Optimization of the onboarding process for employees (2023)

There is an insatiable demand for top talent in the world of heavy civil construction, heavy road construction and commercial construction. This means that finding the right candidates in a market that lacks talent is not an easy task.

After devoting your energy to acquiring talents, you don't want your efforts to go to waste. This may be due to a missing or non-existent deployment process.

New workers may choose to move to greener pastures if they feel they don't fit in with the current layout. In other cases, candidates may accept the offers you make them, resign from your current employer, accept a start date only to quit, or accept a last-minute counteroffer.

This can be especially frustrating because you want new hires to be settled and ready to take on new roles within your organization.

As a leading executive recruiter in the heavy construction, heavy road construction and commercial construction industries, we are particularly familiar with this phenomenon. While it's impossible to stop new hires from leaving the company, there are many things you can do to make your onboarding process and workplace growth-friendly.

What is employee onboarding?

This refers to the process of familiarizing the new employee with the company's expectations, knowledge, experience and culture.

According to a study by HBR, around 33% of new hires look for new opportunities within six months of being hired. Alarmingly, their numbers show that around 23% leave before their first anniversary.

Since hiring new employees is more expensive than retaining existing ones, investing time and resources into recruiting new employees is a matter of course.

Onboarding is divided into two types:

• Informal implementation– new employees are on their own here. They learn work processes without the substantive help of the HR department and superiors.
• Formal implementation– A step-by-step program will be developed for new hires to familiarize them with their responsibilities, company culture and policies and procedures.

In many cases, informal onboarding never works. Without a system that dictates your course of action, you're likely to experience high turnover rates.

With formal implementation, you are in safe hands. It is a proven and most effective way to retain the greatest talents.

To read:

• Onboarding of employees in civil and commercial construction

Employee onboarding best practices

Make it a rewarding experience.

Socializing with co-workers can help new employees enjoy the work environment better. As an employer, you can facilitate communication between employees to increase productivity.

Instead of throwing new employees into deep waters full of unfamiliar faces, we recommend a system where you introduce new employees to associates. When an employee instructs a new employee on how to navigate the workplace, he or she can get used to the company faster.

(Video) First Impressions Matter. How and why to optimize your company's onboarding process...

A mentor who guides new employees can also help them establish new relationships with their supervisors and the various people who may work under their wing and in other departments.

Given that most organizations are divided into different departments such as finance, safety and security, it is wise to put in place a system that is conducive to onboarding construction workers to them as well.

Some positions, such as operations manager, require knowing the different heads of departments and more than just names. Without proper systems to enable this, there's a good chance they'll stutter instead of hitting the ground.

welcome party

Of course, companies tend to think independently.Although this is a great template for attracting new employees, you will want to do something that will show that you value their talents.

To show your appreciation, you can introduce new employees to the team by holding a casual, informal get-together to socialize with new employees. This can be a great motivation for them to educate themselves on their responsibilities as there is a good chance that they will be passionate about the job and their co-workers.

For consistency, you can make it a tradition that will be repeated regularly. You can keep some decorations and supplies to reduce the cost of future meetings.

As an option, you can embrace minimalism and just give them a welcome card. It doesn't have to be a big deal, a small banner telling new employees that they are welcome to the company can motivate them a lot.

Configure logins and access

To successfully deploy civil and commercial construction workers, the entire organization must be in sync. HR can work with IT to ensure employees have access to company resources as soon as they cross the threshold.

If there's a delay between an employee accepting an offer and showing up for work, you can set up all their resources in advance.

This helps new employees make a good impression of the company. Employee morale will be high if they have the right tools at their disposal, such as computers, e-mail, business cards and a mobile phone. Using such facilities gives them the feeling that they are valued members of the community.

Drug screening as part of the onboarding process

Contrary to popular belief, a pre-employment drug test is not based on applicants' suspicions. In the early stages, employers don't know enough about potential employees to develop measures to prevent them from joining the team.

For everyone to be on board, the following conditions must be met:

• note– It is important to inform applicants in advance that you wish to take a drug test as a requirement of employment.
• approved– Have candidates state in writing that they agree to the testing procedures.
• Protected results– To encourage participation, you can inform candidates that the results are confidential and will not be shared widely.
• Reasonable process– The process must be reasonable and require minimal intervention.

It is important that you want to take a drug test before hiring candidates. This removes any confusion as to whether applicants need to have the same level of privacy that current employees enjoy.

(Video) ONBOARDING CHECKLIST | Tips to optimize your employee onboarding experience

Take the right steps

For new hires who are already cultured and take on multiple roles, you might assume the job is done.

However, you need to regularly monitor the progress of new hires to make sure they are on the right track. This should not be negotiable, even if employees feel they don't need to conduct an assessment.

In addition to the opportunity to check their progress, it is a fantastic opportunity to learn a lot about the implemented onboarding strategies.

You can ask them what they liked about the onboarding process and what activities they did not like. When saving this data, you can make adjustments here and there at your discretion.

Streamline your onboarding process and get ready for positive results

Successful onboarding in civil and commercial constructionEmployees need a lot of commitment and time.

By researching what your employees want, you can get a useful framework to develop best practices for implementation.

Since the first weeks usually have the greatest impact on how new employees perceive the company, you need to prepare well in advance for the start.

As a recruiter for civil and commercial engineering executives, we are confident that the guidance provided will inspire you to make the necessary changes to boost the morale and productivity of your new hires.

If you want us to take a more hands-on approach,Do not hesitate to contact us. We will help you develop a system designed to onboard civil and commercial construction workers for maximum effectiveness.