One of the major challenges in the senior care industry is employee retention. A key method to improve retention rates is to onboard new employees effectively. Follow these tips to ensure your new hires have a great start in your organization.
Why Onboarding Is Important
The onboarding process, a key part of recruitment marketing, is the initial experience new hires have when entering your senior living organization. By emphasizing efforts to get new employees excited and engaged about their work and the organization, they are more likely to want to stay.
Understanding the 3 Key Components of Onboarding
While onboarding is a lengthy process that includes three touchpoints, you can think of each one separately to help you define which topics get covered and at what times.
1. Preboarding
Preboarding involves all the necessary tasks that need to be completed before the orientation, such as engaging new hires and ensuring their commitment to joining the team.
Learn more in this blog: How to Keep Candidates Engaged During the Hiring Process >>
2. Orientation
Orientation involves meeting the team and getting to know the organization further. It’s the very first step a new hire takes before going through any job-specific training.
3. Onboarding
Finally, onboarding is the continuous training process during the first three to four months of employment. Remember to develop your onboarding plan with these three touchpoints in mind.
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Tips to Improving the Onboarding Process
1. Take Advantage of Technology
Use technology where it makes sense for the organization and the new hire. Welcoming videos, emails and online forms can be used to streamline the onboarding process for the new employee.
If your senior living organization conducts training during orientation and onboarding on general topics like abuse and harassment, consider creating short video sessions so the information is presented in a more fun and engaging format.
2. Use a Mentor or Buddy Program
While technology helps with the onboarding process, it's not a substitute for human interaction. Connecting new hires with a mentor or buddy helps with creating positive working relationships. Research shows that having work friends contributes to workplace happiness and engagement. So, create it from the beginning.
It’s important to note that buddy or mentor programs are not a substitute for management. The role of the mentor or buddy should be defined, including actionable steps and planned time with the new hire. The mentor/buddy should also receive training on their role so they share accurate information and know how to handle concerns as they arise.
3. Get Feedback
The whole purpose of onboarding is for new hires to get settled in, feel like they're part of the team, and quickly become competent. To effectively onboard employees, don't miss out on a big advantage that new hires can bring — a fresh set of eyes.
New hires will only be "new" for a small period of time. They have the ability to see the organization's policies, procedures and processes through a new lens. Senior living organizations should regularly schedule pulse surveys and one-to-one check-ins to talk with new hires about what they are experiencing.
Try to learn not only what needs to be improved but also what new hires love about their job. This information can be a valuable part of the organization's recruitment and retention strategy.
Create a Welcoming and Thoughtful Onboarding Plan
Onboarding new senior living employees is an essential part of your employee retention program. Your organization needs to create an onboarding plan that is welcoming, builds positive work relationships and encourages the employees to become productive so they can be contributors to the organizational goals.
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