“We spend so much time and talent finding the right person, why not spend as much effort on keeping them?” This is the line that stuck with me the most during my interview with Amy Hirsh Robinson. Her session, The First 90 Days Will Make Or Break Your New Hire, will be presented at the SHRM Annual Conference in New Orleans.
I could not agree more.
I like to say that onboarding starts in the recruitment process and lasts through the employees first several months or even year into their employment. Yet, as Amy points out, we tend to throw them to the wolves too soon and lose them almost before we even really have them.
Amy points out that all employees have an onboarding experience. Whether you have a formal onboarding program or not, they experience something. It is important to make sure that experience or imprint as Amy calls it, is a positive one. As we know, once the impression is made, it is hard to change it.
Amy will go through the details of what makes a great onboarding program in her session, but sites generational context as an important factor. Each generation in the workforce has different expectations for work, communication and how they are treated, explained Amy. It’s important to understand who you are hiring and tailor onboarding programs to each generation.
The biggest challenge companies face according to Amy is looping managers in about the importance of onboarding. In my work, I find that onboarding is often seen as a touchy-feely that just isn’t necessary. As we move more and more of a younger generation into the workforce this mindset is going to have to change. It isn’t touchy-feely, it is a must have that helps employees integrate properly into the workplace.
Amy says her session is suited for anyone and she gives examples throughout for both large and small businesses.
Check out this and her other sessions throughout the SHRM conference.
Sabrina Baker, PHR is the owner of Acacia HR Solutions a human resource consulting and recruiting firm. She specializes in the four main developmental stages of the employee life cycle: recruiting, training, succession and outplacement. You can connect with her on Twitter and Linkedin.
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