You’ve sifted through the applicants, conducted multiple interviews and finally found your ideal candidate. After some wage negotiation, they have accepted the job and you’ve even given them their start date. Your job as a HR manager is done, right? Wrong!
If you want to make sure that your new employee enjoys their role and ultimately stays at the company then you need to make sure that they have a good onboarding experience.
Here are just a few mistakes that you need to avoid if you want to keep that dream hire.
Neglecting your Employer Brand
First things first, if you want to attract top talent then you need to work on your employer brand. Your employer brand is your company’s personality, culture and values. Our research has found that 78% of candidates will look into a company’s reputation before applying for a role so you really can’t ignore it.
You can use things like content and video in order to grow your employer brand. It’s also beneficial to use your current employees. Get them involved through testimonials and referral schemes.
Starting too late
Your onboarding process should begin from the moment the candidate accepts the job offer. If the employee is not starting their role for a number of weeks (or sometimes months) it is important that you stay in contact with them during this time so they already feel like part of the team.
This is also a good time to get a lot of the boring paperwork out of the way. Send employees all the necessary paperwork they have to fill out before their first day. This will save a lot of time.
Not introducing coworkers
Starting a new job is daunting, especially in a big office. Make your new hire’s first few days a lot easier by taking the time to introduce them to the team.
Show them all the different departments in the company and introduce them to the relevant people. It’s also helpful to point out any other new starters who they might want to compare notes with.
Not preparing the workspace
This is a surefire way to make a bad first impression. All employees should be provided with a workspace as soon as they enter your company. You should also prepare any equipment they might need to complete their tasks.
This will give new hires a certain sense of security as they will have a base to return to throughout the day.
Providing too many documents
And not enough one-on-one teaching. You can’t just set a new employee down with a 200-page manual and tell them to get on with it. Today’s millennial workforce needs better engagement.
A modern employee training strategy should consist of shorter, focused segments which will allow the new employee to better absorb and retain the information. Video has also been shown to be a great tool for the onboarding process.
Office gossip
During their first week, new employees are practically searching for clues that they have made the right decision to leave their old job and join your company.
However, if they are greeted with rumours of conflict, backstabbing and bad employee retention rates then their vulnerability and thoughts of doubt will be exacerbated.
