Congratulations! You’ve made it through the grueling recruitment process, which can undoubtedly be as exhausting for the employer as it is for the new hire. Now what do you do? It’s time to welcome your new employee to the team via a process your human resources team will refer to as onboarding. But what exactly does this mean? And how can you avoid the statistics shared by SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Foundation that 50% of new hires fail within their first four months, and 50% of senior management new hires fail within their first eighteen months? Here are a few tips and tricks for making the process seamless for all parties involved.

1. Do have a written plan for onboarding.
2. Do have team meetings for those involved in the onboarding process.
3. Don’t drown your new hire in data. Piecemeal it in order of priority.
4. Do start the process right away – don’t wait for the new hire to get it all handled without explicit directions on where, when, how, and why.
5. Do provide clarity on the new hire’s direct supervisor, chain of communication, point person for HR, etc.
6. Do offer and point out training opportunities – your Millennials will especially love this!
7. Don’t be vague on your expectations. Be clear, be concise, be communicative.
8. Don’t forget to ask for feedback, and do it often and consistently!

Onboarding is a bit like the honeymoon stage of a relationship. You want your new hire to have a full picture of the good pieces that your company has to offer, and have enough information to feel comfortable and capable of making it work. Honesty and communication are key to the onboarding process, and will go a long way to make those statistics come drastically down so that you are not spending time and energy on new hires that won’t stick around as long as you hope.