Imagine starting your first day of work at a new company. C’mon, you’ve all done it — walk down memory lane with me here. You didn’t sleep well because you wanted to make sure you didn’t miss your alarm; you picked out the perfect outfit that highlighted your smarts and good fashion sense; you arrived a little early and you couldn’t wait to meet your coworkers, get your desk set up and start on your new adventure. You were pumped.
When you arrived, nobody greeted you. The first person to notice that you looked lost showed you the way to the conference room. Your manager stopped by to let you know she was running a few minutes late from another meeting and you should make yourself at home and she’d be with you right away. And she’s “so sorry.” Meanwhile, nobody in the office introduced themselves and you didn’t know if that was because they were all total jerks or they had no idea who you were and what you were doing there.
When you did get time with your boss, she told you that IT was getting your computer ready but there were a few password/login issues, HR was getting your paperwork together but the person who usually does that was out sick and don’t worry, they’re not usually so unprepared.
The fact is: they ARE always this unprepared. Many companies are. And the road to hell (in this case, your first day of employment) is paved with good intentions. You only get one chance to make a first impression. The difference between a new employee who feels valued, appreciated, seen and welcomed versus the one who feels like he just walked out of a tornado is directly related to culture and retention.
According to Brandon Hall Group, a strong onboarding process improves new hire retention by 82% and productivity by more than 70%. Gallup found that only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organization does a great job of onboarding.
Onboarding is fostering social connection, igniting passion for the culture and the mission, educating new employees about how they can contribute to the organization, ensuring that expectations are clear and building a foundation from which your new employees can not only grow, but flourish.
Not every small business has a Human Resources department, and many throw the HR hat onto someone who already has 10 jobs but can probably manage getting an I-9 into a folder and a direct deposit form filled out before the payroll deadline. For many organizations, “onboarding” feels like a thing for bigger companies or companies with more staff or “other” companies. Onboarding is for everyone who hires people. It is especially critical for those companies who want to attract and retain top talent. Trust me that you’ll be an anomaly if you can keep the cream of the crop despite onboarding poorly. In fact, if you’ve done that, please message me and share your secret sauce — we can probably team up on a bestselling book.
Onboarding doesn’t have to be a huge project and it should always be a work in progress. Whether you have a formal program or not, there are some simple things that you can do to make the process rewarding, meaningful and impactful without hiring an HR department:
- Never start a new hire on a Monday (or the first day of a shift’s work week). That’s what I said. If you can look me in the eye and tell me that Monday morning at 8 a.m. is the single best time of the week for you to be completely disconnected from email, meetings and other business emergencies, I’ll tell you you’re retired. Who in the world feels like starting a new employee on Monday morning is a good idea? It’s not and you know it’s not. So don’t do it. I cannot find a single manual that says we should do this, yet we do it over and over again and our entire week starts in the tailspin described earlier in this blog. Start new hires mid-week. First, it gives those involved with onboarding time to get their week started and planned so they can disconnect and give the new employee their undivided attention. Second, drinking from the newbie fire hose is hard work. My suggested new-hire schedule: Wednesday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.; Thursday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. I understand that there are a zillion factors that go into new hires and timing and shift work and all the things, but you get the drift of how I schedule week one of a new hire.
- Button up the basics. If a new employee shows up on day one and their computer isn’t set up (passwords and logins checked and important bookmarks set), business cards aren’t on the desk and a training itinerary isn’t waiting for them, you’re doing it wrong. Seriously. Nothing says “you aren’t that important” more than a company that knows a new employee is starting and doesn’t have time to make them feel valued and welcomed from day one. Want to be a superstar? Before a new hire’s first day, send a photo of the person and a few fun facts about them to everyone in your organization so that when your team sees the new person, they can say hi and have a common connection. Make it a part of your culture that nobody will ever look at a new person without warmly acknowledging them.
- Always have a gift basket. It doesn’t matter if you’re hiring a top-level manager or a newspaper delivery person, start a new hire’s first day with a personalized gift basket and a card signed by as many people on the team as possible. If the person is relocating from another area, fill the basket with local goodies that will introduce them to your community and add some company schwag. Looking for extra credit: contact your new hire’s former employer and get some great ideas about their favorite things and you can make a gift basket that screams “I care enough to do my homework.”
- Create opportunity for social engagement. People crave human connection – to be seen and heard and to belong. Make this easy for everyone involved. Every new hire should have a team lunch on their week one itinerary. The hiring manager doesn’t need to be there, but create an opportunity for your new employee to connect with others who they might share similar interests with; be sure to include team members from other departments so that your new person can make immediate connections beyond their home department. I worked with one leader who would put a small basket of candy or cookies on a new hire’s desk and encourage people to come by, grab a snack and introduce themselves. There are a million creative ideas (I have more if you want them). The idea isn’t the important part — executing the idea is.
- Put your best feet forward. Whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of pawning your new employees off on whomever you think has the most time to “train” them. Onboarding isn’t about checking off a skill sheet or making sure the new person has a babysitter. Onboarding is instilling the heart and soul of your company into your new recruit. This is the time to recruit everyone from your CEO to your top department superstars to invest in your new talent. Don’t worry, I know that everyone you ask to help will say “I don’t have time for that.” Remind them that they can’t afford not to spend the time. It’s one of the best investments they’ll ever make.
- Have a plan. A failure to plan is a plan to fail. For every new hire, have an onboarding agenda and itinerary waiting for them. This will keep you on track and them prepared for what’s to come. While research shows that a planned agenda is fun for new hires, my gut tells me that doing this ahead of time makes the hiring manager accountable, too.
By now you know that I have deep passion about all the things onboarding. It matters. A lot. Stay tuned for tips and tricks for pre-boarding and orientation. Yep, those are also important.
Samantha Johnston is the founder and lead strategist at Strategy Hound. She once started a position where she found old socks, stale tortilla chips and wage garnishment documents for a person she’d never met in her desk drawer on the first day of her new job. She never forgot it. And here we are.
To learn more, email Sam here or call her at 720-412-4240.
