After the rush of Annual Enrollment, next on our “to do’s” is updating new hire and onboarding materials. This got us thinking about the idea of “keepboarding”… trying to keep the employees you have by reminding them of why they came to work for the company in the first place. You invest such time and energy in talking to new hires. When do you retell the story to veteran employees?
Help employees retain what you told them day one, so you help the company retain the employee long term.
Two ideas…
- 90-day check-up: The typical probationary period has ended; the manager is reviewing performance and revisiting expectations. What if this time was also used to see if the new employee has any questions about how his benefits or other HR programs work? Understanding leads to appreciation.
- Re-orientation: Once a year, every year, hold a Company-wide (or location-wide/plant-wide) meeting to re-orient employees with your benefits and HR programs. Just use a skinny-down version of the onboarding presentation. Plus, take the opportunity to spotlight some of the under-used programs and address common questions or misunderstandings.
We understand we may be over-simplifying the idea of employee retention. A lot more goes into it than just benefits. But it may be an overlooked piece at your company. Keepboarding is something you can start doing today.
