So, after a long, arduous process you found the perfect employee. The Offer Letter was sent, along with the 15 pages of legalese required by your Human Capital department or attorney. Even after the new employee’s eyes glossed over, the offer was accepted and returned. The first day is agreed upon and the onboarding orientation is scheduled. This is the best opportunity for businesses to ensure that a new employee will become an engaged employee.
Yet, many businesses drop the ball, and the new employee experiences buyer’s remorse. Let’s face it, employee orientation can be extremely boring. I once had a colleague tell me a story about a new employee taking a lunch break and not returning. After the fact, my colleague could laugh about it, but it wasn’t funny at the time.
In this time of workforce shortages, most companies can’t afford to have new employees leave shortly after starting. One way of preventing or minimizing new employee turnover is to change the orientation day and onboarding process.
Here are some tips to make your orientation day and onboarding process more successful:
1. Stop sending the legalese documents with the Offer Letter. They are designed to protect the business and do not create a welcoming message. Instead, they present the business as being rigid and bureaucratic. Another approach is to set aside a small amount of time to go over the documents in a group and explain the rationale for them, in a non-threatening way.
2. Return to in-person orientation days. Remote orientation does little to create enthusiasm and allow new employees to connect with others. Assign someone who is very organized and comfortable in front of groups to be the orientation facilitator. Give that person the authority to create an agenda that provides an interesting array of “must-have” topics combined with those that promote your values, philosophies, and practices.
3. Ensure that the CEO welcomes the group and makes a brief presentation on the company and its goals. This is a great way for the leadership to model the culture and highlight mutual expectations. If the CEO can’t do this, someone from upper management should.
4. Avoid bringing in subject matter experts who speak with a monotone voice and lack enthusiasm or humor. On the other extreme, avoid the enthusiastic subject matter expert who thinks their responsibility is the most important in the business and will go on vigorously while blowing up the day’s schedule.
5. On the first day, avoid requiring new employees to begin using a Learning Management System. New employees need an opportunity to ask questions, connect with others, learn about the company, and feel valued. Use videos to break up the day. However, make sure they are of high quality, current in their vernacular, and have some entertainment value.
6. Serve food on site. It’s another way of encouraging connections and conversation. If possible, have the new employee’s supervisor join lunch to begin the relationship.
7. Conduct a tour. Make sure new employees are introduced to people they will be working with and those who work in key departments (like Payroll and IT). Make sure that the tour guide is friendly, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic.
8. Assign a mentor. After the first day of orientation or when the new employee starts working in the department, it is important to connect the person with someone who can show them the ropes. This should be someone who is friendly, has a great attitude, is a strong performer, and enjoys people.
9. Check in often. Once new employees start performing their duties, be available for questions. Initiate conversations. Make sure they are getting the training they need on the software programs. Try to ensure that they aren’t eating lunch alone. Continue to make them feel valued.
10. Be inclusive. Many businesses have cliques that make it difficult for new employees to feel like they belong. Introduce them to employees that are welcoming of new people. Make sure new employees get personally invited to company events and after-hours activities.
Remember, at the end of that first day, you want your new employees to go home and be excited about joining your company and the people who work there. To achieve that, orientation and onboarding need to be thought out carefully and executed strategically. As new employees become more comfortable and you continue to support them, the likelihood of obtaining truly engaged employees increases dramatically.
Share your thoughts on practices that work when onboarding new employees.
Bob Brick is the COO of Excelerate, a leadership, career, and business advisory firm helping individuals and organizations thrive. For more information contact him at Robert (Bob) Brick | LinkedIn.