Companies Often Think They're Doing this Right, But They're Not

​Have you ever started a job, and not one person appeared to be expecting you that day?
 
Except for perhaps the hiring manager, who offered you the job, but you're not sure, since they're nowhere to be seen.
 
You showed-up early, but it wouldn’t have mattered if you were late, since no-one knew you were coming.
 
❌ You were escorted to a random, empty desk, and were told that it was 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 ok for you to sit there.
❌ After an hour or two sitting there, you may have been handed a laptop, that hadn’t been set-up for you yet.
❌ Eventually, your new boss ran out of a meeting, and showed you to the right desk.
❌ Maybe even hastily introduced you to your new co-workers.
❌ Before running off again, having thrown the employee handbook at you, and told you to read it for the morning.
❌ Interrupted at some point by someone (you have no idea who), giving you some new hire forms to complete.
❌ Lunchtime came but you had no idea where to go, or even if this was the regular lunch time at this organization.
 
And on and on…
 
💠 Welcome to your new job!
 
Fortunately, this type of experience was more common in the past.
 
And today, thankfully, many companies now do a much better job of welcoming new hires.
 
Still, according to HBR, 22% of companies have no formal onboarding program at all, while 49% have only a partially successful process.
 
Yet it’s critical, since the first few hours and days set the tone for them.
 
𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙮.
 
Better yet, think beyond a few days.
 
✅ And instead, provide a robust onboarding experience, over a minimum of 90 days, or, even better, six+ months.
✅ As opposed to just a paperwork-focused orientation.
✅ Even better, the best organizations begin their onboarding before the new hire’s first day.
 
𝘽𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚: Onboarding is a critical practice to ensure new hires feel welcome and fully integrated into their new roles and organizations.
 
If not in place, they will be less productive, more stressed, and feel disconnected from their teams.
 
Making them more likely to quickly look for work elsewhere.