How to engage with your new employee
Onboarding is your opportunity to make a great first impression on a new employee.Â
Rolling out the red carpet for new hires will boost new employee engagement, leading to a stronger company culture, improved retention (and reduced recruitment costs) and ultimately better business outcomes.
This strategy should start at the very beginning of the recruitment process and carry all the way through the onboarding of your new starter.
 In this article, we explain how to better engage with your new employee and avoid the dreaded post-acceptance change of heart.
Be responsive
Ensuring timely communication is the first step in ensuring a solid experience for your new hire. Following their acceptance of the offer, don’t delay getting their paperwork out to them.  This keeps the excitement in the new job opportunity for the candidate and avoids any risk of uncertainty creeping in.
Getting a contract out to them in a timely manner will demonstrate enthusiasm for them joining, and will help prolong that initial buzz the candidate got upon acceptance, making them feel valued before they even walk through the door!
Working with a good recruitment consultancy helps in this instance – they will keep the candidate informed on when to expect paperwork, and generally engaged in the process, role, and company.
Make connections & keep in touch
In the current market, it is highly likely that a candidate will have multiple opportunities, interviews and offers. So, this is your opportunity to reinforce your employer brand and company culture and make sure your candidate feels that joining your organisation is their best choice.
Keep in touch with them and involve your team too – encourage colleagues and others in the company to connect with the candidate on LinkedIn. Your new employee will feel valued, engaged, and like one of the team – and this will discourage the temptation to explore other opportunities.
Why not invite the candidate to meet the team informally prior to their official start date? Gathering the team together for a drink is a nice way to break the ice, builds engagement and helps to avoid those first day nerves.
We practice this ourselves here at CMA – we always invite a new starter to join their team members for lunch prior to their start date. It’s a great way to get to know more about them as a person, and to start that team bonding. It also makes the first day much less overwhelming as there will already be some recognisable friendly faces!
Reinforce employer brand
Sing about your company! Be sure to clearly communicate your values and what makes you different. Having a strong, engaging employer brand will foster a sense of belonging and alignment – creating a lasting impression on your new hire. This of course will make it harder for the candidate to be tempted away by counters or other roles.
This can be done in many ways, but one is through your social media. Your future employee will be keeping an eye on your social channels, so ensure you continue to share company news, team updates, and other activities which showcase the culture and values that inspired them to accept the role.
Inviting them to team catch-ups like those mentioned above will also reinforce the company culture.
Work closely with your recruitment consultancy
Having a great recruitment consultancy to support you with the entire recruitment process means you will have some additional help in keeping the touch points active with your new starter. While your recruiter can’t help with all the finer points and undertake all the interaction for you, they will be able to provide you with a wealth of knowledge and great advice to help you keep your candidate engaged.
Drawing up a formal onboarding process
A candidate having a change of heart can happen anywhere in the recruitment process, but tends to hurt the most after they’ve accepted an offer.
This isn’t just because of the time investment, it’s frustrating to have to have found the perfect person for the role and then find that it’s back to the drawing board.
Creating a formal on-boarding process that you adopt for each new hire will make this all become second nature. In turn it will improve employee engagement; reducing costs and time spent on unsuccessful hires.
In summary, here are some great ways you can engage with new starters prior to their arrival and ensure a stand-out employee experience:
- Coffee catch-ups
- Team introductions
- Lunches with the new starter and the team
- Regular and prompt communication
- Reinforce employer brand
- Encourage the team to connect on LinkedIn
- Posting a welcome gift
- Work closely with your recruitment consultancy
- Sending out contracts promptly.
The above tips will help make the candidate feel excited to be a part of your team, culture, and company as soon as they accept, reducing the likelihood of anyone being able to tempt them away and ensuring a positive onboarding process.