Whenever a new hire starts his/her first day of work at a new company, there should be certain levels of excitement that are palpable within the workplace. Your organization is growing, and you should welcome the latest addition as a sign of growth and strength to your current state. However retaining those new hires and their talents beyond a couple years is proving to become more and more of a challenge for companies of any size. According to a November 2016 Human Capital Bench-marking report conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, annual turnover rates are close to 20%, and cost companies up to 40% of the employee’s salary when they do leave. While not surprising, a key factor in employee turnover is due to disengagement in the workplace. A 2015 Gallup Poll found that only 32% of U.S. workers truly felt they were “engaged” in their current job, while over 50% felt they were not engaged at all. There is no coincidence that employees who do not feel as if they have a voice within an organization leave – regardless of industry.

So your company spent all this time, money, research and resources recruiting, interviewing, vetting, and hiring this new employee. How do you keep them? Here are a few ideas to keep in mind to help you retain that top tier talent you worked so hard to get.

Laying a Sound Foundation
It is critical that your new employee becomes familiar with your company culture and practices as soon as possible. The quicker they get up to speed the sooner they can begin to focus on adding value to your company by performing the role they were brought onboard to do! Recently Source One developed and implemented a new “onboarding” process that all non-executive new hires are required to go through. Through our process, new hires are trained on the various levels of Source One’s best in class sourcing practices which includes reading our book Managing Indirect Spend, meeting members of the team, learning about the various roles within the organization, meeting with executive management to discuss the history of the company, as well as career paths. Employees aren’t actually assigned to any formal client work until the end of their second week on the job. This way they can shadow, learn, and become familiar with the inner workings of Source One without having the pressure of having to perform right off the bat.

Let Them Take Ownership
Some believe the best and only way to learn is through baptism by fire – which can be an effective method to evaluate how your new hire handles adversity and pressure right off the bat. However sometimes this can push competent employees out the door after a while due to burnout. Having your new employee work on a project or with a client that can help set them up for success is something that they will recognize more often than not. Once put in a familiar position and one in which opportunity is there for the taking, chances are they’ll deliver.

Check In So They Don’t Check Out

Nobody likes a micro manager, but keeping in touch with your new hire by having weekly or bi monthly meetings during their first few months will help keep you in the loop of how things are progressing, and potentially avoid any disconnects or your new hire becoming frustrated. Transparency goes a long way during the early stages at a new job, and letting your new employee know he/she can come to you with any/all concerns is a great way to establish a level of respect and trust.

The first few months of a new employee’s tenure are critical to long term growth and retention. Keeping in mind these management techniques and approaches will help make sure you give your new hire every chance to succeed, and grow along with your business.
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Nick Harasymczuk

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