SUGGESTED ONBOARDING PRACTICES DESIGNED TO HELP INCREASE RETENTION, PERFORMANCE AND RECRUITMENT Mark Holmes Consultant Board, Inc. MarkHolmesGroup.com Springfield, MO 417.883.7434 DISCLAIMER The information contained in these materials and the verbal presentation of these materials by Consultant Board, Inc. and Mark Holmes are suggestive only and are not promises or guarantees that if implemented will produce a particular result. Rather, they are mere suggestions that when implemented may achieve successful results when placed into practice. Actual results will vary depending upon a variety of factors including but not limited to differences in implementation, market differences and differences in the businesses implementing the suggestions.
2 WHAT DOES COMPANY CULTURE MEAN? ONBOARDING IS DEFINED AS... A structured, intentional process that: W new employees to the company, I them into your culture and core values, S them through the job to equip them for success, and E them with coworkers and engages with them in order to increase retention, performance and recruitment. W.I.S.E. WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL ROI? Higher retention. Saves money/higher profits Improves employee performance. Sources: Aberdeen Group, 2013; Forbes article, 2015, ref: Wynhurst group
3 2-PART CHALLENGE Employee Pool Employer Parity Chipotle McDonald s Taco Bell Starbucks Dunkin Donuts Perks Flexibility Pay Schedule Independent Coffee Shops C-Stores Retail Job Training Career Path Recruitment #1 Workforce Challenge; 74% QSR jobs being commoditized *People Study 2016
4 2 TRAPS #1 DESPERATION HIRING The more we hire out of desperation The more turnover we experience #2 UNDERUTILIZED ONBOARDING The more we underutilize our onboarding The more new employee turnover and performance problems we have 6 SINS Rushed Unstructured Inconsistent Check the box Behind the times It s just training
5 5 SUGGESTED KEYS FOR CREATING A MORE EFFECTIVE ONBOARDING PROCESS 1. The Key 2. The Structure and Key 3. The Employee Key 4. The Key 5. The Key
6 20 WISE ONBOARDING CORE PRACTICES Timeframe: First day to 90 days W WELCOME your new employee Provide a welcome kit letter, history culture, values, etc. (Preboarding Activity?) Be ready and organized. Prepare everyone in the store for their role in Onboarding. Treat it like a celebration rather than an orientation training. Create employee WOWs! Welcome the employee with great greeting and make them feel comfortable. Connect them with a mentor/buddy as well as other crew members/managers I INTEGRATE the employee into your culture and values Talk about your core values and culture. Tell them why they are important. Build a bridge from your values to the significance of their role. Help them grasp the culture: The main thing you need to know about our culture is If it s fun, show them. If it s family-like, let them see it. Get them examples of how your values are lived by employees and recognized by the restaurant. Have meaningful ways to recognize and reward. S STEP them through how to get the work done successfully Get them off to a good start with online and/or other training resources. Be consistent when it comes to training. Don t rush through the training or cover too much at one sitting. Frequently link your core values with the employee s work duties. Explain why their role in the guest s experience matters so much. E ENGAGE the employee with coworkers, and engage with the employee Take an interest in the employee s life outside of work. Get them interacting with coworkers and facilitate the forging of relationships. Ask them about their goals and talk about the company s opportunities. Share stories that highlight your core values, culture and mission. Check in with them about Onboarding process. Day/week/month 1...at 60/90 days.
7 THE EMPLOYEE WOWS WHEEL TM WOW WHEEL First day Month 30 90 Days
8 PRACTICAL TOOLS FOR CREATING OR STRENGTHENING ONBOARDING Optional Tools & Resources Suggested First 30, 60, 90 Days... Sample Implementation Timeline/Overview
9 OPTIONAL TOOL #1 FURTHER STRENGTHENING YOUR ONBOARDING PROCESS DIG DEEP QUESTIONS 1. Do you have an organized, written down, structured Onboarding process that is effective at retaining employees and preparing them to perform their jobs successfully? How should you add better organization or structure in order to improve your process? 2. What feelings do employees have on their first day at your restaurant? Are you being proactive enough in managing those initial impressions? Are you obtaining adequate feedback from new employees in order to understand their first impressions of your company? 3. What is the impact of your current Onboarding process with your new employees? Do they feel welcomed? Can they appreciate your culture and values? Do they feel adequately trained in the job the first week? Do they feel like they can belong on the team and form positive relationships with their coworkers and management? 4. Are you creating enough employee WOW s in our Onboarding? Is it currently achieving the retention, employee performance and recruitment levels you need? Does your Onboarding effectively represent your culture and how you value people? 5. What are the most frequent reasons why new employees leave in the first 90 days? What would employees like to see you change or improve in your Onboarding process (do you really know)? What does this tell you about your feedback loops and how they can be improved?
10 DIG DEEPER QUESTIONS 6. What type of Onboarding process would cause your new employees to highly recommend your company as an employer to their friends and family? Are you hitting the mark? Why or why not? What needs to change? 7. Have you adequately trained your restaurant management for Onboarding new employees effectively? Are they equipped to Onboard, relate positively with and retain and develop employees like you ideally need? 8. Are you giving Onboarding the priority (appropriate amount of time, effort and money) it really needs in order to retain, optimize employee productivity and improve recruitment to the levels you desire? 9. If you could create the ideal Onboarding process what would it look like? Feel like? What type of impact would it have on your employee? How would it impact your company s retention and recruitment? How does this fit within our resources? 10. In order for our Onboarding to be the best in can be, what needs to be changed or improved in the future?
11 OPTIONAL TOOL #2 GATHERING USEFUL EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK/METRIC Here s something you might want to think about One of the top three reasons that Onboarding underperforms for a QSR (in my experience) is the result of not having sufficient employee feedback. Management myopia keeps the business stuck doing Onboarding the same way it has been done for years, and since it isn t measured objectively it can t be improved effectively. The main benefits from having sufficient employee feedback loops include: (a) improves Onboarding, (b) makes sure the new employee s needs are being met and, (c) heads off problems before they start, and (d) engages the employee. Look over the following questions and consider ways to improve your feedback loops. Feedback Loop From The New Employee On Their First Day - or First Week: 1. How did you feel on your first day (first week)? 2. How well did we meet your expectations? 3. Are you struggling with any issues related to doing your job or fitting in here? 4. How comfortable do you feel with fellow employees and management? 5. What can we do to make you feel more comfortable with the job? Feedback Loop at 30-45, 60-90 Days; Or From Existing Employees: 1. How well did Onboarding meet your needs and expectations as a new employee? 2. What information do you wish you had been taught when you began? 3. What was difficult for you to perform or figure out? 4. What did you find most beneficial/least beneficial in the first 30 days? 5. How long did it take before you felt confident and effective at your job? 6. How satisfied were you with the accessibility and involvement of your trainer or mentor? 7. How satisfied were you with the knowledge and skill of your trainer or mentor? 8. How satisfied were you with the amount of time that was allotted to complete all phases of your training? 9. Was the employee manual reviewed with you adequately? How would you suggest that the employee manual (policies, general information packet, etc.) be covered with new employees? 10. What improvement or changes do you feel ought to be made in new employee Onboarding? Suggested Action: Adjust the questions to fit your employee s tenure and your restaurant/network s situation.
12 OPTIONAL TOOL #3 UTILIZING A W.I.S.E. ONBOARDING CHECKLIST Your onboarding checklist reflects what is prioritized and most emphasized with your new employee during their first day and first week. This initial period of first impressions can have a powerful influence on the employee s feelings toward your company, its management, the culture and the job. Many, if not most organizations primarily use a Traditional Orientation Checklist, one that prioritizes and emphasizes administration, paperwork and tasks to get the job done. All-important, mind you, however that s not what the best-in-class employers do. They use a more effective approach by focusing uniformly on administration, paperwork and tasks along with an emphasis on W.I.S.E. onboarding practices. They recognize that if a new employee can function well in the job but they aren t thrilled about staying with the company, a huge investment walks out the door! In my experience, an employee s first impressions must be managed as proactively as getting them ready to do the job. Take a look at the two samples of onboarding checklists and then consider using the exercise that follows to create your own W.I.S.E. onboarding checklist. A. Sample Traditional Orientation Checklist With A Focus On The Employee s Job Function 1. Paperwork Completed 2. Reviewed Employee Handbook 3. Went over safety rules 4. Acquainted them with management structure 5. Setup online training, logged in 6. Employee completed online training 7. Demonstrated job tasks with employee 8. Practiced job tasks until successful completion 9. Pay schedule reviewed 10. Uniforms given out 11. Store tour 12. Guest Scores (GSS) 13. Days off, requests for time off 14. Scheduling Rules 15. Management open door policy 16. How to clock in and out
13 B. W.I.S.E. Onboarding Checklist Sample 1. Made certain everyone knows when the new employee s first day is scheduled. 2. Emphasized with everyone the importance of making positive impressions and making the employee feel comfortable. 3. Had everything ready and organized. 4. Made employee feel Welcomed like a VIP. 5. Connected them with a mentor/buddy. 6. Found out about them. Took an interest in their life outside of work. 7. Explained our Core Values and Mission and how employees live those out in our workplace. 8. Got them started in the U online training. Took sufficient time. 9. Made introductions to Managers, Supervisors and Crew. 10. Recognized the qualities that I liked in them. 11. Praised, complimented their progress whenever it was appropriate. 12. Asked them how they felt about their first day. What they liked? Didn t like? If we met their expectations, and if not, how we could improve? 13. Communicated that they matter and emphasized how their job impacts our guest s experience, core values and mission. 14. Reinforced how they had made a good decision to work at our company. 15. Described the future that I saw in them and linked this with career opportunities (when the timing is right). CREATING YOUR W.I.S.E. CHECKLIST Suggested Actions: 1. Discuss both checklists with your team. Which checklist most closely characterizes your current onboarding checklist? What changes need to be made for a W.I.S.E. approach? 2. Narrow both lists to the activities you feel best meet your network s need to get the employee off to a good start on the job, while also making the positive first impressions you want created. (Look over the 20 WISE Onboarding Core Practices and the Employee WOWs Wheel for additional activities you want to include.) Next, create your own W.I.S.E. Onboarding Checklist incorporating the aspects that meet your needs.
14 OPTIONAL TOOL #4 YOUR UNIQUE VALUE NARRATIVE What is our Unique Value Narrative? What are its strengths? Potential shortcomings? Is it convincing enough? How can we improve our narrative for recruiting a prospective employee, or for retaining a current employee? Which of the Value Drivers of Modern Employees do we satisfy best? Least? If we could create the ideal Unique Value Narrative, what would its message be? What changes do we need to make in order to deliver (live) an ideal Unique Value Narrative?
15 VALUE DRIVERS OF MODERN EMPLOYEES *Not rank order Flexibility Work Activity That Matters Engaging Work Culture Feedback Transparency Clear Values Career Ambitions Collaboration Work Relationships Empathy-Skilled Supervisors Respect Trust Source: GenBlending research of Millennials 2008-2010; Mark Holmes, Bette Price; based on 570 responses online, live interviews and certified behavioral and workplace motivators assessments. Results featured in media: Investors Business Daily, FOX Business, Texas CEO Magazine. For more information visit GenBlending.com
IMPLEMENTING SUGGESTED ONBOARDING PRACTICES: SAMPLE TIMELINE/OVERVIEW 16 45-60 DAYS Coach to strengths and weaknesses Build on the relationship Assess possible career path interests 60-90 DAYS Continue developing employee s capabilities Continue feedback loops Advance the employee s career path opportunities as appropriate 30 DAYS Shape employee impressions-w.i.s.e. Follow checklists Create Employee Wows Maintain regular feedback loops Retention Performance Recruitment Needs Assessment/Planning Treat Onboarding as a strategic investment Dig Deep(er)? s Create Structure, Process Set expectations with RM s, Mentors, Trainer Train/equip influencers Develop Unique Value Narrative Create checklists Put accountability AND rewards in place for managers to hit goals Create Onboarding Plan for implementation