Over the past few months, I have encountered several job candidates whose resumes revealed a past position which they had only held for a mere matter of months. For the most part, all of these candidates had stellar work history before and after this particular position so it struck me as very odd. I know there are two sides to every story but after conducting interviews with each of these candidates, there seemed to be one common thread to their tales.
Each person had been set up to fail in their respective role. Now obviously this was not a conscious decision by their employers. No one sets out to fail but as a direct result of the employer’s actions, failure was the end result.
So what happened, you ask?
All of the managers had done their due diligence when it came to their hiring process. There were several interviews conducted between the important decision makers in the company and the candidates. All references were followed-up and proved excellent. The offer was extended and then accepted so naturally corporate confidence soared as everyone felt they had done their part to make recruiting a success.
But within a few months, each one of these teams was back on the search for a replacement.
The reason that this happened was clear in all situations. Nobody at the organization took the time to explain the company’s expectations for the new employee and more importantly, training was either inadequate or nonexistent!
It is essential for every new person to get a comprehensive orientation and training program. No matter what skills and prior experience a candidate brings to a job, every company has their own way of doing things. It is completely unfair to assume that a new employee will automatically know what these idiosyncrasies are. To quote Benjamin Franklin: "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
While training is vital for all new employees, it is equally important to put down in writing your expectations for the employee. If a salesperson should have sold $20,000 in the first 3 months and they did not hit this goal, you will need to have a candid conversation. This chat will be very different depending on what was said at the start of employment. If you did not explain to the employee that this was a requirement, it is almost impossible to hold the person accountable for not hitting the goal.
While it may seem like common sense, many companies fail to do these best practices when onboarding new talent:
- Have a complete orientation packet in place for all new employees.
- Give a complete job description to all new hires.
- Ensure that there is a comprehensive training program in place for every position.
- Have each manager sit down and clearly explain the job expectations to the new member of the team (this could include check points at 90 days, 6 months, and a year to keep everyone on the same page).
- Provide adequate support to all staff members to help them become as productive as possible.
- Be frank and open in all communications so that expectations are not misconstrued.
While it may take some time to initially get organized, the long-term results will fully outweigh the short-term inconveniences of putting a plan together. For example, if it takes 2 months to source a new employee, another month to complete the hiring and onboarding process, and they then fail after 6 months due to lack of training, what is the net result? You have just lost 9 months of time, energy, and effort. Not to mention the cost of having to repeat the process all over. However if all this could have been avoided by two weeks of training and a clear explanation of expectations at the start of new hire's job, which would you rather choose?
Muhammad Ali put it best: “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”
We here at entreQuest work daily behind the lines with our client companies to make sure that everyone on their team has the best chance in their dance. But whether you take up our assistance with your recruiting process or initiate improvements on your own, don't neglect incorporating the six best practices listed above into your job placement process. Make sure that your new hires are set up to win every time.
Donal O’Donoghue is an account manager at entreQuest who specializes in expanding work forces by finding the best talent with the ideal personalities to place in a wide range of positions across all types of industries.
