Securing the acceptance of an offer is only the first step for your new architecture or design employee. Your new hires are the most vulnerable during the first year of employment. If you don’t have a standardized onboarding process in place, it will be difficult for them to succeed and impossible to retain them.
Here are some tips to create an onboarding process that ensures the success of new hires and creates long-term employee.
Establish an Onboarding Process
It is not about how detailed or complex your process is; start one! Starting a new job can be an intimidating experience for many people. From not knowing where to park to being unfamiliar with workplace policies and procedures, new hires who are treated like outsiders aren’t going to stay with the firm for long. Having an onboarding process will make new hires feel welcome by making a positive first impression, teaching them the language of your organization, and focusing more on the basics during their first few days on the job.
Establish an onboarding process that accounts for the first month, six months, nine months, and year. Bringing on someone new should include a gradual progression of training and responsibility.
Set Them up with a New Hire Buddy
Assigning your new hires a mentor or buddy during their orientation is an effective way to ensure they are receiving the advice and guidance that they need to succeed. New hires are full of questions, so it’s crucial to provide a trusted person to answer them. New hire buddies are also essential for providing a general overview of your firm’s culture and processes.
Choose your mentors wisely. They should be high performers who have shown dedication to your brand and actually want to help new employees succeed.
Stay True to the Job They Were Hired to Do, at Least Until They Get Their Footing
One of the biggest reasons that employees quit their jobs during the first year is job creep. Being asked to complete tasks that are far outside the scope of what they were hired for. You’ll never earn the trust of new hires by completely changing their role once they are hired. Don’t interview them for their dream design job and then put them to work on something entirely different.
Clear Expectations
Unless you teach them, new hires aren’t going to know what resources they have available to them. A well-written job description is the best way to list these, along with workplace accountability, guidance, and boundaries. Don’t assume that your new employees know how much autonomy they are entitled to.
Millennials, along with other generations entering the workforce for the first time, are known for constantly looking for new and better opportunities. A solid onboarding process is the best way to establish a solid foundation that will retain and persuade them to stay and make a successful career with your firm.
Is your firm building an on-boarding process or looking for overall recruiting support and consulting. DBI has 25 years of experience in the Architecture and Interior Design industry. We have seen the industry grow and change and have developed proven strategies to help firms of all sizes.
Contact us to discuss how we have help firms like your build to the next level.
