It is hard to recruit good employees, and it can be even harder to retain them. However, there are things your organization can do to help, and many of these things revolve around successful ONBOARDING! Onboarding is the process of integrating new employees into an organization. The more successful your onboarding process, the more success you’re likely to have retaining employees.
Whether you have an in-depth and developed onboarding program or need to create a more complete process, it is always good to consider the following:
- Is the person in charge of your orientation positive? Does he or she represent your culture the way you want your culture represented? If someone’s first day on the job means sitting across from someone who isn’t happy, what are the chances that attitude will rub off on the new employee? If you want a new employee who is excited to come to work each day and wants to be a part of your team, make sure the first person they are working with exudes that attitude.
- Onboarding is not just about mandatory training for regulations and job competency but also about training to meet your organization’s culture. This helps set the tone for employees’ workdays and expectations that go beyond the basics. If you don’t find ways from the very beginning to plunge new hires into your culture, they will also lose out on what could connect them to your organization. And missing this connection makes it easier for them to leave. It’s easy to leave something you’re not connected to.
- Have a checklist. Include everything needed to make sure the new employee knows everything they need to know and can be successful from the very beginning. This helps keep onboarding focused, organized, complete and efficient.
- Realize that everyone processes information differently, and everyone has different strengths. Make sure you ask questions about what each new team member needs and what they could use more information on. And create an environment where employees feel encouraged to ask questions whenever they need to, long after onboarding and straight through into retirement.
- Make sure that your entire organization is aware of, prepared for and excited about each new team member from day one. Do you have a welcome kit? Do you have basics like email account, desk space and name tags ready to go? Will employees know that new people are starting so they’re ready to welcome them? Preparation and awareness show that you care and are excited to have them join your team.
- Consider things you should inform new team members about before they even come to work their first day. Where should they park? Where should they go? Who should they ask for? What about lunch? Should they bring their own lunch starting the first day if they’d like to or do you have something lined up for them? Think about all the questions they might have from the time they roll out of bed that first morning to the time they pull into your parking lot until it’s time for them to call it a day. Put yourself in their shoes so you can help them get off on the right foot and have the best first day possible! This best first day will then have a great chance of turning into a wonderful, long-term employment.
