Help your new hires to stick

We are currently in the midst of a period many are referring to as ‘the great resignation’, and whilst organisations are necessarily reviewing their Employee Value Propositions (EVPs) and remuneration strategies, one element frequently overlooked is the integration of new hires.

I use the term ‘integration’ deliberately, as I have often observed disconnections between the recruitment, induction and onboarding processes. A good integration program will identify the distinct key phases for new hires and help to set your new person up for success as quickly as possible.

The case for properly integrating new employees

A poorly designed (or non-existent) integration plan can leave your new hire feeling disconnected from your organisation. They will be unproductive at best, or in the worst cases, feel completely unwelcome. What should be remembered is that these initial experiences will also set down thought patterns that will influence how they interpret their working experiences for months or years to come – yikes!

Aside from the personal impact, there is also a real financial cost. The longer it takes to get your new team member up to speed the more you are investing in a less-than-productive employee, you are also adding an additional burden to other team members, and increasing the risk that they will create yet another vacancy you will need to recruit for.

Below are some areas for you to consider when structuring your new-hire integration process. With a bit of thought and effort, you can create a new-hire experience that will engage your people, and set your teams up for greater success.

Break the process down

The best place to start is to map out the new employee experience into distinct phases: This is likely to look something like: Recruitment (finding the right person and selling them the opportunity), pre-onboarding (necessary forms and compliance), induction (policies, processes, systems, safety etc), and engagement (building connections within and across teams). Viewing these as distinct parts of the integration process means you are less likely to skip over one or more of them.

Automate

The first impressions a new team member has are well before they start on day-one. These are formed through the recruitment process and pre-onboarding. Investing in an automated system and having a process that is easy to navigate will create a much better impression than sending them a catalogue of paper forms in the post). This will also significantly reduce your administrative burden. Please note that automation does not replace the need for personal connection, make sure you still have a human touch.

Understand your recruitment volume

You will need to understand how many new hires you will bring into your business, so your processes are appropriately designed and scheduled. If you hire five people every week there is little value in having a full day of induction presentations for each individual. Conversely, you don’t want to have a new team member sitting around for three weeks waiting for a scheduled ‘induction day’.

Welcome them deliberately

Where you really start to get traction is in social integration. PLEASE schedule a time to spend with your new team member, and remember that this is not just the manager’s job. Every team member has a role to play in welcoming a new person to the team. Taking them out for a coffee or lunch and creating experiences to come together as a team can be simple ways to get to know each other and build personal connections.

Articulate the vision

One aspect that cannot be overlooked is creating a connection between the individual and the vision of the team, division and organisation. It is important to create a clear picture of how your new team member will contribute to the success of the organisation, and what actions and behaviours are valued. Reinforce the culture you are trying to create and what will make them successful.

This is the time, if you haven’t already, to also be clear about your ways of working. Be transparent about your practices around workplace flexibility, and team and organisational norms. Creating any ambiguity here can lead to all sorts of challenges in the future, so talk through this openly.

Break down the silos

Integrating a new employee does not stop at the immediate team. Put some work into identifying where they will work across teams, and foster those connections early. This can be done formally (e.g. an internal mentor or ‘buddy’ system) or informally. How you roll this out will depend on your culture and internal structures, just make sure it happens.

Don’t forget about transferred employees

Finally, don’t overlook those who are cross-boarding from other teams. It is easy to assume that they can slot in and start working at full capacity immediately, but don’t take this for granted and definitely don’t skip the social integration and vision sharing.

Hopefully, you have taken a few points to consider in refining your integration process. If you are interested in understanding more about how you can create a workplace culture of which you can be proud, and that provides your employees and your customers with a great experience. Please get in touch with Synergy IQ because we are leaders in enabling change and are here to help.