Have you ever heard that only 52% of employees feel satisfied with their onboarding experience? This is a critical issue because other studies have shown that the importance of onboarding cannot be underestimated. In fact, a staggering 64% of employees are inclined to leave a new job within their first year if their onboarding experience is negative.
Keeping top talent in your organization means offering a top-tier onboarding experience.
No one is “too busy” for onboarding
A next-level onboarding process involves more than just checking off a to-do list. It conveys a warm welcome, a feeling of excitement and a display of helping the employee be successful in the job. You may have an onboarding process that includes watching videos or reading process manuals. But this doesn’t really showcase your company.
Bringing on new staff members is never a one-day deal. When bosses invest hands-on time with new employees during their first weeks with the company, they see a significant improvement in relationships. I call this concept ‘Keeping It Off the Shelf.’
Some business owners feel a need to protect their ideas or have long-standing processes that they assume everyone knows. By keeping these ideas and processes off the shelf, they train new employees from the ground up and make every new hire an immediate member of their work family.
My clients also experience colossal success when they go through the shadowing process. This is the act of enhancing visibility and observing one’s movement in a professional setting so that both parties can understand one another much better.
Watch your employees live and breathe what they’re doing. No matter what position you hold, you’ll ultimately have a different perception of a situation than the person sitting next to you. Understanding the differences in these perceptions is the key ingredient to success.
Once, my client called me and complained about her receptionist. “I do not understand how this woman cannot process all the files she needs to process. I’ve already spent time training her, or at least I thought I did. The retention rate here is already lower than hell, so I’d like to figure out a way to keep her.”
I told her to spend a whole day with the receptionist. As a result of this experiment, my client was shocked at the sheer volume of work this receptionist had on her plate: “Now, I realize that when I ran this firm solo, we had fewer initial phone calls, and we didn’t get the insane amount of mail we get now. We didn’t have an active digital marketing strategy, and the last time I looked at this position, I didn’t think we had this volume of inbound calls. I understand why this poor girl has been combative lately when I ask her why something isn’t done.”
My client had been comparing her experience to what she thought should be her employee’s experience. It was like comparing apples to an apple orchard. Without shadowing, my client would never have understood her employee’s complete perspective and may have fired her because she thought the employee couldn’t handle the job.
This is an excellent example of how time spent with employees can make a huge difference in growing your business.
Employees need to be supported
Employers frequently come to me and say, “It’s impossible to find good people.” “Nobody wants to work.” “They must have this precise skillset because I don’t have time to train them.” “I am not mentoring anyone because they’ll end up leaving anyway, so why should I put in the effort?”
Here is an interesting statistic: “Ninety-four percent of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their personal learning and career development.” If you wish to avoid losing a new hire and want to see your business grow and thrive, your employees need to be supported and also feel supported. Bosses need to spend time on training because it often pays off.
Effective communication is a key
According to Microsoft®, “Only 43% of employees can confidently say their company solicits employee feedback at least once a year — meaning over half of the companies (57%) may rarely, if ever, ask and hear about their employees’ experience at work.”
This is a huge mistake. Bosses should make an effort to listen to their employees, understand their needs and concerns and provide clear and timely feedback. Employees should feel comfortable expressing their ideas and concerns to their employers, and employers should give them the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes.
Rather than blaming, shaming or distrusting one another, we need to restore healthy communication by empowering one another. When we do, we’ll start to notice that others will stop coming with complaints and drama. Instead, they’ll come for honest feedback. Effective communication builds positive and productive relationships in the workplace.
Every team member is there for a reason. They are more than capable of getting their tasks done, whether they work remotely, in a hybrid fashion or in person. There’s no need to hover over anyone’s desk to see what they’re doing every single day. What you need to do is support them on their journey — provide them with time, training and feedback.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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