The Daily Commute ... in an ExecuWorld
Positive Onboarding
If you want to retain your new employee, THEN...
Create a Positive Onboarding Experience!
Make sure your process is STRONG
Your hiring process was long and tedious. You are thankful it is over. You are confident you hired the right person. It is time to get back to “Business As Usual”.
STOP – Not so fast. Did you remember to create a Positive Onboarding Experience for your new employee from the moment he or she walks through the front door?
Pretend you are the new employee. It is like that last big purchase you made …… perhaps for a car, or a kitchen remodel, or new landscaping. Remember that feeling you get after a big decision? Not the good feeling - the other one, buyer’s remorse. Did you make the right decision? How many times have you told yourself not to worry, because you can just cancel it or take it back?
Well, your new employee is thinking the same thing, “did I make the right choice? Is this really the right job for me? What if I can’t do the job? What if my colleagues do not like me?”
Still pretending you are the new employee? Did you hit every red light on your way to work? Did you make a wrong turn? Was there someone to welcome you when you got to the office? Do you know where you are sitting?
A Positive Onboarding Experience can make the difference between an employee “hitting the ground running” and “buyer’s remorse." So how are you going to create one?
You do not want to start over do you?
Onboarding is a relatively stable concept in the executive recruiting industry, but has only recently been gaining ground in human resources circles. Your company more than likely has a new-hire process (onboarding process). It may be formal or it may be informal......... But, is it personal?......... Do your new employees feel like you took the time to care about them, or are they just another new-hire being walked around the office and shown the bathrooms and break area?
Create a Positive Onboarding Experience (POE)
POE Basic Techniques – the little things cost almost nothing
- Does the new employee have an established work area?
- Clean and free of the previous employee’s leftovers?
- Their own phone extension and email address (tested for accuracy)
- New supplies such as pens, pencils, paperclips, staples, highlighters, etc.
Do other employees know who the new employee is?
- Name plate
- Copy of company directory
- Phone extension in the company directory
- Company organization chart
- Business Cards (huge POE)
POE Intermediate Techniques – A Little Extra Thought Goes a Long Way
- Appoint an Office Guide – This is simply someone you feel will welcome the new employee and show them around; answer questions; make the appropriate introductions as well as be available for other inevitable “first day” questions.
- Make sure there are a few dollars set aside for the office guide to take the new employee out to lunch the first day.
- Have something on their desk with a company logo such as note pad, pen, calendar, etc. (Logos, like business cards, send a powerful message on the first day).
- Have an HR rep stop by with any paperwork they did not fill out before arriving at work.
- Schedule a 30 day review – This is simply to let the new employee know if he or she is on track. Regardless of how they think they are doing, they do not know for sure unless you tell them. They will welcome this type of input and will not be expecting any form of compensation in return for a good report. (This is worth advertising in the interview process as well).
- Send out an office announcement introducing the new employee before they get there. Be sure to tell your staff and others what the new employee will be doing and to whom they will be reporting.
POE Advanced Techniques – with just a little more effort you can create a truly Positive Onboarding Experience
- Take the time to have the hiring manager or perhaps even that individual’s supervisor write a personal welcome letter complete with a little company history and genuine appreciation for accepting a position with your company.
- Have the new employee meet some of their new colleagues at a get together either before they begin or shortly thereafter.
- Have an executive personally take the time to call the new employee before starting or stop by their desk on the first day of hire.
- Have the new supervisor take them out to lunch the first week at the company (It will leave a bigger impression if this is done on a day other than the first day).
- Plan a special “something” that demonstrates the culture of the department within the first 30 days.
- If there is an appropriate public announcement to make, then make it. This will go a long way to stopping any counter offer from the former employer.
A Positive Onboarding Experience is just that. You will be surprised what it will do for retention. Make it special; make it genuine; make it personal. Make a Positive Onboarding Experience a part of every new hire.
