In engineering professions industry wide, a well managed onboarding program can have a measurable impact on employee retention, productivity, employment brand, product/service quality and future hiring success. For these new and highly sought after engineers, a well designed onboarding program addresses the specific information that will help them understand the company and how they fit in to the big picture.
A few tips:
1. Be sure to build in time for open and honest discussions about their interests, your company culture and expectations. This can include asking questions to reaffirm that the new hire and company are a good match.
2. Don’t overload new engineers or any new hires. The best onboarding programs limit the information and forms required on the first day or throughout the week. If you want them to retain information, be sure to spread it out over time. Placing too much pressure on new hires makes it less likely that they will make good decisions or ask pertinent questions.
3. Include fun activities that give your new engineers a chance to meet their team members an other co-workers in a comfortable setting. This is a wonderful opportunity for them to get to know people within the organization. For example, Brightwing regularly takes new hires to volunteer at Art Road, a non-profit working to bring art back into Detroit Public Schools.
4. The most effective onboarding programs include key metrics that cover new hire retention rates, new hire referrals and time to productivity. Setting clear objectives makes people accountable for producing measurable results that impact your business.
Author: April Jennings