Transitioning New Employees into the Workplace

Hiring new employees is a very different experience for different companies. In some cases, there are challenges because of diversity issues and cases in which there are concerns about whether or not the fit will be right - especially when the company is hiring someone younger to lead a department rather than looking to those employees who have been with the business. In other cases, however, it is remarkably easy to transition new employees into the workplace, and often this is the direct result of having employee mentoring programs put into place. Employee mentoring programs simplify the process of transitioning new employees into the workplace on a number of levels. First, employee mentoring programs help to ensure that when new employees are brought into the workplace they aren’t just going to be given a desk and a stack of tasks to complete - left on their own to figure out the best possible approach to doing the work and not being sure of whom to go to when they have questions. Instead, with employee mentoring programs in place, new hires are connected with an employee who is already on the team, has experience doing the work and who will be there to provide guidance about the tasks at hand, company policies and the best ways to get things done. Similarly, employee mentoring programs are effective for transitioning new employees into the workplace because the programs foster both relationships and confidence. Employee mentoring programs help a new hire to get to know his or her new coworkers and to establish connections. Those connections along with the support that shows that they are picking up on the requirements of the job and the knowledge that - as additional employees are brought on they will rise to the position of mentor - their contributions will be recognized and rewarded. Because these new employees will know that their efforts will be rewarded as they learn the job, they will develop a sense of job security as well. The more that their efforts are recognized and the more comfortable that they are with getting the job done, the more that these staff members will be able to contribute. As they are able to work their way up within the company, they will further develop loyalty to the business - and they will be able to continue to take advantage of employee mentoring programs so that they will learn each job responsibility just as easily as they initially did. With employee mentoring programs in place, therefore, businesses will find that they are able to groom staff members from the time that they are hired until they have reached their career goals. Likewise, companies with employee mentoring programs in place will find that their staff members form better relationships, to be more comfortable with doing their jobs and to know that there is a place where they will be able to grow and thrive. Simply put, employee mentoring programs simplify the process of transitioning new staff into the business and ensuring that, once there, they’ll want to stick around. Copyright, Cecile Peterkin. All rights reserved.