Learn how to keep your new employees happy, productive, and loyal with these onboarding and retention strategies for small businesses.

A positive onboarding experience is also a retetion strategy. How an employee is onboarded really sets the stage for the next 30, 60, 90 days, as well as the next 6-months and 12-months. A poor onboarding experience could result in an unhappy employee who is unaware of how their performance is measured or what type of impact their role plays in the company.

How do you maintain engagement and retention after onboarding?

Onboarding new employees is a crucial process for any business, but especially for small businesses that need to make the most of their limited resources and talent. However, onboarding is not enough to ensure long-term success and loyalty. You also need to have effective strategies to maintain engagement and retention after onboarding. In this article, we will share some tips and best practices to help you keep your new hires happy, productive, and committed to your business goals.

1 Set clear expectations and goals

One of the first steps to retain your new employees is to set clear expectations and goals for their roles and responsibilities. This will help them understand what you expect from them, how they will be evaluated, and how they can contribute to the business vision. You can use tools like SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals, OKRs (objectives and key results), or KPIs (key performance indicators) to define and track their progress. Make sure to communicate these expectations and goals regularly and provide constructive feedback and recognition.

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Gina Murphy
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A positive onboarding experience is also a retetion strategy. How an employee is onboarded really sets the stage for the next 30, 60, 90 days, as well as the next 6-months and 12-months. A poor onboarding experience could result in an unhappy employee who is unaware of how their performance is measured or what type of impact their role plays in the company.

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Mary Lou "ML" Nowak

Content Creator, Media Manager, Senior Care Professional and Certified Life Coach
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In my experience over-worked employees can find it difficult to avoid carrying there frustration forward when new employees begin. Employers can do better in using their resources to help bridge the relationship gap between existing and new employees.

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2 Provide ongoing training and support

Another way to retain your new employees is to provide them with ongoing training and support to help them develop their skills and knowledge. This will show them that you care about their growth and development, and that you are willing to invest in their potential. You can offer them formal training courses, online learning platforms, mentoring programs, peer coaching, or cross-functional projects to expose them to different aspects of the business. You can also encourage them to share their feedback and suggestions on how to improve the training and support programs.

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3 Create a positive culture and environment

A third way to retain your new employees is to create a positive culture and environment that fosters collaboration, communication, and recognition. This will help them feel valued, respected, and appreciated, and that they belong to a team that shares the same vision and values. You can create a positive culture and environment by promoting a healthy work-life balance, offering flexible work arrangements, celebrating achievements and milestones, organizing team-building activities, and soliciting feedback and ideas from your employees.

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Zoë D.

Professional Services Program Manager at Aldevra | Staffing & Solutions for Healthcare, Admin, Project Management, & Facilities in GovCon | Driven by Innovation, Impact, & Integrity
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Something that we've incorporated into building and maintaining a positive culture and workplace environment is offering outside or after work activities and getting everyone together, even if it's virtual. Some examples are sponsoring a company kick-ball league, spontaneous bring your own lunch Teams meetings, holiday parties, after work dinners, and of course recognizing our team's accomplishments and milestones through our social media and HRIS.

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4 Offer incentives and benefits

A fourth way to retain your new employees is to offer them incentives and benefits that match their needs and preferences. This will help them feel rewarded, motivated, and loyal to your business. You can offer them incentives and benefits such as competitive compensation, bonuses, commissions, stock options, health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off, wellness programs, or employee discounts. You can also customize your incentives and benefits based on your employees' personal and professional goals, such as offering tuition reimbursement, career advancement opportunities, or relocation assistance.

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5 Solicit and act on feedback

A fifth way to retain your new employees is to solicit and act on their feedback regularly. This will help them feel heard, respected, and empowered, and that you are willing to listen and improve based on their input. You can solicit and act on their feedback by conducting surveys, interviews, focus groups, or exit interviews to understand their level of satisfaction, engagement, and retention. You can also use tools like Net Promoter Score (NPS), Employee Satisfaction Index (ESI), or Employee Engagement Index (EEI) to measure and improve these metrics. Most importantly, you need to act on their feedback by implementing changes, addressing issues, or acknowledging successes.

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Colin Douwes

Founder @ Alamere - LinkedIn Ads Management for small businesses | ex-LinkedIn
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Many organizations already ask for feedback from their onboardees. I am sure you do too. But; how do you turn that feedback into actionable insights? And how do you ultimately act on those insights? It is crucial to have a clear process of what to do after gathering that feedback. So make sure to be able to: - Turn feedback into graphs and other reports. This allows you to show trends to your HR-team and upper management. - Consider tools that can help turning data into insights. Many tools that measure this are built on scientific studies that can do so automatically. - Measure over time. Having just one moment a year usually is not enough. You want to see trends and play into those multiple times a year.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you maintain engagement and retention after onboarding?

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1 Set clear expectations and goals

2 Provide ongoing training and support

3 Create a positive culture and environment

4 Offer incentives and benefits

5 Solicit and act on feedback

6 Here’s what else to consider

Onboarding

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