Engaging New Employees
So, you’ve decided to engage a new employee. You’ve gone through the recruitment processes and found a successful candidate. This process can be time-consuming. How do you make sure that you maximise your new talent and ensure that they feel right at home?
We know that engaging new employees is vital to the success of your business. We also know that engaged employees are committed, happy and motivated and with this more likely to stay working for you. Not only does their level of engagement impact on their productivity, happiness and perception of the business. But it also reflects back on the culture within the business.
Employee satisfaction drives results and to achieve results, a streamline induction process is needed. We thought it was useful to share some of the softer skills that can assist with this.
Engaging New Employees Tip #1: Be ready for them!
What’s the old saying: ‘First impressions count’? Make sure you’ve got their first day planned out. More importantly make sure you’re available for them too. Simple things like making sure you are there to greet them, introduce to the wider team.
Have they got all the documents they need to have? These might have been sent prior to the first day, but contracts, position descriptions, policies, OHS info the general stuff they need.
Will you or someone make a presentation to the employee, or give them a guided tour of the workplace?
Make sure you have prepared for their induction into the business. It will have a positive impact on the employee and give them assurance that you’ve set them up for success in the company.
Engaging New Employees Tip #2: Assign Them a Buddy
Joining a new business, or any team, can be a scary experience. You don’t know anyone. You have to put new names to new faces. You’re not sure who does what and who reports to who. You may not be in a physical office, the team can be remote. We get it.
Assigning your new employee a buddy can assist in their induction to the company. The buddy can help befriend the new employee, introduce them to other colleagues, show them the best local café spots, and help them settle into the office.
Essentially, assigning a buddy to the new employee gives them someone to lean on in case they have any inquiries about their new role that they may not want to raise with their manager.
Engaging New Employees Tip #3: Introduce Them to Everyone
Taking the lead and introducing your new employee to the team should be considered vital to any new employee’s induction. In fact we’d say it’s non negotiable, if someone is away on the first day, then it is also important to follow up the next day too.
The team needs to know the employee’s name, obviously, and they need to know what the employee’s role is as well, so they can figure out how the new person fits into the team. Likewise, the employee should know who everyone is and what they do. That’s why an organisational structure is never a set and forget document!
Kick off
Engaging new employees is more than about the perception or the impression. It is about allowing them the time to process their new role and responsibilities. Whilst you might want them to hit the ground running, it is worth holding back a bit with complex tasks straight away. There’s always a lot to take in in induction, so allow the employee the time to take it all in.
Give your employee simple tasks to help them familiarise themselves to their new role. It is always useful to plan out tasks in advance and show them what the first few weeks/months will look like. This should involve a variety of tasks that will give them exposure to the different aspects of their role. Make sure they understand what they have to do, but don’t just leave them to their own devices. Make sure someone is available to answer their questions and talk them through any issues they might have. Ensure that you give them feedback on the work they complete. As well as ensuring that you have a strong probation review framework.
Conclusion
Employee success is critical to business success. Setting the tone early in the relationship is key to success. Start how you intend to finish. Employee engagement and satisfaction comes downs to you as the employer doing the work. In today’s market, it is the little things that matte the most.
If you need some help developing an onboarding strategy, checklist or probation framework, let us help! Email contact@nowactually.com.au or contact us now.
