Make Your Hiring Decisions Stick

31% of people surveyed had quit a new job in the first 6 and consistently 16%-17% of new hires left between week 1 and the third month on a new job. This and more data was gathered when BambooHR surveyed 1000 people and asked them about starting a new job.

What Impacts An Employee Leaving In The First Few Weeks Or Months?

Some factors in employee departures within the first weeks and months are difficult to control. Research shows that during the first 6 months many employees remain not fully committed to a new job, and this is in particular the experience more and more in today’s uncertain economy where multiple streams of work in the form of contingent and contract work are emerging as the new normal.

1) Other offers were on the table:  A new hire could have been involved in the recruiting process with multiple organizations at the time your organization hired them.  This often occurs with recent graduates but it can also happen to employees in high demand fields or with unique skills. It is not uncommon for larger organizations to put candidates through multiple rounds of interviews over weeks and months. As a result during the first days, weeks or months those other opportunities came to fruition or came back to fruition with better offers to lure a new, and less committed hire away.

2) Cold Feet and the Grass Looks Greener New hires may accept a job that they do not really want just to have a job and, as a result, keep looking until they find a new job. Additionally a new hire may not have fully understood the role or company culture until spending a few days, weeks or months on the job.

3) Career Uncertainty Principal: Many employees do not have a conscious career path in mind or if they do it is not a fully informed one. Sometimes taking a new job is a result of uncertainty or lack of clarity and it may not take long for the person to realize they made what appears to be a mistake. According to the respondents of the BambooHR survey, 43% of quick quitters quit entry-level jobs and 38% quit intermediate jobs and 28% of respondents said the job was something they did not want to do anymore.

Can you do something to help reduce this 6-month new hire turnover rate? According to the respondents there are a few things that might have helped them stay onboard

  • Clarifying Job responsibilities with guidelines: 23% of respondents said that they wanted more clear guidelines on what their responsibilities were. It can be useful to ask the candidate to describe back to you their understanding of what the job looks like and what they think will be expected to do and achieve in the first few weeks and months.
  • Provide better training: 21% felt that the training they received was not effective.
  • Provide a colleague: 17% indicated that had they had a more friendly or welcoming co-worker that would have made a difference and 55% indicated a buddy or mentor would have been important.
  • Acknowledge their contributions early: 12% indicated they wanted to be recognized for their individual performance and contributions earlier
  • More personal engagement: 9% indicated that more attention from a manager or co-worker would have helped. However 33% of respondents indicated they wanted their direct manager or supervisor to be the person to orient them to the new workplace.

When you review the list what I not overtly stated is the impact individual differences have on the experience of employee. Some employees want better relationships with colleagues and others wanted better information or training. In many cases the individual differences based on age, culture, and even personality can have a tangible impact on the perspective of an individual in those first weeks of work.

Time Spent Onboarding Can Be Money Saved

75% of respondents who had an onboarding experience reported it was time well spent. 32% indicated their onboarding was nothing or almost nothing and 15% said that lack of onboarding did contribute to their desire and decision to leave a company.

An effective onboarding process can touch on each of the points above, especially if your onboarding includes an assessment of a new hires individual preferences. A personality assessment can let you know which of your new hires might benefit from more emphasise on building knowledge and information first or building relationships with co-workers and/or supervisors.

After you go through all the trouble and expense to hire your new hire finding ways to keep and engage that new hire makes all the sense.