Your company’s investment into a new hire can be measured by man hours, money, and time spent away from other tasks. But your commitment can’t stop at the job offer. The way you integrate new hires can be just as important as the recruiting process. A retention consultant suggests that replacing a newly hired employee can cost a business between 100 and 300 percent of their annual salary. The emotional costs may not be as easily calculable, but they are equally as impactful on flow and productivity.
According to a recent Gallup poll, almost half of workers are open to leaving their organization. The most common reasons cited fell under the categories of Engagement and Culture and Wellbeing and Work/Life Balance. Drilling down further into the list of reasons we can find some that might apply to new hires:
- Unrealistic job expectations
- The job was different than expected
- Not treated with respect
- Workplace culture
- Coworkers
- Insufficient training
- Relocation
- Physical working conditions
Here are some strategies to help get out ahead of some of the struggles new hires may face. A focus on employee retention is mutually beneficial to the company and the new members of your team.
Start Onboarding Immediately
During the hiring process, quick response times and open communication are vital to attract quality talent. It remains vital to maintain that level of attention to a new hire during the period before they start work and into their first days or weeks. Consider employing a variety of methods to introduce someone to your company and help them integrate, such as:
- Pre-recorded video content or printed materials about company values and culture
- Delivery of a welcome email and/or a package of company-branded items, office supplies, or a personal note
- Quick turnaround on technology and office equipment requisition, especially if the employee is remote
- Introductory meetings or video calls with immediate supervisors and HR
- Assignment of a work buddy or mentor who can answer questions and help the new employee feel welcome
- A plan or schedule of clearly defined benchmarks that will be part of their initial training period
Set Realistic Expectations as You Integrate New Hires
The hiring process is a time to sell the company to the candidate who’s selling themselves. Once someone is hired, the best way to welcome that new employee is through an organized onboarding process. This gives the employee, HR, and supervisors a chance to provide important details about job responsibilities and employee benefits.
After the blur of interviews and first-day jitters, it can be especially helpful to provide written documentation of everyday tasks, typical required work hours,\expected response times to emails, or how the company handles deadlines. Explaining the finer points of the employee’s new job can help clear up confusion before it leads to mistakes or frustration, helping to support your goal to integrate new hires more efficiently.
It’s just as important to shine a light on included benefits like vacation time, sick leave, holidays, retirement contributions, and health insurance. Show employees perks like coffee, snacks, or wellness initiatives. Giving equal time to available perks creates a culture of trust and acknowledges that a new employee’s health and contentment is valuable. These benefits are just as much a part of employment as work, and people want to feel like they are welcome to access any those perks.
Encourage Feedback
New hires take in information from a firehose in the first days and weeks of employment. They probably have more questions than answers at first, but seeking feedback about their onboarding experience can foster an environment of trust right away. Make sure new employees know the best people and methods for feedback. Should they go straight to HR? Will someone set up a meeting at a pre-planned time in the future? Is their immediate supervisor most open to an email or an in-person discussion? Does your company provide a survey or specific questions they’d like to have answered?
Showing you’re open to feedback right away indicates that this can be an open dialogue into the future. It says no matter how long a person has been with the company, speaking up is valuable. Wherever possible, responding to suggestions or ideas goes a long way in helping someone feel like a part of the team. Think of it this way: Bringing new talent can inject new ideas into daily tasks. There’s a learning curve for all new employees but it’s worth your time to encourage fresh insights.
Set New Hires Up for Success
If projects are languishing in a to-do pile, it might seem logical that the new person should take on the backlog of work. The new employee might feel eager to prove themselves and accept any work offered to them, even if they don’t understand what’s really involved. But evidence suggests otherwise.
“The manager’s job is to instead keep new hires focused on the essential work they should prioritize and by pointing them to ways they’ll make rapid progress on these goals.”
To integrate a new hire effectively, consider the following ideas as you consider the new employee’s first tasks:
- Assign work that aligns with their skillset
- Find tasks that have a clear start and end point
- Pair them up with a mentor or smaller team so they don’t feel like they’re the odd man out in an established project group
- Be intentional about offering praise, gratitude, and feedback
- Create opportunities for frequent check-ins that aren’t specifically about deadlines
- Be patient with early mistakes and offer gentle correction
Bringing new hires to an overburdened company can be a tremendous relief, but your investment into their success goes beyond the job offer. The onboarding tools in ApplicantStack let you turn candidates into new hires without all the extra manual data entry. Plus, you have a central location for the tax and company forms required and a detailed, consistent plan for onboarding. Take advantage of the onboarding solution and integrate your new hires to become crucial members of the team.
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