First impressions do leave a lasting impact. The first day experience of the new hire at the workplace establishes their perception of the organization and company culture. Making a good first impression can improve new hire engagement, retention, and productivity. Employee onboarding is the most important step companies take to set up new hires for success. The company’s employee onboarding process is the ideal time to make a good impression with your new hires.
Organizations often spend a lot of time and effort in finding the right candidate. However, what companies do from then on, is sometimes a sketchy picture. While the new hire is rather excited to join the organization, companies often don’t show the same excitement they did while making the offer. Research by Harvard Business Review says that nearly a quarter of new hires are already scanning new opportunities less than half a year into the organization. And if your company has more millennials in it, that number is going to much more.
Here are few strategies to ensure you have your new hire engaged and motivated from day one.
- Inform the team about the new hire
Inform all the team members in advance, via email or personally, briefing them about the new employee’s role, a snippet about their skill set, background, and experience, also what they’ll be assigned at the workplace and let other resources welcome them. When team members are informed of a new hire’s arrival, they can be in a better position to help, guide the new hire. This will help the new hire acclimatize faster to the new work culture.
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Make the new hire feel special
Send a customized and personal e-mail to welcome the new hire. Give them a welcome gift. Send a token of appreciation for the new hire, maybe a bunch of flowers to greet them. This will make them feel valued and is a big plus for the organization. Arrange a team outing for lunch for the new employee and their concerned team members. This will help break the ice and allow the employee to get to know their new co-workers in a stress-free environment.
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Get the paperwork out of the way
Avoid excessive paperwork during onboarding. This can be monotonous, redundant, and outright boring for the new hire. 90% of paperwork can be finished prior to joining using onboarding solutions. Fully electronic onboarding provides smart & custom e-forms with electronic signatures and reduces paper works. Go paperless and automate all your tasks and paperwork. Form I-9, E-Verify, W-4 are filled electronically by the new hires and signed using digital signature further simplifying and streamlining the onboarding process. Form I-9 is audited electronically. Give way to a smarter set of processes for the HR and new hire saving both time and cost.
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Give the new hire much needed information on day one
Provide necessary information on the schedule for their first day. Share details of the contact person. Provide details including the “when, where, and how” of reporting to work. This could include even the office dress code, parking instructions, new hire residence arrangements, and other unofficial norms at works.
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Establish social connect
Create a social networking group and invite your new hire to join the online social community of new hires helps them to know what to expect at the workplace and helps in solving complex problems or contingencies that may arise at the workplace. They can ask questions, seek counsel, and get advice whenever required. They can get tips from other employees who went through a similar experience to theirs and learn how they overcame their challenges.
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Assign a mentor
Assigning a mentor is an effective step in the onboarding process. A mentoring relationship can help a new hire clear doubts, have clarity on job functions, and be better prepared for their new role. Mentors can give an overview of an organization’s goals and help guide a nervous new hire to be better equipped to excel in the new job and overcome bottlenecks that may arise.
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Provide job-specific training
Implementing training programs according to the new hire’s role is a wise step. The new hires are not overwhelmed with information overload and unnecessary data but know what skill sets to focus on. Role-based training helps the new hire’s fine tune their skills to attain the necessary competencies to be productive in their new assignment.
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Prepare the new hire workstation
Prepare the new hire’s work station, automate resource allocation to employees based on specific roles, position, department, location and giving essential instructions. Based on their role, new hires receive the necessary resources, credentials, rights and access codes such as access to employee portal or technology solutions.
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Have an extended onboarding program
Customize a new hire onboarding program that offers information in small doses. Prevent information overload on day one, spread out the onboarding programs, avoid fitting in too many sessions on a single day. Don’t let the initial few days be stressful and burdensome. Start the onboarding process on a relaxed note and ease the new hire into the system. Before implementing specific training programs, take heed to check whether they are ready for it.
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Impart vision for the future
It’s wise to offer new hires clarity into career growth opportunities in the company set up. The focus should be on acquiring the skill sets and competencies needed to achieve the growth envisioned. Motivate new hires to invest in their own career development. Show them what their career looks like at the company. Give new hires opportunities for growth in the form of rotational assignment and cross-training programs.
