Setting New Hires Up for Success: How to Increase Employee Engagement from Day One

Every new hire aims to please. Fresh-faced and energetic, they begin with grand visions of how they can help their new employer (and how their new employer can help them.) For about 90 days, that is. By then, most new hires have reflected on their onboarding experience. Many of them have taken on the dominant attitude of the rest of the office. Even if you’re only bringing on one new employee, it’s important to remember that the first few days often set the tone for an employee’s entire experience with your company. In fact, employee engagement can begin even before you make an offer of employment. With a little strategy and careful planning, you just might be able to preserve that new-hire enthusiasm.

Why worry about enthusiasm?, you might ask. Isn’t it more effective to focus on an employee’s performance, rather than their emotions? Actually, employee’s emotions greatly impact performance. PeopleMetrics’ research indicates that engaged employees—those who are enthusiastic, loyal, and energetic about their work—are the ones who will best serve your company. Employee engagement has been linked to a number of key HR and business indicators, including lower turnover, increased customer engagement, better sales performance, and reduced sick leave.

In other words, an employee’s first few days are important. As in any relationship, the rules of engagement are determined fairly early on. Managers have a limited window of time to communicate to new hires that they are dedicated to keeping them engaged. HR expert Debbie Benami-Rahm suggests the following tips for employers who hope to encourage engaged employees, even before they’re actually employees.

For these suggestions and the rest of the article see Employee Engagement From Day One