How Leaders Can Onboard The Hearts And Minds Of Their New People
Originally published in Forbes.
One of the main reasons new employees leave in those first 90 days is because they are neither emotionally connected to the company and their new team, nor are they being trained correctly or set up for success. Their hearts and minds are so damaged in the first 90 days that, regardless of their talent and potential, they have no other choice but to leave. If they do stay, they often fail to engage with or contribute meaningfully to the company.
I’ve seen this issue of high new-hire turnover happen time and time again with many of my clients, and it almost always leads back to a lack of proper onboarding. To avoid this from happening with your team, here are four rules on how you can onboard your new employees successfully.
1. Establish the right priorities on the first day. Early in my career, I was fortunate enough to open hotels with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company under Horst Schulze. He would remind us every day that an employee’s first day of their new job was the most important. He argued that there are few times in a person’s life when they are truly open to change; however, one of those times is usually during the start of a new job.