Your chosen candidate has accepted your job offer. That doesn’t mean your role is complete…far from it.
In today’s market, qualified candidates get snapped up by employers relatively quickly. So once you’ve found, interviewed, and hired the right person, it’s important to take the steps necessary to make that employee want to remain with your company.
In Jane Clark’s IdeaXchange series on hiring, she discusses the job offer and first day and how things can go awry if certain actions aren’t taken. It’s important to maintain contact with your new hire from the time the offer is accepted right up until he or she shows up for the first day of work. And that first day is very, very important. Having an onboarding process in place can make all the difference.
According to Jane, surveys show that 40% of turnover is within the first month and another 10% occur before the first anniversary. But companies that have formal onboarding processes have a much greater rate of success (91%) when it comes to retention. She suggests a number of things to do to make that first day turn into years of loyalty:
- Have the new employee’s work space cleaned, outfitted with all necessary equipment, and ready to be occupied.
- Provide a schedule of activities for the employee’s first day which should include introductions to other team members and a tour of the facility (workspaces, bathrooms, lunchroom, etc.)
- Review all departmental and company policies and procedures, including timesheets, sick days, vacation, work rules and more.
Make that first day just the beginning of your interaction with the employee. Jane suggests having monthly meetings with new hires to discuss progress and any concerns or issues they may be having. It’s important to remember that it takes three times an employee’s salary to recruit and hire a replacement, so hold on to a good employee once you’ve found one.
Read Jane’s full IdeaXchange blog.
