BY WENDY CHRISTIE, EMPLOYERESOURCE
The world of human resource management is a lot different today than it was just a few decades ago. One space that has seen the most change and is still changing is onboarding.
In the early years of my career in human resources, the onboarding process was rudimentary at best. The entire process usually involved merely handing out stacks of payroll forms to new employees and showing them to their job site. Getting an employee handbook or a formal introduction to your new supervisor at the time was pretty much a luxury.
Basically, recruits back in the day were thrown into the deep end of the job without a lot of preparation. Things couldn’t be any more different today. According to a 2022 Gallup Poll, 54 percent of Gen Zs (people born between 1997 and 2012) employees are ambivalent or not engaged at work. This has bred a generation of employees who have very little interest in their jobs and have no problem leaving their jobs at the slightest inconvenience; gone are the days of employees sticking to a job.
Handling these modern employees requires a different approach to onboarding, an approach that focuses on engaging employees, right from the first day of employment.
Handling Onboarding with the Modern Employee
When considering modern employees, particularly Millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996) and Gen Zs, it’s crucial to acknowledge that many of them were raised by “helicopter parents” who excessively monitored and intervened in their children’s lives. This style of parenting has resulted in the emergence of two generations often characterized as the most demanding and needy of our time.
Handling such a generation of employees is a challenging feat and requires a whole different approach to employee onboarding and orientation. Engaging these employees requires more effort than the now ancient onboarding process formerly used for previous generations. Thankfully, with the right employee program, HR personnel can increase employee retention and develop a dynamic team environment best suited for engaging this generation.
Building the Right Team for this Generation of Employees
Building a team of employees in this generation requires more than a mere orientation program and more of an employee integration program. Such a program should encompass several key components to effectively integrate new hires into the company culture.
Below are some tips on building the perfect team of Millennial and Gen Z employees.
Instill a Big-Picture Perspective from Day 1
The onboarding process of millennial and Gen Z employees should start with an orientation process that introduces each new employee to the big picture of the company’s operations. These employees want to be engaged and feel like what they are doing matters, so let your integration process do just that.
Take new employees around the shop to give them an overview of how the entire operations process works. Then provide a more detailed tour of their specific job site to give them a better understanding of how they fit into that big picture. This simple step when done right would instill in your employees that what they do for the company is important, and by extension, makes them feel valued.
Adopt an Integration Process that Encourages Friendship in the Workplace
Research exists that proves that a friendly work environment always translates to improved employee retention. According to Gallup research reports, having close friends at work takes this to even greater degrees. According to one such report, having a best friend at work drastically improves job success.
Creating an integration process that fosters friendship in the workplace can help you achieve this. Ensure to introduce new employees to colleagues during the integration process and make an effort to encourage employees to build connections with one another.
Updating Your Mentorship Game
Mentorship is an integral component of effective career development, something practically every employee loves. According to a CNBC/SurveyMonkey Workplace Happiness Survey, more than 91 percent of employees who have a mentorship program are satisfied with their jobs. More than 57 percent are very satisfied.
While many companies have only recently begun implementing mentoring programs, the electrical industry has long embraced this approach through its well-established apprenticeship and journeyman programs. While these programs have been focused on knowledge transfer, now is the time to up the game and also look toward employee retention.
Here are some hits and tips to up your game:
Ensure Effective Mentor-Mentee Relationships
Not all apprentice (mentee) and journeyman (mentor) matches are a success. When you first match your mentee with a mentor make sure to continually check in to see how the match is going. Sometimes two people do not click or an apprentice might outgrow the knowledge the journeyman has to offer. Regularly checking in with the apprentice and journeyman separately can help you identify situations like this so you can make quick changes.
Stay Up-to-Date on the Apprentice’s Goals
When creating a mentorship program, make sure to check in with the apprentices to see what their goals are. Doing this would help you structure the mentorship to meet both the apprentice and company goals. If a company can help Millennials and Gen Zs see their goals are in sight, you’ve successfully improved your employee retention.
Check back on the apprentices from time to time to ensure their goals are being met. This can help identify any areas where additional support or resources might be needed, ensuring that the mentorship remains effective and relevant. Regular check-ins also provide an opportunity to celebrate achievements, make adjustments, and keep the mentorship dynamic and responsive to the mentees’ changing needs and aspirations.
Select Mentors Carefully
When selecting a mentor for mentorship programs, make sure your chosen mentors are enthusiastic about taking on an apprentice. Your mentors see the opportunity to share their knowledge as a good thing. People who see knowledge as something that they would rather keep than share and always want something in return for sharing knowledge aren’t the right choice for mentorships. You want to choose people who find joy in helping and watching people grow; those are the best sorts of mentors.
Remember though, the goal here is mentorship for employee retention. As such, simply finding a good mentor is not good enough. You want to find one who is loyal to the organization. Find mentors who are loyal to the organization and your mentees will learn loyalty in the process!
Conclusion
The old method of onboarding employees doesn’t work well with today’s Millennial and Gen Z employees. This doesn’t mean onboarding these generations of employees is a process doomed to fail. The trick lies in employee engagement; create an engaging environment for these employees and employee retention would shoot through the roof. The tips mentioned above will help you do this.
About the Author
Wendy Christie, owner and developer of EmployerESource, has over 20 years of experience in the area of employee relations. EmployerESource is a software program that develops a company handbook by company requirements, state law, federal law, and industry practices. This gives Wendy the opportunity to have read all 50 state laws and worked in countless industries. Wendy has handled over 100 different employee relations investigations. As a human resource consultant, she has helped countless companies develop legally compliant employee handbooks and documentation.
Wendy has developed 3rd Party Reporting. This provides employees with a 3rd party to report workplace disputes, providing company with an insurance policy against complaints and lawsuits. EmployerESource is the first line of defense in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaints and lawsuits.
Wendy has authored a number of articles in several industries on hiring practices, embezzlement, legally compliant employment practices, and dress codes for today’s workplace culture.
Wendy Christie at SPARK: The Electrician’s Expo
The author leads three sessions at SPARK in Tampa.
Policies, Practices, & Protection. Does Your Handbook Have What It Takes?
Employee handbooks are expensive for employers to develop and maintain. This session discusses the laws, regulations, benefits, and downfalls of having an employee handbook. Some courts interpret language in employee handbooks as a binding contract, so the class also covers how to avoid any unconditional promises of employment. The wrong employee handbook can expose you to unnecessary risks and costly mistakes.
Understanding and Complying with Fair Labor Standards Act
Organizations of every size and shape can be susceptible to wage and hour violations. The last thing you want to do is violate the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Penalties are expensive and audits are time consuming. Companies are often shocked to learn that they can be on the hook for many millions of dollars for unintentional errors. This session is a cheat sheet to help you learn the FLSA rules and reduce your liability.
Advertising, Interviewing, and Retention the Key to Lowering Your Turnover
This session discusses the constant changing advertising avenues such as social media and advertising boards. Hiring has gotten tougher and finding the right applicant almost impossible. Learn how to sell your business to applicants. Hiring the right employees is the easiest way to cut down on your turnover. This session includes an open discussion on how your industry finds the right employees.