Finding the right person to take over a role at your company is challenging. It often costs thousands of dollars just to fill one low- to mid-level position, and even more for management positions. That's why assuring that each hire you make is successful is of utmost importance in today's business world.

Studies have found that new hires are one of the biggest factor in creating animosity and discord in the office. On top of that, in a 2014 survey done by BambooHR, it was discovered that one-third of the 1,000 respondents said they had quit a job within the first six months of starting it. Plus, more than 16 percent left between the first week and the third month of their new job. Along with being extremely costly monetary wise, this also creates discontent and confusion among the remaining members of your team.

While the majority of businesses find success with new hires, if you're interested in some best practice techniques or are part of that minority that has struggled with onboarding new staff, try these 3 tips below.

1. Smooth Introduction

Making sure that your new hire has a smooth first week or two is excruciatingly important. Nothing is worse for a new hire to experience at your company than an aimless, unproductive and unstructured intro period. If nothing else, assure that they're at least busy with work, don't let them sit and stew about their decision!

A good practice is to send out all of intro/contract/HR paperwork prior to the employee arriving on the first day. This simply allows both parties to be completely ready for the other as soon as the first day starts. Having experienced listless companies who ignored any onboarding procedure, there's nothing more frustrating. On top of dealing with paperwork prior to arrival, make sure you get your new hire to send through a quick bio and picture, so that you can familiarize them with your team. This allows both your hire and your team to be included in the process, as well as gives both familiarity right off the bat.

Here a few other more obvious, but sometimes forgotten about details that need to be taken care of:

• Setup you new employees workstation before they arrive

• Establish short and long-term goals with the hire

• Make sure they have everything they need to be productive on the first day

• Have a meeting at the end of the first day to clarify any issues or just ask them how their day went

• Send them home with an organization-specific care package

2. Allow for Team Input

Allowing current members of your team into the discussions about the hiring process is a great way to get them involved. While serving many purposes, overall this practice is just to make sure that everyone on your team feels included. Also, you never know when a member of your team might have a connection to someone who may fit perfect with the organization.

By including your team in the onboarding process, this gives the relationship with the new hire more potential to be a success. It does this by cutting away any resentment your staff may have about the decision. In theory it should allow your team to get any questions or concerns on the table prior to the new member coming onboard.

3. Setup Check-Up Meetings

Understanding your employees perspective is incredibly important. It's not good enough to simply make decisions for the company on your best judgement without consulting staff. The same concept applies to the onboarding process. Make sure that you're having check-in meetings with your new hire, as well as with your team. Hearing what they have to say will give you the opportunity to adjust on the fly and eliminate festering issues.

A more formal way of doing this is through a formal questionnaire at the end of the first week. Include any questions about their thoughts on your orientation process and assimilation with the team and office. Not only will this allow you to identify any pain points that might reduce your new hire’s job satisfaction, but it also helps inform you about onboarding best practices for future hires.

A significant amount of job turnover happens in the first couple of months, so assure that you're treating your new hire to a seamless onboarding process.

–

Don’t drop the ball after you make the hire. The onboarding process is just as critical as the recruitment process when it comes to optimizing hiring results. Smart hiring practices extend into your new hires’ first few months of employment, and recognizing that can save your company a lot of time and money.