How to support a new teammate in order to enable both the company and the new employee to know one other’s needs and simplify the process of receiving a new team member in an organization? We are going to examine this subject together with Robert Strzelecki, vice-president of the TenderHut technological company and creator of the Zonifero App.
The phrase onboarding has recently been adopted by the HR industry. In human resources departments, onboarding refers to the process of adapting a new employee to the work routine of a particular company. It is a complicated process for both the HR department and the new employee. The trial period usually lasts about three months, which is generally too short for the employee to get acquainted with the company, co-workers and his professional duties. The employer has numerous requirements regarding the new worker, but is the company offering enough to keep the newly acquired specialist within the organization?
The first impression is the most important
Resignation from work during the trial period is a real nightmare for companies in current times, now that the labor market is employee-oriented. Research that has been conducted does not look optimistic: approximately22% of employees resign from their new job during the first 45 days of work. In the first 4 months of work, at the end of the trial period, nearly 50% of new employees decide to quit their job. Many employers are mistaken when assuming that an employee on their trial period has been acquired by the company and thus does not require additional attention. Meanwhile, a good reception of a worker in his first days of work is a key factor in his decision on whether to continue working for a particular company. The first impression is key, and it should get better and better over time –says Robert Strzelecki. – Handing a set of company gadgets or presenting a new employee to all the team members is not sufficient nowadays. This approach can be found in every company, but standing out as a company from day one and making an impression of a worker-oriented organization is what makes a difference.
Different methods of boarding employees
The standard procedure is to provide a mentor for the newly acquired person in order to acquaint him with the character of the company. Usually, thenew worker’s immediate supervisor or a person who worked at the same position is chosen to be the mentor. – Conversations with new employees are important, but in my opinion, they do not present the company in its full glory. Besides, their mentor is not excused from his normal duties, which means that he may have insufficient time to acquaint a new worker with the company, meaning that the issue of the worker’s swift instalment remains unresolved –says Robert Strzelecki. Such trivial activities as acquainting a new worker with the company’s management are often forgotten. Of course, we are not talking about a simple handshake, but about showing the employee that he is an important link in the company’s structure and that the manager finds it important to talk to him directly. Such gestures lay a good foundation for future cooperation –adds Strzelecki, who has welcomed nearly 200 new employees within the past 2 years of activity. Personal issues that need to addressed by an employee at the new company are only one side of the coin. A well-performed onboarding process can result in ……… the sensation of being lost in the office space. It may sound strange, but in reality, this is a major threat. An employee who feels lost in a large company gets frustrated and less efficient, because he is wasting time in order to find particular places and people at the company. I encountered this problem with my own company. We solved this problem using that in which we are experts, which is innovative technologies –adds the Vice-president of TenderHut.
The youth follow technology
While designing an effective onboarding process, one must take into consideration the characteristics of the generation that is entering the labor market at the moment. When it comes to the members of Generation Y or the even younger Generation Z – they are young people oriented towards new technologies, no matter the industry they are working in. All mobile tools are their natural environment. This constitutes a trend that a company needs to be aware of during the onboarding process –indicates Robert Strzelecki. All features that will make the employee feel like he is working at a modern and elite company are important. For these reasons, Robert Strzelecki designed the mobile app, which is a company organizer and transforms the office work routine to fit on a smartphone.
Thanks to Zonifero, the problem ofwandering employees within the organization will be eliminated due to the fact that all the information needed in order to find ourselves within theoffice, or to locate particular employees, can be found on our smartphones. The app includes a detailed map of the entire office and navigates to particular company locations, such as kitchens, HR departments, leisure zones. It also indicates where particular workers are working and presents new employees to the rest of the team. The app allows for instant access to the contact information of particular colleagues, who can be contacted via the application. The WIKI module allows the worker to acquire all the required information concerning the organization of the workplace. The user can additionally organize meetings, book conference rooms and notify employees about meetings – all this with only a few clicks on the smartphone, without unnecessary e-mails or phone calls –explains Strzelecki. – It is worth mentioning, that Zonifero was also used during our own recruiting procedures in order to present our organizational culture. Young people respond with enthusiasm to such novelties and are impressed when the company offering them a job is innovative and digitalized. Such trivial things as signing an attendance list with one click on the smartphone really makes a difference for young people, and is perceived in a more positive way than a traditional list signed at the HR department. In my opinion, innovative solutions are the direction that companies should take, with regard to both recruitment and onboarding procedures.
Under today’s circumstances, where the employee dictates where they want to work and not the other way around, skipping or limiting the onboarding procedure is a bad decision. The process of recruiting a new employee will certainly last longer, so it is better not to take the risk – Robert Strzelecki humorously adds.
