22% of new hires leave a company within 45 days of being hired, according to Business.com. Given the fact that you might spend a good part of your time looking for hires to fit your job requirements, such a loss can be the detriment of your organization. It means that there is something wrong with your employee onboarding process.
Ideally, an employee ought to feel welcome to your organization from the onset. Incorporating surveys and stay interviews into your onboarding process can all play a pivotal role in determining the mood of a new employee. Sadly, most HR departments offer new employees binders filled with orientation information and expect this to be enough to introduce them to the organization.
Here is how to ensure employees feel like part of your business off the bat:
Start Immediately After Hiring Them
Employees should never feel that they are in the dark once they are officially hired. In case you have to wait until the first few days to contact them, then you have already failed in your onboarding process. Send new employees details concerning orientation and the group activities to expect in the first days of working with you prior to them showing up to work during the first day.
It also pays to make them know how happy you are to have a new member join your team. An employee who feels valued is poised for greatness, according to capi software. Not only will they be willing to stay, but such employees will be positive contributors to any surveys or future stay interviews you might want to host.
Make the First Day Smooth
The last thing any new employee expects is to spend the first day idling around. Plan every intricate detail of the day. Start by contacting all the teams and stakeholders you will expect the employee to be dealing with. These people should all be ready to receive a new member with open arms.
Also look into other assets such as offering them access to their own employee account and corporate email. Basically, the first day should feel fulfilling enough for them to look forward to the second day.
Pick the Right Mentor to Guide Them
Despite being knowledgeable in the task you assigned the new employee, everyone will need some assistance when they are new. They need a friendly face that they can turn to so as to ask questions as well as raise their concerns. A good mentor should commit fully towards the successful orientation of your new employee.
Since it might be tough to control the mentorship program for your whole organization, it is wise to delegate this duty to the different departments. However, not just any random mentor will be good enough for the onboarding process. Misleading mentors or those with ulterior motives will do more harm than good. Be prudent in picking the different mentors for your new employees.
Gauge Employee Engagement Often
The best way to be sure that you have an optimal onboarding process would be to measure its success rates. You need to know whether employees are excited to come to work during the next day. On the other hand, you need to identify their opinions on the job after both the first week and month. This is where surveys come into play.
Hold stay interviews with the employees after the first week to identify any loopholes. Additionally, make changes concerning their raised concerns to ensure they will be willing to contribute to future interviews. You should have a schedule for these surveys to build a feedback loop for continually improving your onboarding process.
Conclusion
New employees are assets that cost less to retain than to replace. As such, their happiness should be a priority to you. Consider refining the nitty-gritty details of your onboarding process for higher employee engagement and retention rates.
