OK, so you have secured a new employee to join you – great news! But what’s the next step? The induction, or “on-boarding” as some call it, of a new recruit into the business is critical. The first few hours, days and weeks in an employees’ life within your company can seriously affect their attitude towards you, the brand, and maybe even their performance and length of service. Remember a ‘probation period’ is applicable to both parties: during this time, its relatively easy to get rid of someone. However, it’s just as easy for them to leave your office one evening and to not return the next day.
These days, with this ongoing war for talent, good quality candidates get multiple offers. Since I’ve been in China, I have many times witnessed a candidate accepting two jobs, and literally ‘trialing’ the first one out. If they didn’t like it, they upped and left, moving on to take the next job.
Before the first day
A confirmation email should be sent as soon as they have accepted the position, welcoming them on board, requesting that they complete any required administration prior to arrival, and to highlight any documentation that they need to bring with them on the first day.
They may not have had their interviews at the office or site location they will be working so always include a map and directions with all the contact information. Another point is please make sure they know what to wear – arriving on the first day too casual or too formal is embarrassing, like turning up at a BBQ in a tuxedo, or donning Bermudas to a formal affair.
Your IT, Finance and HR departments will also need to know the start date to prepare, as will the PR or Marketing department, should the new hire warrant a press release.
Most new employees will understandably have an element of trepidation, so make the first day as comfortable for them as you can! Give them a call the day before they are due to start – not a text or email, as they may have some last minute questions. This will be the ideal opportunity to align any fears they may have. To be honest, I actually get all the consultants here at Antal to do that to candidates they place – it’s a really nice, thoughtful gesture; and the candidates love it.
On their first morning get your new recruit to start an hour after the normal start of the working day. That way should any disaster happen whereby you are delayed you still won’t be late for them. Internally, amongst your team/office/country/region (whatever’s applicable), you should distribute information about your new recruit – a short bio, maybe even a photo, so all your existing employees will recognize the new kid on the block, know a little about them, and be able to welcome them to the company.
Finally, and equally as important, please don’t forget to let your front-of-house staff know whom to expect, and what time to expect them. Can you imagine turning up for work on your first day, and the receptionist questioning who you are with a puzzled face?
First day
If you are going to put your new recruit into training or induction from day one, make sure that they have bios of other attendees, or if you haven’t had time to prepare this, then at least allow them five minutes at the beginning to present themselves formally to the group.
And so the training begins
The key here is to manage expectations – inform them what they will cover over the forthcoming days and weeks – however long it takes to totally immerse them in the position you have hired them for.
Here at Antal, the first day in anyone’s life here, regardless of tenure or position, will be spent understanding our policies and procedures outlined in our staff manual, and thereafter placed into a 30/60/90 day training course, depending on their seniority. This is extremely effective as it combines both classroom style training, where people learn the A to Z of the recruitment process, and desk-level activity participation, where theory is put into practice.
I must admit though, it’s taken years for us to produce this training, and we are constantly updating it to adhere to clients’ requirements, to changes in technology and global recruiting techniques. We also try and provide the training so it’s replicable amongst teams and across different time-zones – no mean feat!
My other half often says “Every day should be a learning day!” to me, and he’s right. Here in Asia, I am very proud to add that Antal has been shortlisted for the ‘Best In-house Training’ award, amongst others, at the Global Recruiter Awards ceremony this month. And guess what? Next edition I am going to share my tips on how to successfully train your staff – by then hopefully we will have picked up the award!
Sarah Jones is Head of Operations at Antal International, winner of “Best International Recruitment Agency” at the 2012 Recruiter Awards.