Who Are You Again?

You finally found them. You found that person who matches everything you were looking for. They have the attitude, the skills and the passion you want on your team. You offer them the job, they accept. Your work is finished, right? Wrong.

It's Monday, and your new hire starts today. They arrive 10 minutes before the scheduled start time, and this exchange happens:

Receptionist, with a smile: “Hi, welcome to company X, how can I help you?”

New employee: “Today is my first day here.”

Receptionist: “Oh, great, let me go find someone.”

-Versus-

Receptionist: “Hi Jeff, welcome to RAB, we are so glad you’re starting today, let me show you to your office. Along the way, I’ll show you where the bathrooms are, where the break room is and I’ll introduce you to our team. We are all excited to have you on the team. Oh, and here are your business cards.”

What’s the difference?

Preparation. Similar to ‘closing,’ when you make the sale or make the hire, that’s when the real work begins not ends. Sadly, we often miss opportunities to get our employees started in the best possible way.

Pre-boarding is the first chance to “show” and not just “tell” new employees about your company culture. It also ensures new members are set up for success within your company culture. Pre-boarding helps strengthen your brand and leads to feelings of affirmation that the employee made the right decision to come to work for you. Consider these facts:

• 58% of employees are more likely to remain with an organization after three years when they go through a structured onboarding process – The Wynhurst Group

• 17% of employees leave their employer during the first three months when the employer does not prioritize onboarding – Harvard Business Review

• Companies with an onboarding process experience 54% greater new hire productivity – CombinedHCM.com

Pre-boarding is what you do between the time they accept the offer and the time they walk in for their first day. Pre-boarding can set the tone for their employment experience with you. At RAB, we’ve developed this Pre-boarding Checklist (yes, we love checklists) to assist you in this critical phase of employment. Send me an email and I’ll be happy to send it to you.

Everyone remembers how stressful the first day of a new job can be. You can reduce the majority of that stress with effective pre-boarding. The preparation and planning you put into pre-boarding will demonstrate to your new hire how valuable they are to the organization and what a great place you are to work. Win-Win.

Jeff Schmidt is the SVP of Professional Development. You can reach him at Jeff.Schmidt@RAB.com. You can also connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.