New employees are the cornerstone of every workforce. It is virtually impossible for a modern business to have no employee turnover at all. As with anything contingent on interpersonal interaction, ambitious or otherwise restless professionals will continue to leave their jobs, and those left behind will continue to hire replacements.
Part of ensuring the success of new hires centers on providing them the claritew y to understand their roles and responsibilities, and support to feel integrated as a part of the larger team Unfortunately, this is a critical aspect of the hiring process that many employers overlook. This blog discusses ways you can set up your new hires for success in the first 90 days of their employment.
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Ways to Set Up New Hires for Success
The first 90 days are critical to helping your new employee adjust to the company culture. This is also a crucial period for clearly defining what is expected of your new associate in his or her role. According to this article from the Harvard Business Review, 17% of new hires, especially millennials, leave their jobs within the first six months, often due to alienation or miscommunication that might easily be avoided.
Younger workers have no qualms about switching to another employer if they feel dissatisfied or uncomfortable in their current role. For this reason alone, it’s critical to adopt a thoughtful and robust onboarding process. The following tips can help you set up your new hires for success within the first 90 days of their start date:
- Create an Online Onboarding Portal
- Connect and Engage Emotionally with New Hires
- Clarify Job Roles and Responsibilities
- Introduce a Buddy System
- Give Them a Project to Manage
- Discuss Employee Goals
- Follow Up with New Hires Periodically
Let’s take a closer look at these points below.
Create an Online Onboarding Portal
Developing an online portal that offers information about the workplace and the company is very helpful, and often goes a long way to define company culture. Before they even show up for their first day, new hires can quickly and easily obtain information about the company generally and their role specifically. A portal offers new hires a sense of preparedness, reducing the inevitable feelings of nervousness and anxiety that precede a new beginning. Some good points to focus on include:
- Highlighting organizational culture through employee stories.
- A checklist of what the new hire needs to bring on his or her first day
- A task management module to the portal to track Onboarding progress
Connect and Engage Emotionally with New Hires
It’s important to establish an emotional connection with your new hires from the outset. Introducing new hires to the teams they will be working with as early as possible is a good way to form a lasting professional bond. When you make these introductions at the time of the final interview questions, it makes the new hire feel like he or she is already a part of the larger team.
Sending a warm welcome message immediately upon his or her start will likewise make your new employee feel at ease. Frequent compliments will help build confidence and contribute to a general sense of goodwill and comfortability.
Clarify Job Roles and Responsibilities
A detailed talk with the new hire about his or her roles and responsibilities should take place as near as possible to the first day. It’s a good idea to do this with the whole team involved, so everyone that everyone is properly introduced and roles and responsibilities are clarified for all. This is also a good time to address any questions the new employee might have about the role or the roles of others on the team. You should also take this opportunity to clearly communicate to whom the new dire will be reporting.
Likewise, make it clear that you will be offering feedback in the coming weeks and months according to a pre-arranged plan of expectations and deliverables. As such, it’s best to have the roles and responsibilities clearly laid down in writing. This effectively eliminates the confusion and anxiety that results from being forced to absorb a significant amount of information on the first day. Ensuring clarity throughout is an important part of the recruitment process.
Introduce a Buddy System
A buddy system is one of the best ways to engage with new hires and make them feel comfortable in a new environment. A peer buddy should ideally be someone who does not work directly with the new employee. The buddy should periodically check in with the hire and help him or her understand the organization’s culture and processes. Remember – be sure to pair up compatible people, and do so with their prior consent.
Give Them a Project to Manage
Offering new hires a meaningful and manageable project in the first 90 days gives them a sense of confidence and purpose. Many telecommunications companies often give early projects as hands-on training to the talent they hire through telecom staffing. The idea is to offer a project that is neither too narrow-focused nor too overwhelming. As your hires progress, offer them varied projects to develop their skills.
Discuss Employee Goals
Discussing an employee’s long term career goals can help give him or her critical direction and a strong sense of purpose. Doing this early on, and concurrently showing commitment to their ambitions, pays off in the long run. Among other things, it lets you identify talent that may not have the right motivation for the job before too much work has been completed or assigned.
For example, mortgage recruiters pay attention to individual career goals and ambitions before hiring. That way, if someone wants to be a screenwriter and is only working in mortgage to pay the bills, you won’t have to worry about hiring and subsequently losing them.
Follow Up with New Hires Periodically
Make it a point to periodically follow up with new hires during the first 90 days. At the end of the first 30 days, have a sit down with the new employee to discuss progress. Check in again regularly for performance reviews, setting objectives, and discussing improvements. Have a mix of formal and informal sessions to get the best results from your efforts.
