10 Tips to Engage Your New Hire

10 Tips to Engage Your New HireThis is Part 3 of a series on how your small business can hire the best employees. Part 1 showed you how to reach active and passive candidates. Part 2 gave you 7 secret interview techniques. Now, you will learn how to ensure your new hire shows up for work on their first day and get them engaged and productive? These 10 tips will immediately engage your new hire.

You’ve done the hard work of recruiting and found the perfect employee. You can relax and wait for them to arrive on their first day. Sorry, you have more work to do. You’re busy but you want your new employee to show up on day one, right? These 10 tips to get your new hire productive quickly.

1. Stay connected after they accept your offer.

Remember to stay in touch with your candidate. Use the time between offer acceptance and their start date wisely. Send information about their new job and the company. Fast, simple ways to connect are the company newsletter or a welcome message from the owner.

2. Give them your new hire paperwork.

The worst first-day experience is sitting in a room reading your handbook and filling out forms. Your new employee is excited about the work they’ll do, not paperwork. Have them arrive on their first day with the forms completed.

3. Make them feel they’re part of your team.

Show them what it means to be part of your company and how their work contributes. Invite them to an informal get-together with other staff members. Or, include them in after-hours events like happy hours or other social activities.

4. Pay attention to what’s important to your new hire.

This is where many businesses fail in their onboarding process. This is an important career move for your candidate, and you want to recognize that. Find ways to involve them with their work before they start, like inviting them to join you on a customer visit. Your candidate will appreciate it and it will pay off with a shorter learning curve.

5. Have their workspace ready.

Imagine how it feels to arrive on your first day and your workspace isn’t ready. Have a desk, chair, computer, phone, and basic office supplies. Include a nice card or note that says, “We’re glad you’re here.”

6. Plan for their first day, week, and month.

Set aside time to introduce your new hire to their new co-workers, tour the office. Provide a schedule for their first week. Remember, it’s hard to be the new kid. Set up a lunch with a few people. Everyone has to eat and it’s a great way for your new hire to get to know his or her new co-workers.

7. Connect your new hire with the people they need to know.

Instead of tossing your new hire out there to figure out who they need to meet, connect them to those people. You want your most important customers or vendors to know who will be serving their needs.

8. Assign a go-to person.

Assign a go-to person for questions. This is an opportunity for the go-to person to show leadership skills. It’s also a way for your new employee to get help and feedback without having to worry about appearing silly in front of their new boss.

9. Help them learn your language.

What acronyms do you use? What industry terms might be new or unfamiliar? Set them up for success. You want your new hire to meet important customers armed with the correct terminology.

10. Create a master checklist.

Standardize your onboarding process. Create a master checklist that documents every single thing that has to happen, and by what day. Include everything beginning with the signed offer letter through their first year. Document things like performance check-ins, setting goals, salary increases, and benefits eligibility.

These 10 tips will quickly engage your new hire. When your new hire experiences this kind of welcome, they can focus on doing their work. And isn’t that your goal anyway?

Have a question or want help to engage your new hire? Click this link to schedule a complimentary Insight session. It’s an investment of 15 minutes of focused coaching that will pay huge dividends.

Want more information about hiring for your small business? The YOLO Principle: The Ultimate Hiring Guide for Small Business is packed with tools, step-by-step instructions, and everything you need to engage your new hire. Purchase your copy here or on Amazon.