A Critical Activity After You’ve Hired the Perfect Employee –You Hope
I recently read an article[1] about things to do in an onboarding process and believe it has great value to our customers and partners. There were four tips to make your onboarding process more effective:
- Explain the big picture and set expectations.
- Get them involved straightaway.
- Provide them with all the information they need.
- Closely follow their progress and recognize their work.
The article points out that not many business owners realize that the first six months of hiring a new employee are pretty critical. According to the Aberdeen Group, 86% of new hires make their decision to leave or stay within that first six months. Out of those who choose to leave, 79% do so because of a lack of appreciation from their manager.
According to a survey by BambooHR, 91% of HR managers think their onboarding processes need to be improved. And guess what? 45% of these managers believe that their companies waste up to $10,000 per year on ineffective onboarding processes. This is from small companies. I imagine it is a lot more with larger firms without an effective onboarding process.
Those four tips are great, but I’d like to offer some modifications and suggest a few more, especially since the big reason for new hires leaving is lack of appreciation.
- Pairing the newly employed with a mentor to help navigate the new environment is key. The trick is to pair them with a mentor that has a teaching style best aligned with the new hire’s learning style. Pairing the two using similar behavioral styles is not the answer. How people learn is not necessarily synonymous with behavioral style. There are tools that can do a good job understanding a person’s learning style and what style is best to receive training. Uncovering learning style and compatible teaching style is not obvious and is helped along with available tools.
- The author’s second tip is to get them involved in a project right away. Great idea, but in our experience, it has been proven to first integrate them into the team. If assessments are used in the hiring process, then debrief the new hire with their report(s). This does not take much time and shows the new team member a caring approach. That’s valuable all by itself.
- Collaborate with the new team member’s manager. We use a collaboration tool that places behavioral style information side by side showing each individual’s strengths and communication proclivities with suggested adaptations to enhance understanding thus promoting effectiveness. This reinforces transparency, trust and appreciation. It also enhances happiness by mitigating the stress of entering a new position and culture. Promoting happiness is a huge enhancer of productivity.
Onboarding is critical, as the article states.
“According to a survey by BambooHR, 91 percent of HR managers think their onboarding processes need to be improved. And guess what? 45 percent of these managers believe that their companies waste up to $10,000 per year on ineffective onboarding processes.”
If that $10,000 was totally invested in tools, assessments and training, the payback is worth it. Depending on the organization a 1 -2% productivity increase would be significant, and it should be sustainable. There are very good tips in the article that will enhance your onboarding process. However, keep in mind the entire selection, hiring, onboarding process as well as team integration and development path can be greatly enhanced using sophisticated assessments and tools. A well-designed system will increase high-potential hires, enhance productivity, and employee happiness if properly deployed and supported by management.
[1] By Tommy Mello Sep 10, 2018