How Your Company Can Learn From the Newest Employees

By: Jennifer Leahy
October 24th, 2011

Congratulations! You’ve successfully and effectively integrated your new hire into the company and corporate culture. This new employee is now an active and productive member of the work team and will no doubt contribute to the success of your business.

But the new hire process isn’t quite finished. A post-hire evaluation from your new hires can shed some light on your orientation and onboarding process.

Start the process about six months after an employee begins working for your company by re-hashing the hiring, orientation and onboarding process. Appoint someone to conduct the interview, such as a human resources designee. If at all possible avoid involving the employee’s supervisor and others closely aligned with the employee.

It’s important to be clear about your motives for gathering information on new hires’ experiences. Be sure to let new employees participating in the program know that the information they share will be viewed as constructive criticism and used to better future processes. Ask new employees what, if anything, they would change about the hiring process. Find out what their first impression of your company was and how that perception has changed. You may learn that your company needs to refine corporate branding during the hiring process.

Ask the employee specific questions about their first day:

• Were they clear on whom to first meet with, and what to expect?

• Did they feel welcomed by the team?

• Were they made aware of conveniences, such as break rooms and restrooms?

• Did they leave the first day thinking, “This is going to be great” or “What have I done?” Or were they too confused or overwhelmed to have much of an opinion?

Ask new hires what changes would make the first day on the job better for future employees.

Employee training is another aspect of your business processes that should be evaluated by new hires. Did they feel amply prepared for their job tasks? Would they have liked additional training, and if so in what areas? Was the training provided pertinent or redundant?

Is the position what they expected? Do their job tasks mimic the job description they were hired to perform? If not, employers may want to consider revising the job description.

Exit interviews often alert managers and business owners of deficiencies. When employees are moving to the competitor for better benefits, it’s a signal that yours are lacking. Post-hire interviews can also alert managers to potential deficiencies. Such an interview might also highlight new hire dissatisfaction.

“Most often, when employees are dissatisfied after a few months, it’s not because they’ve changed. It’s because their expectations were not met,” says Kim E. Ruyle, Ph.D., and vice president of Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting.

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