Effective onboarding of new employees is important for your business
Whether recruiting employees for permanent positions or for temporary assignments, it's important to get "the right employee - right in - in the right job". Onboarding new employees is not just about attracting the right people. It's also about having a plan or program that ensures a new employee gets a thorough and useful introduction to your company. So that they quickly feel a part of the company, understand the culture and can utilize their skills in their new job.
This way, the company will benefit from the new employee's resources more quickly. At the same time, the employee will settle into their new job faster, adding value and feeling like a useful and valued part of a company they don't want to leave.
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Competition is fierce when you're hiring new staff or need a temporary worker.
Of course, it's largely about attracting the resources and experience needed to produce efficiently, on time and to the right quality. But as the labor market stands right now, despite crises, lockdowns and increased demand for raw materials, many companies are struggling to hire the employees they need.
There is a shortage of skilled labor in many industries, which means that each company must hope that their competitors' employees will be tempted to try something new. Perhaps a new management team, new professional challenges, better opportunities for influence or more in the pay packet, which makes it possible for you to "buy" your competitors' employees. It could also mean that you suddenly find yourself in a situation where you are the one who needs new employees - because your neighbor offers more or better than you do.
Read also: Temporary staffing agency specializing in the metal and construction industry
Employees with the right skills profile.
Successful recruitment is all about finding the right employee for the right job. Some employees are brought in because there is a specific demand for particular skills or experience that are useful "right now". Others are hired to be developed for tasks that lie in the future. Still others are recruited almost as a "template", without specific requirements or skills, because the production is simple and doesn't change much over time.
When we recruit staff for both temporary and permanent positions, there is of course a difference in the specific requirements that user companies have for a new employee. For permanent positions, the selection process is more complex than for shorter temporary positions, where the focus is primarily on the professional skills needed for the tasks "right now".
When recruiting for temporary positions, the demand is often reduced to an employee who can operate a given machine. This could be welding specific materials, building a roof, casting a foundation or filling and painting a property. The skills profile of the candidates must of course include the right professionalism, the necessary certificates, etc. As well as a few personal skills - the ability to get up in the morning, show up on time, keep appointments and focus on quality. On the other hand, it is extremely rare that social skills take up a lot of space when recruiting temporary workers.
Want us to help you find skilled labor?
When you need to hire staff or use temporary workers with a different cultural background.
As Procur supplies predominantly foreign labor, there are two specific considerations we want to discuss with our customers. Firstly, language skills and secondly, culture. While the language aspect is almost self-evident, it can be more difficult to deal with the cultural differences that often only really become apparent when something has gone wrong - misunderstood or wrongly expected.
We provide experienced and skilled employees who have grown up in different cultures. They have attended different school systems, where there may have been different habits and ways of doing "things". That's why it's especially important to set clear expectations to ensure that both supervisors and future colleagues are aware that the new employees don't have the slightest prerequisite for "business as usual".
That's why we emphasize practical experience when selecting employees for temporary positions. Practical experience provides access to a shared professional framework of understanding, which is particularly valuable when management, colleagues and new employees need to communicate in a foreign language. At the same time, the shared professionalism serves as an extra sense of security when both parties have the same "working language".
FAQ
Onboarding is the process of giving new hires the best possible introduction to their new workplace. A plan for how a new employee can best and quickly feel part of their new workplace. Know their own role and the expectations associated with it, and begin to understand the company culture - why colleagues do what they do.
Onboarding is the "whole package" - not just hiring the right employee. It's also about making the new employee feel welcome. Making sure the "practicalities" are taken care of, such as work clothes, keys, passwords and codes for the door, working hours, breaks and a designated fridge for packed lunches. It's also about making the new employee feel expected. Employees who make themselves available, show them around, answer questions, follow up and support them with instructions and feedback.
Onboarding is also about introduction to the tasks themselves, the expected handling, completion and quality. And about collaboration, training and follow-up.
Effective, well-planned and consistently executed onboarding ensures that the employee feels welcome in their new job, understands the requirements and criteria, and is able to perform effectively on the job.
Effective onboarding is also about attracting and retaining the right employees. It's about ensuring effective recruitment and successful retention.
Effective onboarding is a planned process to ensure maximum efficiency - and therefore value - for the company when hiring employees.
Poor onboarding is like a bad first impression. If new employees don't feel greeted, acknowledged or even welcomed, it can easily lead to a sense of "wrongness". And that can be enough for talented employees to look for workplaces that "go the extra mile"
Your employees leave because they don't feel appreciated. And because others go the extra mile.
Successful collaboration begins with good onboarding.
They say that happy pigs have curly tails. And that a happy employee is a productive employee. That's why it can be good for business to make sure your employees are happy both at work and in the workplace, so you get the best return on your payroll and the flexibility that temporary workers can bring to your business. Of course, just like any other employee you hire, temporary workers should be thoroughly introduced to your company, your other employees, methods, and the success criteria you want in the collaboration.
All other employees need to be aware that a new colleague is joining the company and will likely need help finding their way around the company and their job. This requires a focus not only on professional matters, but also on social life in the workplace. It can be lonely around the lunch table if you don't feel accepted and welcome. And when there are so many other opportunities, why stay in a place where you don't thrive?
Leadership - is also about reassurance for new employees.
Welcome the new hire.
Appointing key employees who are the new employee's "go to" person from the first contact at the company can make a big difference. A good induction isn't just about production. It's also about making the new employee feel welcome. Is comfortable with "this is how we do things". Know where questions can be answered. Getting started with their work and, not least, receiving feedback on performance and quality, etc.
Similarly, it can be valuable to have designated employees, experienced colleagues who take responsibility for the temp's social connection during their employment. Who are available, willing and approachable to talk to the new employee. Make sure they don't sit alone in the lunch room, can find their way to the coffee machine, smoking room, toilet and all the other little things that a new employee should never have to look for on their own.
Alignment of expectations and clear leadership.
It's deep within all of us that we want to do our best. As a manager, it's your responsibility to create the conditions for your employees to succeed. Furthermore, it is a basic human need to be recognized and acknowledged. Therefore, it is also a real task that you and your colleagues must take on.
Be available, follow up on the tasks you have initiated. Be clear in your feedback so that both you and your employees can be sure that the effort is on target. And remember to ensure that expectations are met both ways - employees naturally have expectations of the company, the job and you as a manager.
Onboarding requires more than a welcome.
Most attempts to recruit new employees are primarily based on what professional skills the company needs for the current production. The question is therefore often reduced to "what are we missing right now?" This makes particular sense when it comes to recruiting temporary employees.
Unfortunately, maintaining the "here and now" mindset with new employees can be problematic. According to Voxmeter's "Candidate Analysis 2019", when asked what a new employee considers most important in terms of job satisfaction in their new job, 55% state that the most important thing is to settle in socially. Here, 55% state that the most important thing is to settle in well socially. 34% point to whether the company has prepared an introduction program that covers at least the first two weeks of employment. While 31% point to a close dialog with their manager as the most important element in starting a new position.
It goes without saying that an employee's professional skills are important for them to be able to do their job. But from the new employee's point of view, preparation and readiness to open the door to new employees is of great importance - if the new employee is to settle in and want to stay in their new job.
In the case of permanent hires, Garuda reports that 25% of new hires have left the workplace within a year. 22% of those who leave their jobs do so within 45 days. A whopping 90% of new hires decide to stay within 6 months.
When onboarding doesn't work out.
Even if the professionalism is in place and both parties show up with the best of intentions, a collaboration can hit some bumps in the road. Perhaps expectations are not aligned well enough. Maybe the chemistry between the parties isn't right and the collaboration is filled with misunderstandings, friction and resentment. When these situations arise and an employee has to leave the company early, it's useful to give the company an overhaul. Even though it's usually the employee who "loses" in the short term, there may well be opportunities and room for adaptation and improvement. This can create the basis for better collaboration and greater benefits the next time a new employee joins the company.
Employee retention.
Attracting and retaining employees is just as important as being able to deliver power, fuel, wood, iron, paint or whatever your business needs for production.
That's why it's increasingly important to create a workplace that offers professional challenges, good working conditions and attractive rewards for good performance. A company where your competitors' employees want to work and where your own employees wouldn't dream of quitting is at least one step ahead.
Employees leave because they don't feel valued, so this would be a great place to start.
Let us help you find the right employee.
Want to know more about how to access flexible and skilled labor?
Contact us on +45 3215 1010
