Consider the experience of starting a job from the perspective of your newly hired employees.
As they join your company, they’ll need to acclimate to a new role, responsibilities, co-workers, and routines.
New employees are eager to contribute their talents and passions to a company, but feeling out of their element can leave them feeling vulnerable and stressed.
Onboarding, sometimes referred to as socialization to an organization, is a series of events (including new employee orientation) that helps your new hires:
- Feel at home on their first day by communicating the expectations, skills, and knowledge necessary in your workforce.
- Learn the culture of your company.
- Be invested in their daily roles to help your business meet its goals.
- Take time to focus on what matters most to each department.
- Bridge the connection between their daily tasks and the company’s goals.
- Lay a foundation for job satisfaction and commitment to your organization.
- Connect with other employees to gain information and cooperation.
Onboarding that forms relationships gives employees meaning to help them show up at work every day. IBM found that the more socially connected its employees were, the better they performed. They quantified that the value of each new connection is worth $948 in revenue. New connections also lower turnover and stress, while increasing employee engagement, motivation, and productivity.
A thoughtful onboarding program is crucial.
According to recent data, one in four new hires will leave within 180 days and 20% will leave within the first 90 days.
Given that the newest workforce generation is in a state of flux, statistics show that 21% of Millennials have switched jobs in the last year. Because hiring new employees is expensive and time-consuming, successful onboarding is more important than ever. Research by Glassdoor, one of the world’s largest job and recruiting sites, found that organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by more than 70%. A negative onboarding experience results in new hires being two times more likely to look for other opportunities.
How do most organizations stand when it comes to onboarding?
A recent Gallup poll discovered that only 12% of employees strongly agree their organization does a great job of onboarding new employees.
The best way to plug in new hires where they will be passionate is by helping them understand themselves. Creating an environment where employees find fulfillment will be increasingly important as Millennials continue taking over the workplace and strive to find a place where they can express themselves. In fact, it’s more important to provide time to connect to others and to identify strengths and foster confidence in newcomers than it is to describe a specific job or gain clarity on the role of a department. Onboarding falls short when effective relationships in one’s workgroup fail to be formed.
What’s an easy, established way to create an opportunity for new hires to connect with co-workers? Through corporate team building activities.
Team performance and workplace morale are enhanced through team building activities because the individuals who come together to form a team understand each other better. They understand each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. This understanding helps them on present projects and future endeavors that are vital to a company’s success. Through a fun, inclusive team building activity, teams bond more effectively than by other methods. Similar to a sports team that wins a championship and becomes motivated to perform better to win again, a work team that accomplishes success in a team building activity becomes motivated to enhance their performance at work to keep their team winning.
Workplace collaboration = business success.
Innovation, improved communication in teamwork and creativity are fostered when people feel comfortable around their coworkers. A successful team building event brings people closer together and contributes to a creative workplace. Socializing and making friends through team building activities is also one of the best ways to increase office productivity, problem solving and morale. A higher morale leads to a higher quality of work.
Employees are a company’s most valuable assest.
Teams that travel outside of their office settings are exposed to new experiences that carry them beyond their normal environment and routine. This novelty ignites fresh ideas and new perspectives. If the team building event requires problem solving, this creates an opportunity to work together rationally and strategically providing a safe and structured rehearsal for teams to effectively take charge when a real crisis occurs. TeamBonding also minimizes the gap between leadership and employees. Because everyone must overcome the same challenges on a level playing field, the workplace hierarchy is erased. Everyone is seen as colleagues working toward team success.
Team building leads to these workplace outcomes:
- Improved morale
- Improved communication
- Improved office relationships
- Enhanced quality of work
- Enhanced motivation
- Increased confidence to take on new challenges
- Enhanced creativity and innovation
- Improved problem-solving skills
- Minimized perception of hierarchy
Onboarding with a board?
All of the above outcomes can be found in the TeamBonding program: Breaking Barriers. This program offers participants the opportunity to succeed in something that is seemingly impossible… breaking a board with their hand or foot!
Breaking a board requires complete mental control. It involves the courage to strike something harder than the human body, the commitment to follow through with a decision, the proper technique to perform the maneuver correctly and the concentration to focus energy into a few square inches.
The common thread witnessed among all participants in Breaking Barriers is how they become empowered through the act of breaking a board. This empowerment is heard as the boards snap in half over and over again and the scent of pine newly exposed to the air permeates the room. Empowerment shows up with every smile and every whoop of excitement as someone breaks a board. It shows up with every high five, every embrace and every heartfelt share.
This empowerment shows up in a look of astonishment followed by a look of total clarity in each and every participant who breaks a board. It is visible when a person’s body shifts from a place of fear to a place of confidence. It is this empowerment that forever changes their lives.
Learn more about how your company can experience a breakthrough with Breaking Barriers here.
