Increase New Hire Retention by Mobilizing their Social Circle
Within the first 6 months, 90% of new hires decide to stay or leave. Many factors influence this decision but as an employer you can directly influence your new employee’s onboarding experience and help them develop strong social ties.
Bonds with coworkers are powerful, from the friendship bonds that keep us sane when work gets crazy, to the professional bonds that allow us to navigate the organization to get and share information and make things happen. But new employees don’t have any social ties within the company yet, making it easy for competitors to swoop in and steal your hard-won talent.
There are a couple very simple steps you can take to help your new hires build these social bonds, and in turn, strengthen the tenuous, fledgling relationship they have with your organization.
4 Easy Steps
1. Send a welcome card and gift to their home
Once your new hire has accepted your offer, send a company-branded welcome-to-the-team gift box with a handwritten note. Include company swag and some candy.
Your new hire’s family is likely apprehensive about the job change. Small gestures like these demonstrate your commitment to the new employee and show how much you value them – which goes a long way to putting the family’s nerves at ease about the change.
2. Plan a team lunch
Organizing a team lunch is one of the easiest ways to make a new employee feel valued and engaged. The lunch allows your team to start to get to know the new hire as a colleague, not as an interviewee, and lets the new hire start to feel like a team member. There’s an intangible quality of breaking bread when forging relationships – don’t miss this opportunity!
3. Provide a mentor
Help new employees navigate the company landscape with a mentor. The mentor can provide insight into the informal organizational structure, career guidance, and emotional support.
This dedicated resource helps new hires feel more confident and get up to speed faster, improving the team’s productivity.
4. Create automated processes and templates
Establish an automated process with triggers for each step so busy hiring managers can easily help new employees mobilize their social circle, right from the start.
