New employees often describe their orientations to new organizations as “drinking from a fire hose,” as they try to absorb as much information as possible in a short time frame. However, the orientation and integration of new employees doesn’t have to be a “whirlwind” tour of office space and policy and procedures manuals. There are a number of things that the new staff member and hiring organization can do to assure the successful integration or on-boarding of promising newcomers.

The Business Case
Organizations spend a great deal of money, time, and effort in hiring the “right” person. Too many organizations ignore planning steps to help ensure that this “right person” is successful once they enter the company.

There’s a strong business case for carefully planning an employee’s first steps into a company:

• Estimated costs for replacing an employee can be as high as 150 percent of the departing employee’s pay. If the average salary for an employee is $60,000, the cost to replace that employee would be $90,000.
• The number-one reason new managers fail is lack of fit with the organizational culture of their new company.
• Research indicates that turnover of new hires is significantly reduced if the organization proactively plans steps to effectively integrate the newcomer into the company.

Why Is Organizational Culture Important?
Organizational socialization is the process by which employees learn about and adapt to new jobs, roles, and the culture of the workplace. It’s been linked to a number of important organizational outcomes, including increased organizational commitment, job involvement, role orientation, and lower turnover. It’s vital for organizations to be proactive in determining the factors that are affecting the integration of new hires, which is when adjustment issues are most intense and problematic and when employees are most susceptible to the organization’s influence. Growing discontentment, disagreements with coworkers and employers, project reassignments, and other sudden negative events during an employee’s first month on the job are crucial factors in determining whether he or she will leave the organization.

Tips for the New Staff Member
There are a number of things that new staff members can do to help make their assimilation into a new organization successful. They include:

• Develop key relationships. Building and nurturing important relationships — both internally and externally — will solidify the new hire’s position within the organization.
• Establish a two-way dialogue with supervisors. The people in charge of hiring a particular position have an obvious stake in that person’s success. Moreover, these managers typically believe their new hires possess the skills and experience to excel and grow in the position. Establishing a productive and trusting relationship between new hires and manager(s) is vital.
• Identify “quick wins” on issues that are of high importance to the new organization. Even better, look for ways to actively engage others, and share the credit liberally. This allows new hires to (a) showcase their skills and talents, and (b) demonstrate that they’re team players.
• Avoid derailing phrases like: “At Company XYZ, we did things this way.” These types of statements lead people to believe new hires are resistant to learning about best practices within their new company.
• Demonstrate curiosity and interest in learning about the new organization. Accelerate learning regarding “how things are done around here” by asking questions of more tenured personnel.

Tips for the Hiring Organization
There are likewise a number of things that hiring organizations can do to help new staff members succeed. They include:

• Provide realistic job previews. It’s important that expectations regarding job responsibilities and desired results are clear. Ensure that the actual job is the same as described during the interview process. Resist the temptation to make the job sound better than it is. This results in frustration and disappointment, leading to increased turnover of new staff who feel misled.
• Praise a job well done early and often. It’s important to remember that some level of insecurity is normal when taking a new position. Positive reinforcement improves the person’s ability to adapt to a new position. Such praise from supervisors, peers, and other organizational members sends the message that they’re welcome and appreciated. This reinforces to new staff members that they made the right choice in taking the new position.
• Assign mentors and coaches to support the new person. Buddy systems and formal support systems are helpful for the new person in learning how things are done at the organization. Such support can also offer practical suggestions and information that increase the efficiency and productivity of the new hire.
• Clearly define performance expectations. It’s extremely important that new employees understand how they’ll be evaluated. Communicating desired results clearly provides a road map for the newcomer in understanding how the organization will evaluate their success. Ambiguous performance measures leave the new hire frustrated and onfused.

The Bottom Line
It’s crucial that organizations engage in activities that support newcomers’ success. Most organizations focus on “hiring the right person.” World-class organizations take the next critical step — carefully planning to ensure that the “right person” is successful.

For Your Consideration: Four Common Reasons Why New Staff Members Fail

1. Poor person/organization fit: Poor person/organization fit has been shown to result in increased turnover and inferior performance. People prefer organizations with cultures that are perceived to be similar to their own personalities. Lack of fit can result in decreased performance, dissatisfaction, stress, and eventually resignation.
2. Lack of clear expectations related to performance and job role: Failure to understand expectations associated with desired performance or to provide a realistic job preview leads to increased frustration, ambiguity, and dissatisfaction for the new staff member.
3. Failure to build effective alliances with others inside the organization: New staff members that focus solely on the task at hand without taking the time to build alliances with others critical to success are at risk for being labeled an outsider (e.g., “not one of us”) and may feel alienated from the organization.
4. Useful feedback is not provided on a timely basis: It’s extremely important that employees receive praise for positive behaviors and constructive feedback in areas where they’d benefit from course correcting. Without such feedback, they miss the opportunity to change or are left to guess that they’re doing the right things.