You’ve filtered the résumés, interviewed the candidates, and sent out the offer letter. The candidate signed the offer letter and starts on Monday – great! But it’s not over yet: your candidate may still be receiving offers from other companies.
Follow these 8 easy steps to guarantee your hire will be productive immediately:
1. Send a welcome e-mail
It’s a small gesture, but it sends that initial “welcome!” and resulting warm-fuzzy feeling gives a positive impression to new employees and gives them more respect for you and your company.
2. Have the desk/office set up for their first day
You want your employees to be productive immediately – and chances are, your new hire wants the same thing! HireGround’s Onboarding Management module helps make this process quick and easy by informing various levels of your organization of the new hire’s needs so everything can be set up ahead of time.
3. Have a schedule prepared in advance
Provide your new hire with a copy of your existing schedule, or access to your online calendar – it’s an easy way to help a new hire get their feet wet.
4. Make sure management is informed of the new hire
This is another area where the Onboarding Management module can help – use the module to send out quick, template e-mails to inform management of the arrival of a new hire.
5. Have a first-day meeting
Share the company vision by reinforcing the company’s goals, deadlines, branding, and atmosphere. Set clear goals and expectations in a positive manner – give your new hire the benefit of the doubt. Most people respond well to positive feedback!
6. Treat them to lunch within the first week
Try to gather some other employees and go to lunch with your new hire – this will make them feel appreciated and part of the team, and will encourage the new hire to trust his/her teammates. It’s a small gesture, but it’s the little things that will add up and make such a positive impression in your new employees mind.
7. Make time for short, bi-weekly one-to-one meetings
This is a great way for your new hire to feel like s/he is part of the team, and for management to be reassured that the person who has been hired is the right one. They don’t have to be long: 15 to 30 minutes should be more than enough time.
8. Share the experiences
Include the new hire in casual conversation, filling him/her in on light, inside jokes you and your co-workers may chuckle at. Let your new hire know about your corporate culture: do you have Casual Fridays? Do you celebrate birthdays? Is the company involved with any community events? That sort of thing.
Remember, onboarding is an important part of the hiring process, and should not be overlooked. Those first few days, weeks, and months are crucial to the sense of loyalty, inclusiveness, and connectedness an employee has with you, your co-workers, and your company. A positive first few days will create a sense of balance that will stick with your new hire for years to come.
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Michael
/ October 20, 2011thanks, I love these list type posts, so much easier to read and this had alot of good value, I liked it on facebook to spread the word.