and learning about the company. An Orientation class is just part of it. Onboarding is a structured process that helps the new hire understand their role and how it fits into the big picture; the company culture; how to navigate through the various company processes; what’s expected of them; who’s who, etc. Include check-in points along the way to gather feedback and an overall evaluation of the process at the end.
Get a head start on the paperwork. If appropriate, send some of the paperwork out to the employee ahead of time. If you send them benefits information, for example, they can begin the discussion with family members to accelerate the decision process. In the welcome letter, include the items they need to bring in with them, e.g., two forms of ID for the I-9 form.
Make it fun. Plan some activities during the onboarding period that will help new hires get to know other employees. Have a theme. Create a treasure hunt to help them learn about other departments or master the company intranet.
Involve others. Assign each new hire a “buddy” for the first 30 days to help orient them. In the new hire announcement ask all employees to be welcoming and helpful. Invite department managers or long term employees to speak at the Orientation class about their areas and/or their (positive) experience at the company.
Set some short term goals. The hiring manager should meet one-on-one with the new hire during their first few days to talk in detail about the role, the department, expectations, his or her leadership style, etc. Set a few specific short term goals at this point to provide focus and the opportunity for early success.
Need some help developing your onboarding process? Send me an email at connecttohr@yahoo.com
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