A good onboarding experience is vital to ensuring that a new hire stays beyond their first year.
Too many relationships have failed within the first 365 days post hire due to a bad first impression.
Let me first state that everyone is well-intentioned. It is not my thesis that a leader within an organization sets out to create a negative experience for a new employee.
The reality is that too many new hires are left with more questions than clarity after their onboarding/orientation period.
Despite the excitement communicated about the role during the interviews, chemistry, & position fit, none of that matters if the welcome committee is not in one accord, moving with purpose to create a clear, and pleasant experience for their newest hire.
When a new hire’s onboarding experience feels more like a “by the way” task or a checklist item, they may not physically quit in the moment, but they’ll remember how they felt. It will also speak volumes to them about the quality of the company.
“I wonder how they treat their tenured employees?”
Now, empathy dictates that those who are responsible for the onboarding activities (HR/Hiring Manager) are busy with equally important tasks that require their immediate and focused attention. Empathy dictates that people get sick, teams are understaffed, members are going through personal circumstances outside of work or are juggling too many tasks at once. These are realities that we all face.
Too things are important to winning the war for talent:
- A robust recruitment strategy
- The creation of a winning experience for new hires beyond just leaving swag on their desk
People want to feel prioritized. They want validation that everything they heard in the interview process is true. They want to be assured that they made the right decision by taking your offer and not a competing organization’s offer. They want to know that they are not walking into a dysfunctional environment with no clear direction.
Here are the priorities (by priority):
- HR and leadership need to be in sync with a detailed and executable plan for that new hires first day
- Everyone SHOULD be present. All of the relevant members of the team should be in the office to welcome their latest coworker.
- The reporting manager should welcome them at the front door with a quick introduction and walk-through of the office/facility (if that wasn’t done during the interview), followed by a breakdown of immediate tasks, and introductions to peers.
- Onboarding documents should ideally be completed ahead of time to eliminate first day administration. If this is not possible, then a dedicated time throughout the day should be scheduled for this activity with an appropriate HR leader.
- There should be periodic follow-up throughout the day and week to ensure everything is moving smoothly, with a conversation with your reporting manager at the end of each day.
- Company swag.
A supported and collective onboarding experience is a great way to strengthen retention. It also creates a referral funnel for people who that employee knows (word of mouth still exists).
Let’s stop dropping the ball – the experience still matters.