30% of new hires quit their job within the first six months!
We all know what it is like to be a new staff member. Whether in a big corporation or a quaint family practice, the feeling of unease is the same. As an employer, it is important to acknowledge this feeling and make provisions to help your new recruits settle in as quickly and easily as possible. Below are quick tips to onboard new staff effectively.
Get a head start!
Reach out to your new hires before their first day. Onboarding starts from the recruitment process right through the point when the employee is fully settled. Along this process your employer branding and culture would be experienced by the new hire. Handing them a load of paperwork on their first day isn’t really exciting. Get a head start by sending your new hire forms, policies, employee handbook etc before their start date. If you have a video on the company’s goals, vision, profile of top executive that would help enhance their experience.
Make the First Day Great!
A corporate orientation is essentially a meet and greet between fellow newbies and management to give the recruits an overview of the company, its culture and how each function/department operates. Carrying this out in a warm environment with refreshments and intermittent breaks allows individuals to feel more at ease and have a sense of belonging. With all the relevant people in the same room, it makes it easier for questions to be answered and in addition, enables a sense of camaraderie. You could add an extra oomph to your first day orientation by personalising the process. Why not ask your new hire questions such as ‘how do you like to be managed? ‘what role do you tend to play in teams?’ etc.
Don’t Rush It!
Onboard your new hires slowly and carefully, ensuring all bases are covered. It takes new hires averagely 8 month to learn and effectively contribute to the team.
Informal Meetings
Create avenues for the new hire to meet their colleagues and team members to learn and exchange ideas. Informal meetings, such as lunch meeting, coffee meetings etc helps them to ask questions they would not ordinarily ask during formal sessions. You can also assign a ‘buddy’ who can guide the new hire in their first couple of weeks on the job.
Assign a Project
Working on and achieving results on a project helps the new hire to feel they are making an impact to the organisation.
Mentorship
Offer new hires a mentor! This gives them someone else they can turn to other than their boss. The mentor will mainly be advising and guiding rather than assessing their performance and this would help the new hire to open up with challenges they may be facing.
Executive Lunch Meetings
It is always great to hear about the company’s vision, mission and goals directly from a top executive. This is a great opportunity for the new hire to also meet top executives and gives them clarity on goals and expectations.
Source: The Balance Careers
