On-boarding
I’ll be participating in a symposium later this month, all about on-boarding techniques employed by the Fortune 500.
What is on-boarding, you might ask? On-boarding is any actions a company might take after hiring a new executive to insure the new hire starts work and has the best chance for a successful beginning at the new firm.
I like to break it down into two categories: on-boarding before the hired executive starts work and on-boarding after they start work. Below are six examples of pre-hire on-boarding techniques used by smart hiring managers at the best companies. Next issue we’ll cover post-hire on-boarding techniques.
6 Simple On-boarding Practices of Great Companies
- Mail 500 business cards to the hired candidate’s home the day he or she accepts the offer.
- Send a gift basket to the house the same day you send the offer letter.
- Have your internal newsletter director call the newly hired individual immediately after acceptance to “profile” the new hire for inclusion in your company newsletter.
- Ask the candidate to go to their favorite restaurant and have a celebration dinner with the family and “send us the bill.”
- Have the candidate come in for several meetings prior to starting work.
- Write the candidate a welcome/introductory email from the President cc’ing the Board, or the hire’s new boss and/or other company executives.
All of the 6 practices above can be done at a very small cost but what is the cost to start your search over again from scratch? More importantly, what will it cost to lose a rare talent? Nothing is more important than great employees.
You can see how on-boarding practices might help build loyalty prior to the new person starting work. If the hired executive’s boss (from the current company) starts to warm up a counter offer for them and says, “Let’s have lunch and talk all this over…” you can see how these and other on-boarding actions have shrunk the possibility that the candidate will accept a counter offer and start work for you as planned.
Yes, nothing works all the time but why not play the percentages. Most companies will offer orientation for new hires but as of this writing, aggressive pre-hire on-boarding is used by relatively few companies in the recruiting process prior to the hired executive starting work. Make sure your company implements the above and you’ll be playing the percentages with proven on-boarding techniques used by the best Fortune 500 companies. Greatness is elusive but worth the extra effort.
What on-boarding techniques are working in your firm? Email me and let me know. I’ll share your ideas in a future issue of The Network!
“To recruit a 10 you have to be a 10.” ~ Les Brown
Hiring?
Want to work with someone Recruiter Life Magazine named one of the top 75 recruiters in the country?
Call Joe Pelayo at 800-786-1099.
“Most companies will wait a few weeks before ordering a new person’s business cards to make sure the person is gonna stick…great companies overnight business cards the day the person accepts the offer!” ~ Joe Pelayo
Warm Regards,
Joe Pelayo
Joe Pelayo, C.P.C.
Joseph Michaels International
Global Recruiting Solutions
800-786-1099
Email: jpelayo@josephmichaels.com
Website: http://josephmichaels.wpengine.com
One of the top 75 Recruiters in the United States ~ Recruiter Life Magazine