After sourcing, recruiting, interviewing and selecting the best candidate for the open position on your team, you’re now getting ready for a brand new hire to come aboard. Yay! And, of course, you want to make sure everything is all ready to go. After all, up to 20% of employee turnover happens in the first 45 days. So how do you ensure your new hire is getting what they need and will hopefully stick around?
We’ve got 5 answers for you:
1. Ease the first-day worries
The first-day jitters are, no doubt, overwhelming for any new hire. Wondering all the way up until Day 1 what the culture will be like, who’s on the team, what their supervisor’s personality is, the list goes on. These are the kind of things that take over a new hire’s thoughts until they walk in the door on that first day (and even a little after).
How can you ease these worries? Take the opportunity to reach out to your new employee before the first day with a welcoming email or phone call letting them know what’s planned for day one, what they should bring, if anything, and letting them know you’re glad to have him or her aboard! This may not rid all of the first-day jitters completely, but it will most certainly shake away some of the anxiety.
Read how to make a new hire’s first day their best day.
2. Explain the office dynamics
Every office has those unwritten rules and little bits of information that team members just “know” about one another. Having to pick up on these as a new hire is confusing and nerve-wracking as many may fear they might commit an office faux pas or ask the wrong person the wrong question.
Take the time to compile a list of unwritten rules, such as the courtesy posts you all leave in the internal communication system to let others know you’ve left for lunch. Make sure to CC the person in the office who has the best advice for different situations and the new hire will have a list of resources to refer to when they are on their own.
3. Initiate mentor & mentee programs
Starting a mentorship program during onboarding can help your new hire get up to speed and quickly progressing to proficiency. One mentorship program found that mentees had a 23% higher retention rate than those who didn’t participate.
Try learning a little about your new hire with a quick questionnaire before their first day to get an idea of who in the office they might mesh with the best to select the perfect mentor!
4. Break the ice
No matter who you are, getting acclimated with a new team can be slightly uncomfortable to downright nerve-shattering. As your new hire gets situated during the day, encourage team members to come up and introduce themselves, let he/she know what they do on the team and how the new hire may be interacting with them throughout their tenure there.
When you get the entire team involved in welcoming your new employee, it will give the new hire a better sense of belonging right away.
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5. Clearly explain the importance of their work
Onboarding is over and your new hire is off to complete tasks on their own, but do they know what role those tasks play when it comes to the overall goals and objectives of the company? 72% of highly engaged employees understand their importance or role and how it contributes to organizational success. If it isn’t relatively clear (like a sales position) take the time during onboarding to ensure employees know that what they’re doing on a day-to-day basis adds to the team wins and truly adds value to the company.
Implementing these 5 steps into your onboarding program will not only make your new hires happy, but will pay off for you in the long run as organizations with a standard onboarding process experience 50% greater new hire retention.
