Onboarding, Part 3: The first six months
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By now, you are probably convinced how important onboarding is and how simple gestures and help with adjusting make it easier for everyone to cohabitate in a team. In this third and final blog post dedicated to onboarding, we will give you some tips on how to nurture the relationship with your employee in their first few months.
One month has passed. Better check in on them!
Your new employee probably feels more comfortable and does work on their own. Maybe they even have their own initiatives and ideas and don’t feel the need for everything to be double-checked and approved. It seems like everything is going smoothly.
Still, you should probably get their feedback. Chat with them about their opinion. It is really valuable to you at this point. Did the job meet their expectations? Is there anything they feel can be done in a better way? Do they have any suggestions about processes and how we can make them more efficient? Are they satisfied by their coworkers and the way they are treating them? Do they feel left out of things?
As we already mentioned, 17.60% of new employees quit in the first month. This transitioning period is ‘make or break’ most of the time. If they don’t feel like a good fit for your company, aren’t satisfied with what they do, or feel left out from the team, they will probably leave.
If you feel like there is a bit of improvement to do for your new employee, give them a performance review and feedback on both good and bad practices. Don’t be too harsh on them — most of the people need more than a month to relax and fit in.
If you haven’t done that yet, add them to the company’s website in the ‘Our team’ section. Post their photo and a short bio on your social media, or write a blog about them. This will make them feel valued and give them a sense of pride to be with you.
Fast-forward to the next few months…
A survey by process.st we previously mentioned claims that 16.62% of new employees quit in the first week of work, 17.60% quit in the first month, 16,94% leave the company in the second month, 17,60% leave in the third month, 11,08% leave in the fourth month, 5.54% quit in the fifth month, and 14,63% do it on the sixth.
So, the first half-year of your employee’s journey in the company is extremely important. If they make it to six months, they are probably there for the long haul.
- Continue with the regular check-ups, once every two months. Continue keeping tabs on their suggestions and feedback. Remember that their part of the story is very valuable for you — not only that you want to keep your employees, their perspective will help you have a better practice when you are onboarding a new employee in the future.
- Gradually broaden the scope of their responsibilities. Don’t keep them with tied hands and trivial responsibilities for so long. Broaden the information they know about the position and company. Include them in bigger projects, so both the employee and you can earn each other’s trust.
- Keep the brand promise. An employee will appreciate it if the brand keeps its promise. If you don’t believe in and implement your own mission, vision and the values you set up for yourself, the employee won’t feel an obligation to feel that either. For example, if empathy and collaboration are one of your core values, but don’t stay true to that statement, why should the employee be empathetic and collaborative? Often times, a brands’ vision and mission is the deciding trait for a potential candidate. If that is what brought them over, that is what will make them stay.
