Phase 1 – The Pre-Offer

The first stage in the onboarding process. This is where first impressions are formed and where you begin hammering home your safety culture. It’s at this point the new hire will gain an awareness of the expectations and the standard operating procedure for your organization. We’ve found it’s important to involve a variety of people in the hiring process. Each of your veterans will provide a different narrative and this will provoke a greater depth of the expectations and culture. Be very clear about the role your new hire is applying for and, most important, call the references. This is where you can weed out most of your issues.

Phase 2 – The First Days

Take advantage of the new employee’s enthusiasm. Have processes in place that make the 30th day, as exciting as the first. Be patient. Don’t overwhelm your new asset with too much information in the early days. And most important, greet the new hire on day one, introduce them to their coworkers, and make them feel they’re part of the family.

Phase 3 – The Orientation

Reaffirm the safety culture you shared throughout the interview process. Provide a company history, past failures, and past successes. Reinforce their roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities. Cover the specific skills required, then train specifically to those methodologies and technologies. Clearly outline the career path and opportunities – this keeps the new hire engaged and provides a carrot for them to chase. And finally, train them to your standards of excellence. Have them shadow the best of the best.

Phase 4 – Post Orientation

It’s important to remember, your new hire is still green. The shadowing is over, your new hire is on their own. Or are they? It’s important to pay close attention to the new employee and provide ongoing care, concern, and a sense of security. Clearly monitor their performance against role expectations. When possible, designate one of your key employees as their accountability partner and mentor. It’s important you choose wisely who will be overseeing this process for the new hires. You want trust built and you want this person to actively demonstrate commitment to the new hire. The need to be present to answer questions and provide feedback is critical to the process.

Considering the expense of training new hires, and the cost associated with first year, disgruntled employee’s, it’s important to consider your return on investment. Setting these steps in motion will lower employee turnover rates, increase quality and effectiveness, and accelerate the new hires learning curve. Remember, you want to reduce the number of days it takes them to become “productive” to equal an average tenured employee. By doing so, you’ll reduce the frequency of claims and lower the overall cost of these claims.

Conclusion

You’re about to hire a lot of new employees who might have never stepped onto a job site. Create a hiring and onboarding process that fits your company culture and sets an expectation that safety is essential. Designing the process to keep the new hire engaged, motivated, and thriving is also critical. Create an onboarding process that empowers your key veterans and excites your new hires. Controlling what you can in this process is what’s most important. You won’t eliminate every bad apple, but in the end, there will be fruits that come from your onboarding process.