Once you’ve gone through the interviewing process and chosen your candidate for the position, you’ve got to move on to the next step: onboarding. The more carefully you cultivate this process, the more successful the candidate’s transition will be – and it goes beyond the necessary initial paperwork. Employees can do it themselves, learning as they go, but you’ll help make it a smoother acclimation if you have a system in place. This can help to avoid the usual turnover rate, which can get as high as 50 percent of senior employees within the first 18 months of employment. So how do you manage it?
- Make expectations clear. Don’t make new employees guess at your company’s protocols or, even more importantly, your expectations. Avoid the new hire feeling confused or mislead about job duties previously explained – don’t change things up once they’re hired. This way a new employee can also become part of the team more readily. If possible, allow time before the start date for them to look over paperwork and ask questions.
- Give them a good first day. No matter how old you are, the first day at a new place brings feelings of excitement and a little fear of the unknown. Remember that as you onboard employees, and give them a chance to get the lay of the land and meet the people they’ll be working with. Make sure they have a place to sit and perhaps even a mentor or a co-worker to show them around and tell them who to go to with questions. Making sure new employees feel comfortable in their new surroundings and having a good first day goes a long way toward setting up a good routine for the days that follow.
- Onboarding is about more than work. Many employers and employees agree that company culture has a lot to do with a successful work environment. As you onboard a new employee, teach him about what the company values, as well as its policies and goals. This is where HR and/or a mentor come into play. Allow for small talk with fellow employees and make it clear who they should go to with questions about workplace life or policies. Get them involved in the non-work aspects of life with the company, and let them help on projects – all of this will make them feel like part of the team.
The importance of onboarding cannot be underemphasized. Making the transition for a new employee as smooth as possible allows them to quickly become a valuable hire. Reach out to the staffing experts at PrideStaff Thousand Oaks for more hiring and onboarding strategies.
