Onboarding New Hire: Turnover is every business’s worst nightmare. The exodus of new hires wastes precious resources and stalls operations. So it doesn’t help that experts predict turnover will worsen by another 20% in the coming months.
A new employee might become disheartened or disillusioned by poor treatment. But what some companies forget is that the employee onboarding before that has an effect, too. Onboarding a new hire is where they get their first taste of your company as it really is.
So in this guide, we’re here to help you make that impression a good one. Keep reading for 5 mistakes to avoid when you bring an employee on board.
Having a Weak First Day
As mentioned above, first impressions matter. An employee has gone through a lot in order to become a part of your company. That means a lackluster first day is something of a slap to the face.
Everyone knows the sort of the first day we’re referring to here. The employee responsible for the training is late. They’re gathering up training materials and winging it as they go.
There’s not just a lack of structure, but a lack of meaningful content. There might be aged, boring videos and blog-standard quizzes.
Whatever the case, this leaves a bad impression on your company. The first place new hires go once they quit is to review boards to describe their experience.
In short, a strong first day/week with meaningful training tells new employees to expect good things.
Minimal Training While Onboarding a New Hire
A new employee will catch on fast if they’re just part of the latest hiring wave. They’ll see just how many other new employees there are, and how tight the existing workforce is. Minimal training signals that there’s high turnover and you’re just trying to rush in the latest cannon fodder.
Companies that have high turnover (and poor employee reviews) throw new employees into the thick of it. They tell them to “use their resources” and “do their best before asking for help.” This looks like empowerment, but employees are wise enough to recognize this as a means to cut costs.
Thorough training signals to the employee that they matter. It shows you want them to be a long-term asset for the company, rather than a temporary worker.
More extensive training is for your benefit as well. They’re less likely to slow production when existing employees have to carry the slack. They’ll be prepared for a much wider variety of situations.
Too Much Emphasis on Shadowing
Job shadowing is great because a new hire can see how the sausage gets made. Let’s be clear, it’s an excellent tool that any company should use. However, it’s one you should use sparingly.
First, many employees do things their own way. They may teach a new employee something that’s wrong, something that potentially puts you out of compliance.
Further, this stretches existing employees thin. They’ve already got a lot on their plate, so having new hires follow them around adds only more to do. They not only have to keep up with responsibilities, but they also must slow down to explain varying job aspects.
Lastly, there’s a risk that a new employee will interact with a disinterested or disgruntled employee. This won’t happen immediately. But given enough time, they’ll start to give their honest thoughts and “poison” new hires with false ideas about the company.
Not Utilizing the Days Before the First Day
As discussed above, a good first day is a great way to set expectations. So if an employee is doing nonstop paperwork for their first shift, that’s not good news. This is paperwork they should have done before arriving at work.
There’s likely a laundry list of items an employee needs to cover. Background checks, drug tests, and tax forms. Save these tasks for the first day or week, and that means you’re paying them to pick up slack for HR.
In some cases, there may be documents or legal aspects that employees need to be aware of beforehand. Some employees may run into issues, and that may lead them to quit. It’s best to keep a clear separation between these two things.
Make sure they handle all of this beforehand so they can jump into their training completely. If you’re handling remote onboarding, then check out this link: https://WorkBright.com/remote-onboarding-best-practices/
Failing to Improve the Onboarding Process in Response to Feedback
Onboarding a new hire should be something that you work to improve with every passing year. A huge mistake that companies often make is to keep employee onboarding exactly the same. Even after massive turnover or complaints, no one makes any meaningful changes to the procedure.
New hires aren’t just new employees. They’re people who come from different backgrounds and different types of work. They’ve done this before, and they have something to offer.
Every employee onboarding process has a survey at the end. But often this survey is just a way to track the success (or failure) of trainers. It rarely if ever informs how a company should improve existing practices.
Don’t make that mistake. If you’re experiencing high turnover, there’s guaranteed to be evidence as to why this is the case in the surveys.
To help, make sure these surveys are anonymous. Don’t include any identifying information. This gives employees the chance to speak their hearts, rather than give good answers to protect their employment.
Make Employee Onboarding New Hire the Best it Can Be
Onboarding a new hire can help or harm the success of a new employee over the course of their employment. It sets their expectations and paints a picture of what sort of company they’re working for. A weak employee onboarding process worsens turnover and employee performance, so avoid the above mistakes.
Follow our blog for more business tips.
