Intentionally or not, many businesses still onboard new employees by throwing them overboard into the deep end- sink or swim.

Results can be less than desirable because this approach ignores a few important management considerations. It creates:

1. Unclear expectations – New employees need to learn quickly the culture of the business and expectations of their peers, reports, and manager. Leaving new employees to their own devices creates a fractured culture and hurts employee loyalty.
2. Bad habits – Employees will do what they can to fulfill their perceived expectations. Allowing those expectations or the methods for fulfilling them to be vague causes confusion and invites bad habits.
3. Expensive employee turnover – Estimates show that rehiring, retraining, and reorganizing around a lost employee can cost 100% of that employee’s annual salary. For sales and managerial positions, the figure can be as high as 150 – 200%. New employees may have other offers and are more likely to jump ship if poor onboarding leads to a bad first impression.

The cost of poor onboarding is very high. Improving this process is key to successful management and a healthier bottom line.

Good Onboarding Leads to Good Management

The first day, week, and month of a new hire’s employment sets the tone for his or her tenure in the organization. Good managers focus on presenting themselves and the company in the right way. Issues to be addressed include:

• Should the company be an open organization with frequent collaboration at every level, or should it have a clear management chart, departmentalized and structured?
• Should the employee focus solely on the assigned work, or will the manager be open to out-of-the-box or out-of-the-role ideas?
• What issues warrant escalation to the manager? What is the proper protocol for handling different types of issues?

These questions should inform the design of the onboarding experience as they will define the experience of working for the company. Strike the right balance early on to avoid having to reorient after bad habits and misperceived expectations have missed the mark.

How Managers Set Expectations

Simply increasing the volume of interaction between a manager and a new hire will help the new employee feel more supported and engaged. Managers should organize time for team members to train and work with the new employee, too. Encourage interaction and engagement with the company whenever possible.

Thorough training minimizes managerial time after onboarding. Developed employees manage themselves and won’t need to speak with a manager for every question or issue. They are typically more self-motivated and goal-oriented, and can be more loyal and effective employees.

A new employee being on-boarded also presents a good reason to reset expectations and review procedures with current employees. Raise the bar or move the goal posts with new employees to transform the team.

Please request more information on our Management Training Classes.

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.