How do you foster a sense of belonging and community among new hires and existing employees?

Introduce new hires to culture coaches who on your staff is consistently passionate about what it means to work at your organization . Also invite them join employee resource groups and tell them about group activities before they are onboarded, so they will align with what being involved looks like. Repeat it often and ensure current employees can explain how this looks. Retention and engagement of current staff will also give new employees a clear picture of the culture.

It is important to pinpoint the company mission and values as part of any company's strategy, and to have adequate tools and processes in place to recruit the right candidates based on the skills needed for the business. However, the focus of recruitment and onboarding should not be solely on company "fit", but also on company "add". What can this individual add to the way we do business? How can we attract and retain people who will help us think from different viewpoints? If leaders are truly interested in building diverse teams, they can't simply focus on building teams that look , sound, and think just like them.

Where we focus on this is important. L&D is critical to engendering a sense of confidence and competence that is necessary for building the right environment for belonging. However, it needs to be part of the acquisition process, your onboarding, and threaded through the conversations managers have with their teams. Bring examples of programs to the interviews, highlight opportunities and success stories at onboarding, and above all keep the conversation going to keep them engaged. Nothing makes you feel like you belong more than when you feel that your new organization is invested and cares about your professional growth and success.

Leveraging learning and development is an EXCELLENT way to foster community among new employees! Here are a couple of examples where I've observed major impact: > NEW HIRE COHORTS: Cohorts are incredibly beneficial as they create a sense of camaraderie and shared experience from Day 1. It's also a great way for new employees to build relationships with individuals outside their department. Cohorts can participate in team-building activities and group projects before jumping into their roles full-time. > NEW HIRE BUDDIES: Assigning someone who can support the new employee, answer questions, and make introductions throughout the organization can provide new employees a faster way to begin building connections in their new role.

In a recent review, we zoomed in on the % of "people costs" at our firm. Our people expenses include salaries, benefits, bonuses/commissions, internal contests, a “fun fund,” team event expenses,etc. These expenses don't include traditional overhead like office space, equipment or technology. In our research, we found that most companies spend 50% of their total costs on similar expenses. I was surprised to hear our results which came in as a whopping 80%. 80% of our operating expenses back go into our employees pockets. Although this number higher than I anticipated, I am actually proud of where our spend is because it validates our appreciation and the importance we put on each and every person that contributes to our success.

Don’t underestimate the onboarding basics, your new hire joined you because of some of these features. Maybe you have a very organized HR function at your company, but there’s a lot to make sure that benefits are set up properly, access to learning modules, compliance and code of conduct training, how to book and track time in the system, reward and giving platforms, advice on retirement and pension plans and the list goes on. Sometimes the canned information on the company intranet is great but nothing beats having someone who knows it inside an out give you a one on one demonstration of how it all works. Share all the tips and tricks on how to maximize any health or retirement benefits that are included in a employees perks and benefits.