New Hire Onboarding is a critical piece of retention and engaging new employees. If you don’t do it correctly, they may quit on you quickly. One report I read said that over 32% of new hires have little or no onboarding and 17% of them said they quit within the first 6 months because they did not receive proper training. That’s almost one in five (and a very expensive one in five). Failure to properly orient new employees is risky, whether it’s culture-related issues, specific job-related points, or union avoidance messages. The result, unfortunately, is new employees who perhaps don’t know what they’re doing, who don’t engage with the company, and who usually don’t stick around long.

We see it regularly. A company hires a new employee and fails to do some of the basics because the person giving the orientation is having a bad day or is just tired of giving orientations. Thus the new hire gets random information and does not understand the big picture of the wonderful new company they are working for.  

It costs about $4,000 to hire an average new employee for all categories. That’s money wasted if he or she doesn’t stick around. 

Here’s what we’ve found works well: Have your orientation plan in place with a checklist to follow. Automate your orientation as much as you can. Utilize the human touch for introductions, but use technology to its fullest extent. Develop interactive courses, show videos with features that uniquely set your company apart and show employees you care and want them to be successful.  

Don’t just hand out a value statement. Show new people how you follow through on your values. We have numerous clients that truly live by their value statements and it shows. They have long term loyal employees, proud of where they work. They promote from within as much as they possibly can. As a result, those companies constantly win national awards for best places to work. All that comes from making an investment in orienting their employees, constantly training them, and enriching their lives by having formalized on-the-job training that is relevant, timely, and consistently presented. One other big factor: The most successful companies also give back to the community so they are employers of choice.  

Contact me and I will be happy to help you and your company do it right.