Effectively Communicating Your Brand and Purpose to New Hires could JUST BE the Key to Retention
Recently, I’ve heard a lot of discussion among my client circles about employee onboarding. Years past, executives could leave logistics and motivational moments in the capable hands of HR and direct reports. New hires would learn the ropes and settle in. Now, with the Great Resignation and the prioritization of purpose-driven organizations, leaders must lean in. Why? Because it’s an essential part of building trust and connection with new team members so they feel inspired, engaged, and invested.
When we think about high-stakes moments in communications, this is certainly one. You bring on someone completely new to your team, and have a narrow window of time to get them all-in – emotionally and rationally – on your brand promise, your mission, and your goals. Here’s the thing: the success of onboarding starts with the leader, and then crosses the entire organization. It’s not an HR responsibility, it’s an every-leader responsibility. Every interaction has meaning, every touchpoint counts.
It's not just the competitive job market that is driving this trend. It’s a shift in how we do business and a demonstration of our increasingly complex workforce. We are operating with a vast mix of intergenerational and geographically dispersed employees. It’s tough enough to find the right talent; now it’s about quickly onboarding new hires remotely or via some hybrid approach. Many employees have competing priorities; they bring their whole selves to work and they may be caregivers, or parents; they are seeking companies that align with their own values.
Onboarding: a critical high-stakes communication moment
The leaders and companies I work with need help with onboarding in a few key areas:
Translating a company’s passion (or a founder/CEO’s passion) to the entire company.
Creating safety
Ensuring fun
Communicating with clarity
Ensuring you form strong, meaningful connections with new employees starts on day one.
Conveying passion with stories and emotion
Here’s what leaders need to remember: storytelling doesn’t have to always be grand, have the perfect arc, or be a thorough recounting. Sometimes the best stories, the most powerful stories, start with the smallest moments.
It could be a customer phone call. Where everything felt like it was going wrong before it went right. It could be a sincere reflection from a leader on how the business has grown or transformed. It could be the sharing of a problem – and how that one problem brought so many critical players together to solve it in a way that no one thought was possible.
Maybe it’s an idea. A vision for where you are headed that feels like a moonshot. So bold that it captivates and creates buy-in.
Or, maybe it’s about values. A story that demonstrates how a key company value simmered to the surface in a customer interaction.
Whatever it is, do not overthink it. These are the moments that make up your days, and these are the moments you want new employees (all employees!) to understand that you care about, deeply. The way you share these stories needs to be honest, real, and human.
Connections require a sense of safety
Strong connections will spark innovation and comradery on the best days, and inspire hard work, discipline, and long-lasting relationships when challenges arise. But real connections cannot be created when people don’t feel safe being themselves. In today’s pandemic world, a sense of safety – psychologically, physically, and emotionally – is non-negotiable for onboarding success.
Safety inspires people to show up as they are, to feel like they are accepted, and that they belong. It’s the building block for an inclusive culture and a healthy, happy workforce. Elements of safety should not only show up in our communications, but also in our culture and workplace policies.
Never underestimate the value of fun
Speaking of a happy workforce. . . creating opportunities for fun will fuel a sense of well-being and goodwill. That’s right – simple, effortless fun! Prioritizing fun is one of the best investments you can make to welcome new team members to your company. Work is work, but today’s employees want to have experiences that drive connection, laughter, even silliness. It can’t be all serious all the time. I encourage leaders to think of these events less as a reward for the team and more as an investment in relationship-building.
Whether it’s offsites, a workshop, a lunch out, a comedic team exercise – it’s these experiences that allow people to show up, share, and connect on a personal level. These connections pay dividends in professional interactions.
Become a great communicator
A smart onboarding approach – with stories, a sense of safety, and fun – can become a powerful lever for growth with increased employee satisfaction and stability in our volatile world. Again, onboarding success always starts at the top, with experienced leaders who know what and how to share.
Getting new team members oriented quickly is not just an investment in the team, it’s an investment in the forward-momentum of the business. You can learn more about how I support teams and leaders in onboarding and other high-stakes communications moments here.