Recruitment
I can still recollect the good old days when a person was simply thrown into a job and allowed to sink or swim but a lot of water has passed under and over this bridge. It was an expensive procedure even then but the modern recruitment procedures are even most costly. Hence, a lot more care and caution has to be put in place.
Today, with good people as hard to find as they are, needless failures are even more costly. If there is anything that might be done to help a new person succeed, it is well worth the time and effort of everyone involved.
Trouble may start before new people are even on the payroll. When they are being offered jobs, they are treated as they are really somebody. An effort is usually made to impress them; they get attention and the position is presented to them in the best possible light. Is it any wonder, then, that they show up on the job with high expectation?
If their first few days do not live up to what they expected, their morale may be affected before they have hardly started. A big build-up leads to a big letdown if people treat them as if they are part of the woodwork once they are on board.
I know that intelligent HR leaders, no matter how busy, do not handle new recruitments haphazardly. They give new
people personal attention. They schedule time to orient or induct them and they plan what jobs these new people can handle during those critical first days.
It is natural for new employees to have anxieties. Will they like the job? Will they be able to handle it well? Where do they start? How will they get along with others? Will there be much chance for them to get ahead? So encouraging new employees to ask questions and talk about some of these issues always helps to reassure them.
Not the least important is to make sure they have enough to do because nothing is more frustrating to people full of energy and enthusiasm for a brand new job than to sit and twiddle their thumbs, or have to kill time while pretending to be busy. A good manager therefore, can get them up to speed a lot faster by giving them challenging assignments right from the start.
It is very important to follow their progress and show continued concern by checking every now and then on how they are making out. The best way to maintain their interest in the job is to maintain your interest in them.