DON’T GET DUMPED BY YOUR NEW EMPLOYEES

Posted on 8th February 2023

Two closely related hiring trends have become increasingly recognised across the UK. Firstly, many businesses are reporting candidates rejecting job offers after successfully completing an interview process. Secondly, there seems to be more widespread cases of ‘quick quitting’. This simply means that new employees are resigning from their positions far too soon! So with February being the month known for Valentine's, we want to make sure that businesses looking to push forward with their hiring plans aren’t setting themselves up to be dumped by their new employees! We’ve put together an essential collection of tips to shape the optimal on-boarding process - a checklist that will work wonders to help your new team members feel the love at this time of year!

01. INTERVIEW STAGES

Traditionally, we think of on-boarding as starting from a new employee's first formal day of employment. However, everything that happens before that point, responses to their initial application, the interview process, the job offer and all communications in between are all vital components in the overall employee experience. These initial touch points are incredibly important to get right to set the best possible tone for a positive and long-lasting appointment to your company.

02. GET THE ADMIN SORTED

Starting a new position always caries a level of stress so the last thing a new employee wants is to arrive on their first day with missing paperwork from HR or to find they can't log in to their workspace or access vital files and folders to hit the ground running. Putting yourself in their shoes, think carefully about everything you would want organised, signed-off and accessible from the moment you arrive on your first day.

03. PREPARE THE WORKSPACE

Unless you're adopting a dedicated approach of hot-desking, chances are the workspace assigned for your new employee will be their dedicated area for quite some time. Take the time to make sure that their new working area feels clean, decluttered, organised and inviting. Simple additional touches like branded stationary and a personalised welcome note from the team can really make a huge difference for the employee experience.

04. FIND THE ORIENTATION SWEET SPOT

Orientation meetings are vital in helping your new employee feel at home and familiar with their new co-workers. However, overloading them with too many meetings with too many new faces can also be detrimental. For their first week, we'd suggest ensuring they meet with 3 or 4 people that they'll be working most closely with.

05. CREATE A GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION

There's no point in creating a great candidate experience at interview stage to then reveal a toxic culture once your new employee turns up for their first day on the job. This is a great time to look again at team dynamics and working cultures to ensure the working environment is one you'll be proud to introduce your new employee to.

06. TOUR THE PREMISES

For large organisations with vast premises, a guided tour is absolutely fundamental to help a new employee feel at home quickly. However, even small start-up working in a single open plan space can make effective use of this tip. For smaller working environments, you can show new employees where to find the best lunch spots and coffees, what the local area is like and where other team members like to socialise.

07. SEND A NEW EMPLOYEE ANNOUNCEMENT

Your new employee will feel far more comfortable introducing themselves across the company if they know that everyone is already expecting their arrival. Ensure your existing team knows who your new employee is, exactly what their job will be and share some of the great attributes and qualities you've noticed.

08. ASK FOR REGULAR FEEDBACK

Most employers do ask their new team members for feedback - but it's a process often executed very poorly! Posing a quick question like "enjoying it?" or "everything OK?" in the middle of a broader meeting, or passing in a corridor will never yield a genuine response. Ask more specific questions as part of meetings dedicated to their feedback. For example, ask them if they've been able to access everything they need, if they've forgotten where anything is, and remind them to not hesitate to ask questions.

09. CELEBRATE THE FIRST ACHIEVEMENTS

After a tough interview process, you should be confident in your new employee's ability ability to hit the ground running and show their strong competency for the role. However, celebrating those fist initial successes can really help to shape a fantastic perception of the business. As with so many of these tips, this is about finding the best overall balance. Don't fail to acknowledge early successes but also don't emphasise it to the point where it sounds surprised or patronising. A simple, friendly acknowledgement can work wonders.

10. PLAN FOR QUESTIONS

Agility is the key for survival in times of recession or uncertainty. Businesses will need to hire quickly and allow job functions to evolve as needed. Candidate agility will also further feed into the increasing passive market.

SUCCESSFUL ON-BOARDING ISN’T NEW FOR NETBOX...

The importance of great on-boarding has really gained traction in recent years, but this has always been central to our approach. Through meeting our candidates in person, and by gaining a full understanding of each business we work with, we’ve always worked to ensure a seamless fit between candidate and client. We also regularly implement candidate ‘check-ins’ at key milestones as well as providing our ‘Talent Guarantee’ where we hire again at no extra cost if your new employee fails to succeed in their probationary period. Call us on 0344 2572070 or email info@netboxrecruitment.com