Quality new employees can leave an organisation within the first few months if an organisation doesn’t have a structured onboarding process. Other new hires may fail to live up to expectations or cause you problems for the same reason.
Like any new relationship, the first few months can be ‘make or break time!
Can you afford to have it go wrong when you’ve just invested so much in hiring them?
Why would your brand new hire decide to leave, or turn out to be useless or, worse still, make things worse than they were before they joined you?
You can reduce your risk of having new staff walking out or causing you trouble with an effective onboarding process.
Onboarding is not something to be left until the day your new recruit starts work.
Get the early steps right or you may find you’re the only one showing up on their first day.
Before you recruit…
This is the reference point for all employees. You don’t need to make it too detailed or heavy. What’s most important is to let people know about what you do, why and with whom.
Describe the company culture, including what it takes to be successful in your organisation. This guide will also help you during the recruitment process to articulate why candidates would want to work for you.
If you don’t know what this job is about, how can you give candidates an accurate picture of what the work entails and the expected outcomes?
This onboarding step is essential for everyone.
Don’t fall into the trap of believing a good recruit will work it out for themselves, bringing their skills and experience to bear. A few stars may do this, but the majority prefer to know what they might be committing to before they start.
During recruitment…
Paint an accurate picture of your organisation, its purpose and values, the role and your expectations. If you’ve completed steps one and two, this will be easy. If not, it’s not too late.
Just make sure you avoid the temptation to ‘talk up’ the job and organisation to attract an outstanding candidate. Down that path lies disappointment for both parties.
Selecting a person for a role who doesn’t fit your culture may work in the short run, but sooner or later you will find yourself recruiting again.
No matter how skilled or experienced the candidate, if their values, attitudes and personality don’t align with those of your organisation, you are sabotaging this important new working relationship before it starts.
Hiring the wrong person is expensive and disruptive.
Once they start…
Introduce your new hire as early as possible to their coworkers and key stakeholders, including customers. Promote their skills and why you’ve hired them. From the outset, treat them as a valued member of your team.
Listen to what they have to say and show you value their opinions. Ensure you immediately include them in all relevant communication and social events.
Starting a new job can be quite daunting. Make the transition easier for your latest staff member by making sure of the following:
Set up a schedule before they start that includes adequate time for goal-setting, work hand-over, training, and reviewing progress and performance.
Include the names of people responsible for each step, and share the schedule with your new employee. This way, you will show you’ve thought of all the steps above and start on a positive note
Most importantly, set aside time to spend with them — not just on their first day but on a regular basis. You might be surprised how much you will learn from them!
There are many reasons employees leave a job, but poor onboarding shouldn’t be one of them. The same applies to poor performance or unacceptable workplace behaviour.
For a structured onboarding process aligned to your needs, we recommend using The H Factor. We can show you how it might work to meet your unique requirements.
This article was originally published on MYOB’s blog, The Pulse. For more business news and tips, visit www.myob.com/blog.
Susan Rochester has been managing director of Balance at Work since 2006. Susan has a natural tendency to balance analytical thinking with an optimistic outlook to set direction and solve problems. She is an effective facilitator and constantly creates new and more effective ways of doing things, motivated by helping others to achieve their goals.