For decades, the power was in the hands of the employer.
New employees were given a short amount of time to get their paperwork done and to hit their new positions running. During COVID and shortly after, the scales shifted to the employees, and companies had to raise their game to compete. No longer could you grab a new hire and toss them to the wolves. New employees wouldn’t stand for it. They’d either move back to their former position, find a new one, or start their own thing.
That forced most companies to tighten up how they onboarded their newest team members, and the smart organizations made some significant adjustments. (Plenty has been written about sending personal notes and welcome kits to soon-to-start employees.) Many companies have done the work to improve their new hires’ first days and weeks—even their first few months.
A Way4Your Company to Improve
While the pendulum may have swung back to the employer as the job market teeters yet again, there are some best practices and improvements most companies and organizations can apply to help employees feel more connected and get off to work in a sharper and faster way.
Gather your leadership this month (or next) and take a close look at how you onboard new people to your organization. Getting fresh eyes on a process that warrants a review at least once a year is a wise move. Break it down into easy-to-evaluate stages:
• Before they start: What are you doing to make sure they arrive ready in their first few days?
• On day one: Make sure someone takes them to lunch, their computers are ready, and there are some appointments on their schedule, so they aren’t staring at a blank calendar with no idea of what to expect.
• The first week: Assign a partner, helper, or mentor, and get their key meetings scheduled for them.
• At 30 and 90 days: Schedule and systematize a follow-up and check-in, then ensure the new employee has access to meet—again—with the people they were introduced to in their first week or so.
Following these steps won’t guarantee everyone who starts has a wonderful long-term employment with you, but building this path and focusing your leadership’s energy here will give you a much better shot at it. The onboarding process is never complete. Build the system and combine your talents to improve it as you evolve and see what your new employees are experiencing.
Do it now—before you even post the next job opening.
This topic and many more are covered in my new book.
To order – Turning Tables: Everything I Needed to Know about Business I Learned as a Server visit here (I’ll happily autograph any copies you purchase if we can find a way to connect in person.)