Pure Learning is an Australian based eLearning provider with a passion for ‘Putting the learning back into eLearning’. Today, Raf’s sharing his thoughts on the importance of new employee inductions and remembering who it should be focused on.
It’s a Thursday afternoon and you’re on a call with a Raymond. You’re calling to letting him know he’s been successful in getting that ‘Customer Engagement Officer’ role you’ve been trying to fill for the last month and a half.
‘We’re excited to have you onboard and look forward to you meeting the team in a few weeks time. Ok, yes, I’ll email through the details. No worries, take care and have a great weekend.’
You hang up the phone.
You sit back, and with a sigh of relief, a feeling of satisfaction washes over you as you begin to imagine Ray’s excited fist-pumping action and his ‘happy dance’. He strikes you as a guy that knows how to break it down. You’ve made his day.
So what happens from here?
Well, there are some alarming statistics that suggest for a lot of organisations, what happens from here goes a little pear shaped.
When it comes to the topic of employee recruitment and retention, there are some commonly known but rather alarming staff turnover statistics:
- 22% of staff turnover occurs in the first 45 days
- 47% of staff turnover occurs within the first 90 days
- It takes between two to three months to replace an employee
- depending on the role, it can cost between 30% and 150% of an employee’s salary to replace them
What makes these figures even more alarming is voluntary turnover has shown continued growth, rising from 11.7% in 2013 to 12.2% in 2014.
So how does an organisation go about combating these figures and ensuring that they hold on to their new starters?
A structured and purposeful on-boarding program.
It had been found that new employees who went through a structured on-boarding program were 58% more likely to be with the organisation after three years.
The first few days or weeks is when a new starter decides if their decision to join the organisation was the right one. So it is important that during this time the organisation is focused on what the new starter needs, rather than their own specific needs.
Many organisations fall into a trap of bombarding a new starter with policies, procedures and paperwork. This isn’t the goal of an employee induction program. You’re not trying to to install software on a new machine, you’re trying to connect and bond with a person.
The goal for an employee induction, be it face to face, eLearning or blended, is to help a new starter better connect with the brand, organisations values and see how they fit in. You want new starters to feel empowered to be able to do things for themselves by telling them where to find support and help alleviate any anxiety they may have as the get up to speed.
So think about it, is your organisation focused on really providing an enjoyable and engaging onboarding experience? Or are you trying to simply tick and many check-boxes as possible on day one, showing them where the toilet is and leaving your new starter to find their way alone from there?
And if so, what are you going to do about it?
Head Of Client Solutions | Pure Learning