We all get the most satisfaction out of experiences, well, in any situation when our expectations are satisfied. When they aren’t, we walk away unfulfilled with a negative experience.
This same logic applies to your candidate pool. When a new hire accepts a job offer, they expect to like their job and the company they’re working for. When that expectation is met, employees remain happy and engaged. When it goes unmet, however, employees disengage and eventually leave.
Expectations go both ways, too! Hiring managers don’t extend job offers to candidates hoping that they will fail and quit in a few months. They expect new hires to learn about the job, enjoy their work, and (obviously) perform well.
This is that shiny, blinking, overly ostentatious neon arrow that points to your organization’s onboarding process.
Onboarding is where organizations set the stage to meet or break a new hire’s expectations from the start. Companies really should be asking themselves what their onboarding process means to the organization. Don’t focus solely on the process- what are the expectations of your new hires? Processes can always change. Your company should be able to answer the following:
1) What do your new hires expect during the onboarding process?
Ex
• How do employees get paid?
• When do employee benefits kick in?
• How do employees do their job?
2) What Do Managers Expect From Onboarding?
Ex
• Building relationships with new hires
• Training new employees on job duties
• Communicating the organization’s performance standard
Your organization’s answers to these questions will impact what you do during the onboarding process. It also affects when, how it’s communicated and who is responsible. This is where your organization may elect to utilize a technology solution that handles preboarding or shorten orientation times. Managers may even choose to do team orientation sessions with HR. Anything is possible if your organization knows what is expected.
So hack into your onboarding process a bit- get feedback from both employees and managers. Ask your employees if the company is delivering on promises. Also, ask managers if new hires are developing on the job as they expect. Make it impactful: ask several times during the first six months of employment. This period is crucial, and things can go south quickly on both sides of the onboarding process/dance.
Employee onboarding is one hundred percent of setting expectations. Failing to do so only leads to disengagement and disappointment by employees and managers. This can ripple throughout your entire organization and affect the overall workplace culture while eroding any positive working environment you may have cultivated.