The first 90, one simple tactic to keep and attract the best employees.

Attracting and keeping the employees let alone the best employees is a difficult task these days and continues to be a challenge for most companies. We have a proven simple approach which we are continually amazed at how many companies still don’t use it.

Sure, most companies use best practice human resource procedures to onboard employees. They execute a plan to provide the employees the tools to perform work, show them how to use them and sometimes mentor them with how processes are done.

The joke is, “after 3 months the employee will at least know where to go to the washroom and how to get to where the work is taking place”. Unfortunately, often you don’t have an employee after 3 months because they left and you are on the hunt again. Time wasted and money spent…

Often what is missing in an employee onboarding program, is providing the clear view and immersion into the corporate culture. Yes, you need the bathroom stuff, but you also need culture.

Those first 90 days are the biggest predictor of long-term employment and culture is the secret.

As found in a Harvard Business Review article based on the findings from new research with workforce development specialists,

“First impressions are crucial to retention. While employers are curious as to whether the employee will adapt to the rhythms and expectations of the workplace, new hires are gauging whether this workplace will be a respectful and encouraging place to build a career.”¹

However, in most cases “in middle-market companies, onboarding is generally informal to the point of being nonexistent (“Hey, kid, sit here and we’ll get you set up”).”²

Okay, you must do better than this even if you are a middle-market or smaller company and you can. It just takes a little added planning and execution.

What are the most important aspects of your corporate culture you would like to align a new hire with? Perhaps you haven’t thought about this before, but now is the time and it is needed more than ever. List them out or hire someone, like us, to work with you to determine this.

Then plan and implement a tactical plan, which will guide your new employee and align them with your corporate culture.

One under utilized but highly effective tactic is to provide the employee on day one with a new employee kit. This kit should be made up of items which make the employee feel like part of the team from day one. These kits can create a sense of belonging and excitement as employees receive their first official company merchandise.

Don’t underestimate the power of the employee kit.

Filled with branded company items, employees wearing company apparel can instill a sense of pride and belonging among employees and promote a unified look. Think of any sports team in the world, all identifiable and working towards the same goal together.

These employee kits show you, as a company, care and get your new employee off on the right footing.

So, this one tactic of using employee kits as a great way to create a first impression and retain employees but it also has another effect which you will see.

But how do you attract the employees in the first place?

Again, the employee kit to the rescue. Found in a newspaper article,

“recent research shows that freshers and interns are 325% more likely to post about their new joinee kits and are likely to draw the highest engagement, with an average of 4,264 likes and comments. When it comes to return on investment, the most popular kits seemed to cost [little], and resulted in a high number of job referral requests in the comments section”.³

The employee kit is the gift which keeps on giving. Used to not only onboard and engage new employees it is also a fantastic tool to attract new employees.

We have been working with companies for many decades to put together effective custom employee kits and onboarding programs to engage employees and strengthen corporate culture. Our creative team is ready to work with you today.

Please do reach out to our team at Durham Promotional Products a Pat Doyle company for employee kits like this and/or other creative solutions to engage and connect with your workforce and customers. We excel at creating smiles, increasing productivity, and providing overall stronger corporate cultural bonds with our creative solutions.

Sources:
1. https://hbr.org/2022/05/the-key-to-retaining-young-workers-better-onboarding
2. https://hbr.org/2021/12/how-midsize-firms-can-attract-and-retain-talent-right-now
3. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/the-role-of-branded-merchandise-in-employee-engagement/