Someone very smart once said that you only have one chance to make a first impression.
New research published by Qualtrics shows organizations are not doing a great job of this.
“According to our research, employees with less than six months of tenure have the lowest intent to stay (three years or more) at their organization: just 38% versus 65% overall– a 27-point difference and three points lower than last year,” write the authors of 2024’s Employee Experience Trends Report.
When you think about the cost to hire, the cost to replace and the fact that economic headwinds are preventing many organizations from hiring their way out of their talent problems, it becomes clear that focusing on recruiting the employees you already have is a way to turn frowns upside down.
Achievers Workforce Institute (AWI) has been studying belonging at work each quarter for more than three years and our research points strongly to the impact of a warm welcome.
When employees feel warmly welcomed, they are nearly 3x as likely to feel they belong.
In turn, a strong sense of belonging makes employees 6x more engaged and more than 8x more likely to stay.
Here are a few keys to the warm welcome:
Send celebration cards to new employees from new teammates, welcoming them to the team.
Ensure managers recognize their new hires within their first week.
Give opportunities for employees to reflect on the support and resources they received during their first 30, 60 or 90 days.
Make it easy for employees to build their network on day one, matching them randomly to colleagues from other departments, or to mentors, buddies or those with similar profiles and interests.
Expose new hires to your Employee Resource Groups so they have another way to feel part of the company's culture and community.
Last, but certainly not least, acknowledge that a warm welcome is not about someone’s first day, week or year - it’s about every interaction, every transaction, every collaboration they share with another person virtually or in person.
I’ll be in Chicago next week speaking at an Evanta, a Gartner Company CHRO session and will share the tactical, practical things leaders can do to ensure that every day feels like day one.
I’m excited to share the stage with Ismat Duckson Aziz, Jessica (Jessie) Knight, Darcy Gruttadaro, Robert Weber, Amy Leschke-Kahle, Henry Artalejo, Susan Muigai, Aaron (AJ) Brow, Mohsine Gdid, Lorelie Parolin, Kristin H. Hayes, MBA, MIS, Amy Halliburton, Jennifer Ricks, Donna Dorsey, Rachel Eibl, MSHR, Laura Adams, Nashunda Jewels Williams, Courtney Kammer, Sara Stolmeier, Natalie Huddleston, Charmaine Williams MSHRM, SPHR, Don Robertson, Jaison Williams, Susan Graham-Bryce, Farhaj Majeed, Laura Rock, Jeana Muñoz and Arthur Zards.
Thank you for sharing!