The onboarding process for new hires is often the perfect time to introduce and emphasize your company’s core values. This not only helps set new employees up for success in their new roles, but it is also highly beneficial for your business.
Showcasing the core values your company believes in and stand behind can foster better cooperation and teamwork, build rapport, and can generally help improve communication. However, you must introduce your company’s core values as soon as possible to ensure you and new hires are all on the same page from day one.
Outline company core values early
When it comes to onboarding, think of it as the first glimpse a new employee will have of how your business operates. This can work in your favor or against it depending on how you approach this crucial moment. A perfect example of this is during the onboarding. A new hire typically decides whether your company has a strong or weak emphasis on values like communication.
Strong and open communication between leaders and employees is important for many reasons and should be part of every business’s core values. If this emphasis is missing from the get-go, you could end up facing issues such as high turnover rates, disengaged and unmotivated employees, and more.
So, with that in mind, you might be wondering exactly how better to communicate your company’s core values to your employees:
- Survey: The quickest way to figure out your employees' awareness of your business's values is to ask them. Set aside time at least twice a year and put together a survey where employees can provide feedback and give you a clearer idea of what still needs to be emphasized and worked on within your business.
- Train: Providing actionable ways to implement company values and business strategy is just as important as explaining them. Ensure you're providing all the right tools and knowledge during the training process and continue refining them as your business and employees grow.
- Listen: Making time to hear from employees at every level not only fosters better communication and trust but taking the time to listen can also lead to new opportunities and positive changes within your business. But only if you're willing to take in and absorb what employees are saying to you.
To put it simply, engaged employees are productive employees. Communicating your business's values from day one and beyond can help motivate employees to exceed expectations and contribute even more to the company's growth.
Don't skip the Employee Handbook
A well-put-together employee handbook can do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to the onboarding process. Not only are they a great place to detail all the aspects of your business, such as your company’s mission, but employee handbooks can be tailored to emphasize company core values in an easily digestible way for new hires. This means they’re worth spending extra time on.
Employee handbooks are as versatile as they are useful. You could have an entirely separate section dedicated solely to company core values, or you could spread them throughout the handbook into sections like a code of conduct, compensation and development, and benefits and perks.
Having it in print is also a great way to easily and quickly reference back to your values during meetings, performance reviews, and of course, training.
But for portability and to save up on shipping fees when working with remote employees, having an ebook version is a great option too.
Consider appointing mentors to new hires
Typically, when it comes to providing resources on company core values to new employees, you might only picture things like a company newsletter, an employee handbook, and maybe a well-put-together PowerPoint or two. However, introducing your company’s core values doesn’t have to stick exclusively to these kinds of resources.
Instead, you should consider having one or a few of your most engaged employees mentor the new hires. Having a mentor not only tells new hires about your business’s vision and goals but shows them through their day-to-day work is a great way to strengthen company culture and emphasize core values.
Additionally, providing good mentors can help new hires become more quickly immersed in their new roles at your company, making the onboarding process a lot easier in many ways. Appointing an employee as a mentor is beneficial for them, as they’ll feel more like active contributors at their workplace.
This is important for retention, company culture, and teamwork. Remember, everyone learns differently, so having various resources that all work to highlight your company’s core values will help ensure you reach the most employees possible.
The onboarding process is crucial for all new hires, regardless of the kind of business you own and operate. Set them and you up for success by providing crystal clear goals, strategies, and most importantly, company core values.
