5 Anthems to Woo Your New Hire

“I know you know that I made those mistakes maybe once or twice

And by once or twice I mean maybe a couple of hundred times” – Justin Bieber

Don’t make the same mistakes in your onboarding process as the Biebs does with his love life. Instead of saying sorry to your new hires, create a great onboarding process. After all, it is February and here at Click Boarding, we’re learning how to woo our candidates.

Make your new hire feel like the “only employee in the world” with these tips: 

1. “One is the Loneliest Number”

 Did you leave your new hire safely at his desk at 8:05 am with a laptop and a faint “Good luck?” If so, he might be feeling this Three Dog Night hit pretty hard right now. In fact, only 25% of employees worldwide feel connected to their company’s mission. The onboarding manager shouldn’t be working alone. Instead, try creating an atmosphere of welcome:

● Create a goodie bag that outlines some company values and includes some basic company branded gear.

● Offer some simple compliments at the weekly meeting!

● Make an internal “help” contact list. Who do they ask when the printer jams?

● Set up a meeting with the CEO or their immediate manager to help them get acquainted.

Change the loneliest number to the life of the party! 

2. L-O-V-E

 After you find that perfect candidate, the trick is actually inspiring them to stay. By introducing them to everything your company is all about and demonstrating how necessary they are to the success of the organization, you will instill passion for the work they are producing. Spell out your employee L-O-V-E.

Organizations with a standard onboarding process experience 50% greater new hire retention than those that don’t. The first few weeks can make all the difference and onboarding should last longer than just their first day or even week. It is a key component to showing new hires how much you value their time at your company. So how do you show your newest hires the love? Try:

• Organizing a new hire trivia. Quiz your experienced hires at the end of the new hire’s first week to see who got to know him or her the best!
• Hand out free company swag. Everyone should be repping your company, but it goes double for the newest member of the team!
• Take the time to set out their career goals with leadership. Not only does this fulfill a nearly ubiquitous need for a career path, it also helps your new hire get to know his or her new boss! 

3. Happy Together

Bliss is what your employee should feel during their first few weeks at your company. A new job should have the same feeling as the smell of a new car or the new found comfortability of brand new running shoes. They made the right choice, now prove it to them!

The joy beaming from your current employees should be contagious and spread to your new hires. Happy employees are at least 12% more productive, so invest in making your team happier together. How? A few ideas:

●      Take the newly gelling team out to a celebratory lunch.

●      Allow the new hire to pick the radio station for the day.

●      Treat the new hire to a day of deep dives into each of his coworkers’ responsibilities

Do your new employees make friendships with already established employees easily? Employees with friends at work are more likely to love their companies, but they may need help developing those relationships. Try spending some time with your new hire and show them how your company can be somebody to love. Accomplish this by:

● Showing them around the office, including how to work the coffee machine.

● Taking them out for an after work get-together with their new team.

● Introducing the new hire around affinity groups like sports teams or book clubs that already exist in your workplace.  

5. I Get a Kick Out of You

 Do you adore your new hire? Your onboarding process is when the real relationship begins. It’s when you find out if your new hire has what it takes. The average cost of a bad hiring decision can be several times the individual’s first-year potential earnings.

The onboarding process is not only key for them, but also for your company. Now that they are hired, the dating game is over, but don’t drop the ball now that they said YES! Step up your game. This is the time to show your new hire you get a kick out of their place on the team. These steps will make it so:

● Avoid paperwork heavy first days. Get onboarding admin out of the way with an organized system that takes place before the first day.

● Give your new hire as much “inside info” as you can before they show up (agenda, email address, handbook, etc).

● Build a welcome committee for each new hire so they have buddies built in from day one. 

Woo your new employee with some old fashioned love. 

What's your best onboarding tactic so far?  Tweet us! @clickboarding

Bio: Christine Marino

Christine is the Chief Revenue Officer of Click Boarding, LLC, a company that offers employee onboarding software and solutions. She is responsible for the sales, marketing and business development strategies. Leveraging her 18+ years of experience in the Human Capital Management space, Christine drives company growth through strategic partner relationships as well new customer acquisitions across the small to large enterprise markets.