Think about the very first time you were a new employee at a company. Chances are you felt a certain amount of insecurity and trepidation.
A new job is an intimidating situation. You’re new, you need some guidance and mentorship to get a hold of things.
In companies where there is no encouraging of new employees to ask questions and thrive, it’ll be difficult to obtain a high retention rate.
It all starts with the way you treat your new employees.
Your company culture determines how every employee feels. It is the way everyone is treated within the office.
To retain incredible employees and make the new ones feel welcome, consider the following five ideas.
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Table of Contents
Maintaining a Point of Contact
Every new employee first is going to have tons of questions about the different tasks they are assigned.
If you’re the boss, you might not always have time to answer all of those questions, and you might not even have the right answers at times.
If you’ve hired three new people within weeks of each other, you might get pretty annoyed after the tenth question from the second new employee.
That’s where a point of contact can help.
When you have someone in charge of managing the new hires within each department, it’s easier to sustain a healthy, hospitable environment.
Depending on how large your company is, you might want to create a point of contact within each department or team.
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Social Activities
It’s not uncommon for people to relocate to a new city because of a job. In this case, they might not know many people in the area.
Social activities are helpful because they instantly provide a sense of community for a new hire.
You don’t need to take the entire company bowling after work. However, you can create small clubs within the building that meet for various interests.
If you have a group of employees who love a television series like Game of Thrones, create a watch night party within the office with food, comfortable chairs, and widescreen televisions.
If you have a lot of fitness buffs at your company, offer a discount code to anyone who wants to try the latest trendy workout on a particular night.
In this case, you’re creating opportunities for the new employee to mingle and socialize with the other team members at work.
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Welcome Gift
Don’t wait until a person is leaving before you let them know how much you appreciate them.
Be intentional about giving people their flowers while you can. This concept applies within the workplace setting.
When a new employee comes on the scene, they’re promising to offer a significant amount of dedicated time to build your company.
Yes, it’s in exchange for money and opportunity.
However, there are plenty of companies that a person can choose from.
Make the new employee feel as though you’re honored they’ve chosen to join the team by creating a welcome gift package.
It’s actually really easy to prepare a gift basket.
- Find a wicker basket.
- Order a bunch of treats and helpful items from Amazon. Pre-packaged snacks like granola bars, chips and cookies can serve as basket fillers.
- A stylish tumbler for iced coffee or juice provides a nice touch.
- Then, add more items like a candle, highlighters and an industry-promoted book.
- Use cellophane wrapping material to bring everything together in a bow.
- Then, place the basket on the employee’s desk along with balloons or flowers.
This effort might seem tedious, but it really is simple. Plus, it can leave a great first impression of making an employee feel special and welcome.
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Thorough Training Materials and Feedback
A new employee knows nothing about the way systems and processes are set up within your company. This means that you’re going to need to start from the beginning with each new hire.
This can feel pretty tedious when you’re adding new members to the team while managing your own load.
This is why it’s wise to compile a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs), as well as some best practices. Help your new employees set up their workstations and overcome any technical issues they may encounter.
Create training materials that address all of the most commonly asked questions of new hires.
Consider the creation of an online training course where new hires can log in, learn the lessons and go at their own pace.
Once you’ve created the course and training materials, it’s essential to gather feedback.
Wait until a new employee has been at the job for a few months. Then, ask them about how helpful the training materials were to their beginning stages with the company.
Ask for feedback regarding ways the content can be improved. Consider areas you might’ve missed that would be helpful to someone who’s new in the future.
Because you’ve been at the company for a long time, it’s easy to develop blind spots regarding what a new employee will be able to quickly gather an understanding of.
As you get feedback, improve your systems until they run like well-oiled machinery.
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Ownership and Autonomy
One of the most empowering ways to welcome a new employee is with your trust. Since you’ve hired them to do a specific job, allow them to do it.
Too often, employees crave a sense of ownership and autonomy over a specific project.
Unfortunately, they have bosses who micromanage or maintain a high level of mistrust steeped in insecurities and lack of leadership skills.
When you hire someone to do a job, it’s wise to exercise discretion regarding how much to place on them at once.
However, once they show that they can handle a specific amount of work, allow them to take the ball and run with it.
When a new employee feels like they truly have a seat at the table, they’re simultaneously empowered to offer their best.
Conclusion
As you work on implementing these five tips into the company culture’s way of handling new hires, be mindful of ways you’ll need to customize the process for your particular office.
Some tips might work better than others.
Focus on being intentional and receptive to different ways you might need to pivot or shift.
As you take these steps, you might run into uncharted and uncomfortable territory.
However, it’s best to embrace the process and move forward because your company will reap the benefits in the long run.
About The Author
Ashley Wilson is a content creator. She has been known to reference movies in casual conversation and enjoys baking homemade treats for her husband and their two felines, Lady and Gaga. You can get in touch with Ashley via Twitter.
