Checklist (do it today!) to retain valuable hires

I call them the 3 C’s–

After all your time and effort to find the right person for a role in your organization, wouldn’t it make sense to do all you can to hold on to those valued employees? One statistic suggests within the first two weeks, each new hire will decide whether they like the job or not. You don’t have much time to impact their decision! Make every day count.

So . . . right away

1–Connect with your newly-hired employees

• effective onboarding can make the difference–orient them right away
• assign them a “buddy” who will show them the ropes around the office (coffee, best lunch spots, best resources within the office, essential personnel contacts, etc.)
• reinforce the organization’s mission and vision and what impact they can have in their roles
• get them to work doing what you hired them to do right away (keep training classes to a minimum at first if you can)
• offer them a coach or mentor to support their efforts to be successful (quite different than a buddy)
• include them in meetings that may help them understand the business, the office or other managers even if they are not directly related to his or her job

2–Help them to feel confident in their role

• It warrants repeating—get them going right away on a project or task where they can contribute to the work of the team or organization
• Make sure they are included in email groups and any other team communication apps
• Have their manager touch base often and also have less frequent but in-depth discussions so no questions or issues go unaddressed for long
• When your new hires contribute, acknowledge it. Remember time is short and you hired each employee for a reason.

3—Create ways for them to become competent contributors to your company asap.

• You hired this person because of certain skill sets and abilities. Put those to work right away with challenging yet interesting assignments that will engage the new hire and make them feel like a contributor.
• It’s unnecessary to call the new hire period “probationary”. The company and the new hire are evaluating fit every day. Naming it as such is a power play that has legal and criminal overtones. Your hiring practices are better than that.
• If they need training, get that going on Day One (just not full days if you can help it). Be smart about the schedule.
• Always treat employees with respect—whether a new hire or a VP—they all deserve it.

As a former HR manager and now life & business coach, my advice is that planning and diligence in the hiring process can have big payoffs impacting your product and service as well as the bottom line.