Onboarding: 5 Steps to Instantly Engage New Employees
More research from the British Columbia Human Resource Management Association suggests that turnover can be over 30 percent in the first three months and Michael Watkins postulates in his book, The First 90 Days, that for those earning under 100K the cost of turnover is 14 times base salary and this figure includes direct and indirect costs such loss productivity and missed opportunity.
Despite the high risks of failure in the first 90 days and the high associated costs, 53 percent of employers are not offering onboarding. One could imagine that this figure may be higher in small businesses where a classic ‘sink or swim’ approach to new hires is often the norm.
It doesn’t have to be this way as with some simple, quality, attentive onboarding employers can minimize turnover rates in the critical three month period and maximize the number of employees making it through to six months to start generating incremental returns on your investment in them.
To assist businesses who are thinking about introducing formal onboarding, I have outlined five elements of an effective onboarding program —which should lead to more immediate engagement of your new employees.
1. Develop and utilize an on-boarding plan/checklist
Research from DBM suggests that there is a 50 percent chance of failure for staff who don’t have an onboarding plan, so preparing and using a structured plan as opposed to ad-hoc is a priority.
This plan should include details of all the interventions that should occur over the first 90 days, e.g. assign a mentor, set goals, provide training or coaching, review goals etc. This should be given to the employee and reviewed with HR/managers at 15 days, 30 days, 60 days and 90 days to check that all the interventions have been occurring – and if not, to take action to get it back on track.
2. Cultural introduction
Naturally, within the first day or two, there should be a formal introduction to processes and procedures. But, once this is done there should also be introductions to leaders and colleagues who embody the culture. This is often done in social settings.
3. Assign a ‘Go-to Person’ that is a mentor/buddy
Assigning a mentor to your new starter is a crucial part of the onboarding process. In some situations, and with more junior staff, you might assign a buddy. Either way the buddy or mentor will play a crucial role in helping the employee to integrate more effectively by acting as a ‘go to person’, a guide and influence.
4. Provide coaching to accelerate performance
The employee’s areas for development should have been established during the hiring assessment process or should be established in the first few days by the manager. The employee should then be assigned a coach (this may be the line manager), to help the employee develop their skills and meet their performance goals.
5. Set goals for the 90-day period
You should provide absolute clarity to the individual in terms what is expected of them during the first 90 days and this should be done by setting goals, be they performance and/or learning based. I suggest 30, 60 and 90 day goals which should be reviewed at these intervals also.