Staff
Induction: Following Up On Your New Hires
Written
by Dr. John Sullivan - http://www.drjohnsullivan.com.
Reprinted with permission.
Ever
wonder what happens to the people you recruit
after they begin their jobs? Strange as it may
seem, most recruiters never actually follow up
on the progress of their recruits on the job.
I call it "dropping them over the wall and
running away."
Why Follow Up?
Failing to follow up on your hires runs counter
to one of the most fundamental aspects of any
system improvement process: the need to follow
up and get feedback on your work. Remember that
high turnover, frustration, and low productivity
are direct results of not talking to (or listening)
to new hires.
But there are many other reasons why a recruiter
should follow up on the candidates they recruit.
Some of them include:
- To
identify which sources produce the best candidates.
-
To make sure you "placed" the candidate
with the right manager in the right position
within the organization.
-
To gather information that will help you improve
and refine your current recruiting approach.
- For
personal gratification...just to know that your
recruiting worked.
If
you view your job as a recruiter as one who supplies
productive and successful employees to the organization,
your job doesn't stop after the hiring decision
is made. You must continue the process after the
candidate starts work if you want to ensure that
a "good hire" becomes a "good employee."
|
|
Steps
in Following Up on Your New Hire
If
you decide to follow up on your candidates, there are
two phases of the process. The first phase involves
a questionnaire or interview with the candidate on their
first day. The goal here is to first identify what worked
and what didn't in the recruiting process, and second
to capture referrals (potential candidates from their
last firm) from the new hire.
The
second phase of the process involves following up with
candidates at least twice during their first year on
the job. This on-the-job follow up can be done either
through a direct interview (telephone or in-person)
or with a questionnaire.
Both
of these follow-up questionnaires can be supplemented
with other tools, which might also help new hires adjust.
These tools might include holding focus groups with
new hires, utilizing "new hire" list servers
and chat rooms, or forming "affinity groups"
(clubs for new hires) to increase communication and
the amount of help provided to new hires. Another option
many high-tech firms use is to set up "anonymous"
internal websites where employees can post concerns
and ask questions without fear of retribution.
Should
They Be Anonymous?
These
questionnaires are designed to help the firm better
manage its new hires and, as a result, I recommend that
these questionnaires be open, so that you can identify
the person involved and fix any problems they have personally
encountered. However, some prefer to use anonymous questionnaires,
on the premise that they get more honesty that way.
Questionnaires can be given to all new employees, a
random sample of new hires, or they can just be used
for "key" hires and for key positions.
The
most important thing to remember during this feedback
process is that it's wise to solicit direct feedback
— but it is even more important that you then actually
act on it! Asking for advice and then not responding
to it is a far worse "crime" than not asking
at all. Information should be fed back directly to the
employee's manager, to recruiters, and to the orientation
staff.
Phase
I. Information gathering on their first day on the
job or during orientation
(There
is one questionnaire with two separate parts —
Part A and Part B)
Part
A. "Help us improve our recruiting effectiveness"
questionnaire.
How did you learn about this job? What source
or recruiting tool convinced you to apply?
What
other firms did you seriously consider? (Please
list in descending order of your interest.)
What
part of our recruiting effort impressed you the
most? The least?
What
other firms made you offers? How did those offers
differ from ours? (Can we have a copy of your
other offer letters?) What aspect of our offer
was most (and least) convincing?
Who
else should we recruit from your former firm?
What is their job title and their strengths? (Please
list the names in descending order of their value
as potential recruits.) Will you help us recruit
them? (Yes/No)
What
other employees "look good on the surface"
at your former firm, but wouldn't be a fit here?
(Optional)
What are the best business and technical practices
at your former firm? (Please list in descending
order of importance.)
Part B. "What motivates/frustrates
you" questionnaire.
Help
us understand you, and how you prefer to be managed.
Employees
at our firm have a shared responsibility (along
with their managers) to help ensure that every
employee is as productive and motivated as possible.
Because you are new to this position, you can
help us to understand how to manage/motivate you
so that you can do the best work of your life.
Although this form is an important first step
in that process, it is imperative that you continue
to help your manager and your team leader to understand
what your goals are and how we can best help you
reach them.
For
what reasons did you accept this job? (Please
list in descending order of importance.)
What
are your initial concerns about this new job?
(Please list in descending order of importance.)
Why
did you quit your last job? (So we can avoid similar
errors.)
What
are the things that normally frustrate you on
a job?
What
were the changeable aspects of your last two jobs
that you liked the least? (Please list them in
descending order of importance.)
What
motivates you to do great work? Categories of
motivators include rewards, recognition, challenge,
making a difference, control, learning and growth,
and open communications. (Please list them in
descending order of importance.)
Where
would you like to be in your career in three years?
(Please list in descending order of importance.)
On
a scale of 1-10 (10 being most satisfied), how
satisfied are you with the recruiting process?
Your current job?
|
Phase
II. "How are you doing?" follow up.
Provided
periodically during their first year (generally after
one month and at least once more during their first
year).
"What's
Working And What Isn't" Questionnaire
Help
us understand how you are doing and what might be
frustrating you.
You
have been with the firm for a while now and it's time
for a "spot check" on how you (& we)
are doing. Can you give us some feedback on how you
are doing so that we can "refine" our recruiting,
orientation and management processes?
What
are the things you like best about your job? (Please
list in descending order of importance.)
What
are the things you like least about your job? (Please
list in descending order of importance.)
What
are the things you like best about how you are being
managed? (Please list in descending order of importance.)
What
are the things you like least about how you are being
managed? What frustrates you? (Please list in descending
order of importance.)
Where
would you like to be in your career by the end of
your second year? (Please list in descending order
of importance.)
Do
you have any suggestions on how we can improve our
recruiting and orientation process?
Thank you for your time!
Conclusion
After
compiling the results of these questionnaires, it's
important to utilize them to help improve source selection,
orientation, and fit assessment. Also remember that
on top of getting candidate feedback you are capturing
candidate referrals, as well as showing new hires that
you care.
If
that's not reason enough to do follow up questionnaires,
then do it for personal pride. Don't you just want to
know if all of your hard work produced
results?
Trial
an Australian-built online staff survey tool:
PeoplePulse
is an Australian built online feedback and survey
tool used extensively by Australian and New Zealand
based organisations to conduct online employee
surveys. The tool can also be used by HR to conduct
cost effective staff climate surveys, training
needs analysis surveys, exit interviews, and new
starter feedback surveys to name a few popular
uses.
|
|
Please complete the
form below to arrange your FREE custom-branded
staff survey demonstration and a PeoplePulse pricing
and information sheet.
Upon
completing the form below, a PeoplePulse representative
will contact you to discuss your needs and current
situation. From there we will set up your demo
and arrange a suitable time to show the system
to you:
|
|
Please
be assured that your correspondence with us is confidential.
We will not divulge email addresses or any other details
you provide to outside sources.
The above demonstration request form was powered by
PeoplePulse.
Back
to top
|
