Everyone knows that first impressions are important.
But have you ever considered the fact that it only takes about 7 seconds for an individual to have a solid impression - good or bad - about you and your organization?
During this time of Great Resignation, it may be more important than ever before for non-profit organizations to be serious about not only finding the best talent, but keeping them, as part of their sustainability plan. At a time when so many are leaving to look for work lives that fit for them, employers need to commit to providing a positive and engaging experience at every stage of the hiring process. From first meeting, to onboarding, to retention and beyond, employees want to work for employers who care about them so they can take better care of clients.
So what can you do to make the best first impression on a new hire and improve your chances of them staying for the longer haul?
Hiring is only 50% of the job, the other 50% comes within the first thirty days and if you fail to embed them into the team, you’ve lost them.” Matt Weston, UK Managing Director, Robert Half
The idea of creating and implementing a “new and improved” onboarding process might feel overwhelming and time-wasting when you have so many competing demands for your very limited resources. In stressful times like these, it could be easy to overlook the importance of a well-executed onboarding process.
Taking time from the beginning of a new hire’s journey to ensure they have everything they need for a successful experience from the very beginning, can be one of the most valuable uses of your resources to ensure a strong future for your organization.
You may be thinking, that’s great for fortune 500 companies but we are a non-profit who doesn’t have the budgets and resources that a for-profit has access to. Community services are constantly having to re-arrange, make-do-with, and be highly creative to provide what clients need and to sustain the organization’s future.
If you are a hiring manager, or are responsible for managing the hiring budget line, you may be tempted to skimp on the onboarding process but to compete for the best employees takes best employee programs, which includes better onboarding.
“We must never be too busy to take time to sharpen the saw.” says Stephen R. Covey, Author, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
Even though you might agree that onboarding is an important process, your imagination may not be able to stretch far enough to determine where you’ll get the time and energy to develop and implement such a process. The good news is, you don’t need to start from scratch. There are some great ideas and affordable resources out there that have done the leg-work for you. Listed below are just a few of them.
ALLONBOARD
The people at Allonboard, understand how critical onboarding is to your success and have developed an amazing app and resources to help you from day one of the onboarding process.
ALLONBOARD ONBOARDING CHECKLIST
Make the most of a new hire’s first year with these helpful tips and milestones by using this checklist.
ALLONBOARD MENTOR HANDBOOK
The mentor role is a critical puzzle piece in onboarding success. Learn more about it with this informative handbook.
THE 9 BEST EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING APPS FOR 2022
More onboarding apps that might prove helpful.
Even if you and your organization are not in the position to implement a new, full onboarding program, take the time to review how you onboard new hires to see where you might be able to make some simple improvements.
Let me know in the Comments section your experience with onboarding and whether or not you feel it a valuable use of your resources.