When it comes to indications of success for businesses, growth is a hard one to ignore. As much we love to see it, it can present challenges, especially when it comes to new hire orientation.
Once upon a time, hiring a new person to work in your company meant weeks of training and a high learning curve before they could effectively and safely be thrown into the deep end of the office pool. This contributed to higher levels of anxiety, for the new employee and for their team, less time on the job for them and wasted hours and money while looking for someone else to start the cycle all over again.
These days, successful companies have put employee onboarding techniques in place that give a whole new meaning to “new hire orientation.” While there is still a learning curve and there is still training, a properly planned employee onboarding program can shave hundreds of hours – and dollars—off your company’s time and budget.
Chances are, you go through the same boring, and sometimes ineffective, procedures for welcoming new hires as many other businesses do. For most of Day One, your new hire spends time filling out the requisite paperwork, going over policies/procedures, and being shown around the office. From there, new hire orientation is conducted by a member of your staff for a day, a week, or sometimes even a month before the new hire is ‘released’ to the floor. At this point, the person is usually assigned to a more senior member of the staff, who can answer any questions the new hire may have.
The learning curve of the new hire, time spent on training, and time constraints/distractions of the person assigned to help them all play a part in whether or not the new hire melds with the company. If they don’t feel like they are acclimating, they may start to feel overwhelmed, anxious and a little nervous about his/her new role and, by dragging out orientation, it might not be obvious right away. Oftentimes, it isn’t realized until the person leaves, at which point, excessive time and money have been spent before anyone realized anything.
Employee onboarding bargain
It doesn’t have to be this way. A well-implemented employee onboarding system, where your entire team contributes to the welcoming and training process, can have a vital impact on:
- Your New Hire – Giving your new employee a thorough overview of their new surroundings, while explaining who does what and how their role fits into the overall workings of the office, will put your new hire at ease and give them the confidence to perform well at their job, saving the time and money it takes to hire someone to replace him if he were to leave because he is overwhelmed.
- Your Team – Your team needs to be an active part of the employee onboarding process. They are ideal since they are in the position and can really help new team members succeed and be a productive part of the team. Have a few key team members or leaders show your new addition the ropes around the department, get out to lunch and connect personally, assign a team mentor, help define the company’s culture and include them in upcoming meetings.
- Your Time – One-on-one, corporate-style orientations involve a few days behind closed doors, taking far more time than one-on-one training with department leaders and members. You shave off tons of time from your training when you use it wisely.
- Your Budget – Well-trained, happy new hires stay longer than those that merely go through the motions (and end up leaving some time later). Refilling positions can get kind of expensive between the time/money spent looking for someone else and the subsequent training time.
Staff Smart
High Profile Staffing understands the importance of considering employee onboarding as a norm for your company. New hire orientation could use a little refreshing. Why not try it at your company and see what a difference a happy and excited new hire can make in the successful performance of your team?
High Profile Staffing can help your company enjoy the benefits of having a new hire on staff without worrying about their early departure or your budget and time constraints. Visit www.highprofilestaffing.com or ‘like’ us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/highprofileinc. You can also follow is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/HighProfileInc.