Making New Employees Feel Right at Home

HR Shared Services Help New Hires get to know their Company Quickly & Feel at Ease

We’ve all been there – the first day at a new job – a combination of hopeful exuberance and nervous energy. Naturally new hires want to make a good first impression with colleagues and managers. Then there are the potentially daunting learning curves of corporate policies, politics and culture; and that’s after filling out myriad human resources forms of course…

What if the whole new employee acclimation process could be smoother, easier and more enjoyable – both for the newbie’s and the organization as a whole? Well it can be when a firm implements an HR Shared Services Center into their human resources processes. HR service delivery is greatly enhanced through automated forms and employee access to company information – making for a smoother and more satisfying employee orientation.

Anxieties for new employees include second guessing the ability to perform the job, meeting new people, adjusting to a new culture, and dealing with new responsibilities and managers. From their perspective, some of these may be alleviated with online access to a vast repository of information – containing everything from initial HR forms for automated processing, to the employee handbook for quick reference. A company with an integrated online enterprise portal could also highlight company news and sponsored events in additional to human resources-centric information – for even better employee engagement.

Finding, recruiting, vetting and hiring new employees takes a lot of effort and a great many resources – so why are do so many companies do so poorly at ‘onboarding’ new hires? According to Customer Service and Loyalty Expert Peggy Morrow in a column, ‘Helping New Employees Succeed’,

“One of the things that amazes me when I work with companies to improve customer service and productivity is how poorly they bring new employees into the organization. Orientation, or as they now call it, ‘onboarding’, can make a big difference in your retention rate, the success of the new employee and their acceptance by their co workers.”

The company resources, ongoing engagement and open lines of communication provided via an HR Shared Services Center portal can go a long way to establishing an initial connection, and building a lasting experience, between company and employee.

Fear of the unknown can make anyone a little anxious. When embarking on a new career path, keep in mind that the company hired you for a reason, and don’t second guess yourself. Or, as Rhonda Kinsley says, “So You are the New Hire, Don’t be Afraid! Go to your new job knowing you belong there.” She also recommends that new hires attend New Employee Orientation, and review and get to know policy and procedure manuals – much easier when they’re accessible from an HR Shared Service Center!