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Employee Onboarding: The Predecessor to Better Performance

By iRevü Employee Engagement

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It’s easy to assume that having a stellar employee onboarding process will keep your new hires productive and satisfied. In fact, a recent Urbanbound study revealed that organizations with a standard onboarding process experience 50% greater retention rates. There’s no doubt that the employee onboarding process is critical to a new employee’s productivity, longevity and performance milestones. However, companies still lose 25% of new employees every year; 16% occurring within an employee’s first week! With each generation comes new expectations, motivations, and reasons to keep on keepin’ on. For that reason, employers should strive to go beyond the onboarding process to champion performance. But just how do you do that?

Like a Boy Scout… Be Prepared

leadership printable blog CTAJust as employers want prepared employees, employees deserve an employer that is prepared for their big day. Failing to have the new hire’s desk set up or worse, acting disinterested that it is their first day, might make them feel unappreciated. Even if the office atmosphere tends to be laid-back, it pays to be ready for a new hire’s arrival. A BambooHR study on employee onboarding revealed that 59% of new hires desire a company tour and equipment setup in the first week. Prepare the new hire’s workspace ahead of time so they feel welcome and have their own workspace. The sooner they feel comfortable, the sooner they can contribute to the job.

59% of new hires desire a company tour. Read more: Click To Tweet

Other ways to make a new employee’s day: 1)    If your company uses social media, make them the subject of an Instagram post! 2)    Send them a “getting to know you survey” in Google Forms 3)    Create a cheat sheet with their teams likes, dislikes and quirks

Welcome Them With Open Arms

It’s important to make new hires feel welcome and this can be achieved by involving the entire team. Now more than ever, teamwork is essential to individual growth and employee morale. 86% of employees and executives attribute lack of collaboration or ineffective communication to workplace failures. Though welcoming someone should feel like an effortless human interaction, there should be strategy involved in the process. Prepare a welcome strategy by getting feedback and suggestions from current employees about their first days on the job. When the time comes, make all team members a part of the welcoming process so the new hire can become acquainted and feel important. From creating a simple onboarding checklist to arranging a new hire potluck, you can create a welcoming and productive atmosphere.

86% of employees and executives attribute lack of collaboration to workplace failures. Click To Tweet

Give Them a Mentor

Getting used to the simple processes involved with a new job can be overwhelming. There can be things that fall through the cracks simply because a new hire might not be comfortable asking for help. In fact, 56% of new hires want a buddy or mentor in their first week of work. While all members should be encouraged to do their part, it is wise to assign new hires with mentors who can show them the ropes, take them to lunch, and offer advice until they are comfortable on their own. Their immediate supervisor should not be their mentor. Find someone they can relate to and learn the ropes from. [easy-tweet tweet=”56% of new hires want a buddy or mentor upon onboarding. “]

Ask for Feedback

It’s important to establish good lines of communication early on with new hires. Doing so gives managers the chance to start building a relationship with their new employee. Asking employees for feedback should happen on the first day and in the subsequent week about things that concern them. This is a good way to track employee performance, as well as give managers meaningful real-time feedback they can use to make improvements. A tool like iRevü allows you to automate this process so you get timely, focused feedback at regular intervals. Having a successful employee onboarding process is only the start to introducing new hires to the company. If managers want to keep their new hires around, steps should be taken that go beyond onboarding. They are humans you know! Welcome them, guide them, and connect with them so there is a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship in the works.

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Posted By iRevü

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