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One-third of respondents to a recent survey admitted that they had quit a job within six months of starting it. And a solid portion of those respondents who left did so between the first week and their third month of starting in the job.
That’s a lot of people leaving a new job in the first couple of weeks.
To put it into perspective, let’s have a think about the financial impact this is having on your business:
• Money spent on recruiting new employee: $2,255
• Three months’ salary: $21,750
• Three months’ employee on-costs: $4,350
• Materials and set-up: $5,000
• Exit costs: $1,673
• Total cost: $35,028
And that’s just a rough estimate based on one-person leaving. If you were to have four people leave, you’re looking at a conservative loss of nearly $150,000! (Minus the wine required to cope with the pain).
Add in the disruption to your team, the knowledge loss and the required time to repeat the process and you’re looking at a whole lot of moolah wasted on zero value-add.
I hear you, “BUT AARON – HOW DO I MINIMSE THE RISK OF THIS HAPPENING?”.
Well, my panicked wine-loving friends, I introduce you to: A (Sort-of) Handy Guide to Not Screwing Up Onboarding.
A good onboarding experience helps to engage new hires and has even been linked to increased profit growth. It ensures your new team member feels welcomed, supported and confident to make waves in his/her/their new role.
Here are the easiest tips, tricks and tools to ensure you don’t screw it up:
• Be realistic through the recruitment process. Don’t over-promise because there’s nothing more disenchanting than something being smaller or different to what it was hyped up to be;
• Be quick in the process. Changing jobs is a big transition and new hires are a big investment. It’s mutually beneficial to treat the recruitment process as a high priority. Meet with candidates soon after they apply. Keep them warm through the process. This will make them feel warm and fuzzy about your company.
• Make sure everything is ready from day dot. This includes their desk, their phone, their uniform, their login. It doesn’t matter what job it is – there’s nothing more frustrating than a company not being able to sort itself out before someone commences.
• Provide them with proper and relevant training and induction. 21% of those survey respondents above said that they might’ve stayed if they’d received proper and structured training. Ensure your new team member is set up for success, not for failure. Buddy them up with someone else in the team or take the time to do it yourself. Teach them how to use your company’s specific set of software and tools. It’ll help them feel more settled and confident.
• Socialise them properly. This includes ensuring that the company’s culture and values as well as everyone’s roles and responsibilities are clear and defined. This will help to eliminate confusion and frustration and help them to make best-for-business decisions faster.
• Set expectations and achievement goals early on. This allows the new team member to be aware of their deliverables and provide them with a tangible sense of what success looks like. Clear goals will ensure new hires know what’s expected of them, eliminating any lingering greyness.
• And for the love of Merlot, check in with them regularly. And by regularly, like every day. Set up structured catch-ups with them at the one-week, one-month, three-month, six-month and twelve-month mark. Gather as much information from them about their experience. Did the role meet their expectation? Is the company and company culture what they thought it would be like? Is there anything more that you could be doing to support them. Asking these questions shows the new team member that their contribution is valued and wanted and in turn, you get to continuously improve your onboarding experience.
A new person starting doesn’t mean the process finishes the day they start. A proper onboarding experience will reap you dividends on the long-run (in some cases, literally). It will also help save you wasted money in the long-run and ensure your new hires are set up for success.
What’s not to like about that?
If you’re not quite sure about your onboarding process, get in touch. Harvest HR is able to come in and help ensure you offer the best possible experience for new hires.
This article was written by Harvest Human Resources Principal Consultant & Human Resources Lead, Aaron Hussey.
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