A lot of employers or administrators erroneously think that once an employee has been recruited and he has accepted an offer to take on the job offer, that this marks the end of the recruitment. This is far from the best practice. 

When a new hire has accepted to join your organization, please note that your organisation is under scrutiny from them because they are coming in with their own expectations just as you have your expectations of them.

On-boarding your new employees in a welcoming and professional manner is very important for several reasons. Firstly, it makes the employee to integrate into the system faster and helps to clarify what expectations your organization has of them. 

It also goes a long way to woo the trust of the new hires and proves how professional you are as an organization. It is at this point that some employees would decide to take you seriously or toy with your organization. 

First impressions matter a lot! Never forget this.

That explains why some people would just walk away from an organisation without a proper resignation. Some do this even within the first month of taking on a new job. After all, they were not even given a letter of employment in some cases, or were not given the policies and procedures of the organization. There have been reports of employees who did not receive a job description even after four months of taking on a new job position. 

So here are some of the things to do when you have newly employed anyone to join your organisation:

1. Create a proper job description for the employees and make sure they understand it. Actually this should be done even when searching for the right candidates for a job. But very importantly, the new employee needs to understand the job role and its expectations.

2. Introduce the new employee to the vision and mission of your organisation, and let them know what goals are priorities to you as an organisation in the scheme of things; and what role they would be playing to accomplish such goals. Make them to understand how important their contribution is. 

3. It is important to make them feel very welcome on the first day at work and all through the first week. Make it a culture in your organization to welcome employees in a warm manner.

4. Clarify any issues they have about thir salaries- what forms the basic salary, allowances, perks, etc. Do not make promises your oraganisation would not keep. I have interviewed quite a number of executives who have had to leave one job for another because their employers did not keep to the terms of the contracts they were given. 

Why promise an empoyee an offical car, with a driver or accomodation when you know your organization  does not have the financial ability to meet them? Be truthful from the get go and paint the right picture while bearing in mind to give the employee hope for better conditions of service as the organization grows and advances. 

5. Attach the employee to a buddy in the organisation to help him or her settle in well. 

6. Have a long-term onboarding plan. Please do not confuse the onboarding process and an orientation exercise. The orientation exercise is a part of the onboarding process but is not all of it. Onboarding extends far beyond an orientation. I recommend a minimum of three months onboarding process. Some organizations do as long as six months or even nine. 

7. Ensure the work tools they'll need to deliver effectively on their positions are available.

So prepare for the arrival of the employees. Do not behave like your organization is doing them a huge favour by employing them. They are your partners in developing your organisation; and you need one another. 

8. Set the key performance indicators (KPIs) for each new employee. it's important that you are able to track the performance of the employees. Do this with agreeement with the employee, with clear timelines. 

Do you need help with setting the performance objectives or key performance indicators for your employees?

I've worked hard to create a template for this for each cadre of staff in your organisation. 

The good thing is that each template is in an e-format and is editable to meet your organisation's needs. 

Please reach out to me at +234-8035880367, or send an email to info@nancyekpezu.com and copy pezusmithconsulting@gmail.com.