Eugene & Terry Bedard – June 4, 1955
Three Thoughts on Onboarding: Welcome to the Family!
Many aspects of the recruiting and hiring process are comparable to dating and marriage. One part that is often overlooked is the onboarding process.
My parents, Eugene and Terry Bedard (pictured above), got married on June 4, 1955. While that is the day they officially became part of each other’s family, the process of joining their families actually started much earlier.
My mother always told guests in her home, “The first time you visit, you’re a guest and I’ll serve you. After that, you’re family, so help yourself.”
For some families, you are “family” as soon as you become a frequent guest. For others, you might be considered family after dating for a year. Perhaps the proposal launches the family relationship, and you stop calling your future in-laws Mr. and Mrs. Sometimes, the family relationship doesn’t launch until the actual wedding day. In hopefully rare instances, the families never really join, even after the wedding.
Recruiting and interviewing activities are often likened to dating and wooing. Companies recruit or “date” candidates, and then more actively woo them during the interviews. The proposal comes in the form of the offer. The wedding date is the candidate’s start date. When does the candidate join the family?
Here are three thoughts on onboarding, and how companies can better make candidates feel they have joined the family.
1. The Dating Game
Recruiting and interviewing candidates is a complex dance of trying to attract the attention of top candidates at the same time as using a process of elimination to screen some candidates out of consideration. As a candidate, you know the company is dating others. As a company, you should recognize that candidates are usually interviewing at other companies at the same time. The way a company engages a candidate during the process can greatly affect a candidate’s interest. Even if the candidate is not ultimately the right fit for the job, or if they decide the job isn’t right for them, how they feel about the way they were treated during the process impacts what happens next.
Companies should assume that every candidate can be an ambassador of good will. What they say about their experience will impact what other people think about the company. In the best cases, a candidate who is not the right fit will refer someone else who just might be.
Consider treating every candidate as if they will be hired, and welcome them to the family at the first meeting. You don’t need to disclose proprietary information, just as you wouldn’t tell every family secret during a first date. However, companies can create a dynamic where the candidate feels warmly welcomed as opposed to interrogated. Candidates who get a comfortable feeling about a company’s culture and environment are far more excited about the opportunity. Dates that love the family can see themselves marrying into it, but the opposite is seldom true.
2. The Proposal and Engagement
You’ve interviewed multiple candidates. You have finally narrowed it down to “the one.” You are ready to propose the candidate join your company. How will your company handle the offer to get an answer of YES? Sadly, sometimes the answer is the company will do it poorly.
Surprise proposals look great in the movies. One person has no idea the proposal is coming. A ring is presented, tears flow, people kiss, and a wedding is scheduled. It doesn’t always work that way in real life, and certainly not in the hiring process.
An offer of employment should not be a surprise to the candidate. Either the recruiter or Human Resources should make certain the candidate is prepared to say yes before the offer is formally presented.
Once the offer is accepted, the company should work to make the candidate feel like family during the time between acceptance and the start date. Smart companies make the candidate feel welcomed during the engagement period. Lunch, phone calls, even sending first day paperwork in advance is helpful. Candidates love getting benefits information early.
One of the best companies I’ve worked with had a very formal onboarding process. The candidate heard from their boss weekly between acceptance and start date. The candidate was contacted by internal recruiting to make sure any questions they had were answered. The candidate was presented with a calendar (regular meetings, upcoming conferences) so they could plan in advance. The candidate told me she felt like she was part of the company before she started.
3. After the Wedding
Some companies stop wooing after the candidate starts. Smart companies know that retaining top talent means never giving the candidate reasons to consider going elsewhere.
All marriages require nurturing. Date nights, family celebrations, and acknowledgement of why two people happily joined in marriage in the first place are important elements of staying married. Boredom and a lack of appreciation kill marriages, just like they kill employment relationships.
The best companies recognize that recruiting talented people is the beginning of managing a successful relationship, not the end. Don’t just plan for how an employee will do the job they are hired for. Make a plan for their future with the company. If they are as successful as expected in their initial job, what’s next? If your company grows as planned, how will your best employees’ roles also grow? Most importantly, share those plans with your employees. People who know what to expect in the future from their company are difficult to recruit away.
No one thinks about getting divorced on the day they get married. However, few employees accept a job thinking it will be their last. How you welcome new employees, how you handle them during the recruiting process, and how you plan for their future can change that.
When you welcome new employees to the family in the right way, they won’t want to leave. Joining a great family makes one excited about committing to the future and helps one imagine forever is a real possibility.
Cheryl Bedard represents the best interests of candidates and clients. She identifies opportunities for success for talented executives and companies and reconciles hopes and dreams with reality.
