Onboarding
New Years and Onboarding can elicit the same feelings
Building a team can be challenging so it is vital to provide new employees with a positive initial impression. The interview process involves numerous conversations and maybe a few meals together, but most companies stumble once the offer is finalized. Without a positive first impression, companies face greater odds of key hires leaving within the first year.
The last few months of the year are filled with holidays and celebrations, culminating in a countdown on New Year Eve. Then suddenly after months of packed calendars, holiday decorations are turned off and celebrations stop. Recruiting new employees has several similarities with weeks or months of interviews followed by a celebration of the offer. Similar to waking up on New Years Day, after the offer is signed most companies tend to go silent until the new employee shows up for their first day. After several weeks of interviews and excitement of the new opportunity, the sudden quiet leaves room for doubts and uncertainty to take hold.
Onboarding
Most companies may view onboarding as establishing an email address and benefits but fail to realize the challenges a new employee has to confront. Let’s consider the timeline of what occurs before that exciting first day:
Resign from current job, which involves leaving a team and friendships.
Inform family, friends, and peers about the job change.
Prepare to enter a new world with its own culture and political challenges.
Navigate the entire process with minimal guidance or past experience.
What Can Be Done
We advise smaller companies pursuing strong candidates to eliminate the feeling of waking up on New Years Day with an empty calendar. A few strategies we have encountered to keep new employees engaged during the transition between accepting a job and their first day:
Send a gift card or make a reservation (and prepay) at a local restaurant for them to celebrate with their family.
Deliver a care package of company swag. Even small items such as water bottles or notepads can serve as visual reminders employees are part of the new team.
Include new employees in company lunches or happy hours, even if these may be virtual events.
Offer career coaching to assist with the transition, specifically focused on structuring a resignation letter and outlining goals for the first 30-60 days at the new company.
How Great Candidates Are Lost
Advising and investing in early-stage companies provides a front row seat to several onboarding failures. Growing a team is challenging when recruiting candidates from larger companies or those who have multiple offers. A few examples of how not to handle the process:
Do not send any type of congratulations or express excitement with extending the offer.
A few days after the offer, ask if the employee can move up their start date or would work part-time while still employed at their old company.
Send a link to the company store where they can buy (with their own money) company swag.
Defer questions until their first day and ignore requests for calls or meetings.
In an environment of increasingly virtual teams, onboarding new employees is more than just the benefits overview on the first day. Instead onboarding should be a defined practice starting at the time of an offer and involves support and interaction throughout the transition period.