First impressions can have a lasting impact. Your company’s employee onboarding process is your chance to make a good first impression with new employees. This process should be about making the new employee feel welcomed, valued and prepared to succeed in their new role. A recent report by the Society for Human Resource Management showed that 1 in 25 employees leave their new jobs because of bad onboarding experiences.
Poor onboarding can have many disastrous effects. It can set a new employee up for failure, inhibit workplace efficiency and change an employee’s outlook on your company. The result can be high cost and even higher turnover rates.
Here are seven ways to improve your onboarding process for employee success.
When employees are aware of a new staff member ahead of time, they can be prepared to assist them on their first day. This will go a long way to making the new employee feel welcomed.
Arrange a lunch meeting or after-work gathering for the new employee and their immediate team members within the first week. This will help break the ice and allow the employee to get to know their new colleagues in a relaxed environment. You don’t even need to leave the office for this step – employees can bring their lunch and gather in a conference room. Take the time to learn a little bit about your new employee outside of the interview process. When an employee feels valued by their team on both a personal and professional level, they are more likely to stick around for the long haul.
Assigning a mentor from the employee’s department can also help them acclimate to their job by giving them a person who is ready to answer their questions and walk them through some of their assignments.
Successful onboarding processes reflect the time and effort put into them. Take the time to be thoughtful and do your homework. The first few weeks are the most influential to a new hire’s outlook on your company - positive or negative - and sets the tone for their relationship with your business in the long-term.
Remote work means a bigger talent pool. Here’s how to find and keep the people you want. Discover best practices in our eGuide, An SMB’s Guide to Recruiting and Onboarding in a Virtual World.
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