What Little Things Can Lead to Successful Onboarding?

Little things can help make onboarding easier for everyone

Little things can help make onboarding easier for everyone

Last week, we talked about helping new team members get off to better start.  This week, I share my final tip to onboard your employee for success, my secret weapon in helping you successfully bring people on to your teams. This onboarding tip will help you build a world class organization.

My final tip to successfully onboarding new employees?  Don’t forget to do the little things right.  Make sure they have a schedule, have the right people get together with them early and often, and, finally, see if they have any new needs that have come up since joining the organization. There is stress on a person in a new role to overreach because there are so many things that need to be accomplished. Something few employers consider is the stress on the spouse of the new hire.

Most new hires fail because their spouse is struggling to handle the increased work load created when the employee takes a new role. Trailing spouses have caused more problems for my clients then employee performance failures.  One of my favorite tips is I have a welcome wagon committee who helps the spouses get situated. Take them to lunch, introduce them to people they might need to know in the community, and help them get comfortable as they join your business family. In the past, I’ve established relationships with key people in the community where my businesses are located so I can help people get better acquainted. Depending on the age of their children it might be helpful to know people in your local school district. This all goes a long way to insure that your new employee and their family feels like a treasured member of your team.

Now, in case you wondered who slipped into my office to write this blog, you might be thinking to yourself, “Certainly, you don’t think I should coddle my new employee.  Doesn’t this set a bad example?  Does this really impact the results I get?”  The answer is yes, no, and yes. If you want engaged team members, you must take responsibility for helping them early and often. A good hire leaving can cost your organization between 2 to 14 times their salaries if they leave during the first year. For most businesses, this can be devastating to your organization’s morale and success. I look at successful onboarding as an insurance policy for my new hires. I have a friend who works only with family businesses and she provides a full year of onboarding to new leaders within her client’s organization. This additional effort helps take their new employee turnover rate to almost zero. This is quite an accomplishment when working with family businesses.

Over the last several blogs we’ve talked about recruiting, hiring and onboarding new employees.  We talked about onboarding people to help them help you achieve the results you want for your organization. Over the next several weeks, we begin to talk about how to engage and empower your workforce. I’ve got a new client who is looking to better understand how to get great performance out of all the people on their teams. With over 80% of today’s workforce feeling unengaged in their current roles, we as serving leaders must consider what has to change if we hope to thrive and grow moving forward. On Thursday this week, I share why it’s time to reengage the people who help you get the results you want and what’s in it for them, and you, to make your organization more successful. See you Thursday.

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