Onboarding and Retention Go Hand In Hand

~ by Christina Stewart

You have spent time, energy, money and other resources recruiting the right person to fill your vacancy; the last situation you want is for that new team member to leave your firm early and have all those resources go to waste. Plus you’d be stuck doing it all over again. But how do you bridge the gap between recruitment and retention? Onboarding.

Make your new employee feel welcome, wanted and engaged before the first day. Often there is a lag between signing the offer letter and the first day of employment, so a week before the start date call your new team member and say how much you are looking forward to having them onboard. If it is an executive position call again on the afternoon of the day before they start. This will warm any cold feet and calm any nerves.

It is imperative that when the new hire arrives on day one that they have a work space completely set up, everything from a computer with a working e-mail, e-mail signature, and any other necessary programs to pens, notebooks and business cards printed and sitting on their desk. Plan in advance what the orientation and initial training will look like. Know exactly who is teaching what and when. Show a commitment to having prepped for them and they will feel important and valued from the start, thus increasing their chance of making it through the critical first three months.

One idea is to have new employees start on a Friday – this gives them the weekend to process the new environment and then they can hit the ground running on Monday. The first day is essentially a meet and greet with lunch thrown in anyway. Make sure your entire team knows they are starting – send out an announcement e-mail with a brief overview of the new hire’s background and always set up their name in the phone system and on the phone directory.

The key to effective onboarding is to always appear organized and to always appear enthusiastic. Make a commitment to your new team member before they even start and you’ll be rewarded with a team member that makes a speedy commitment to you.