Your employees are vital to the success of your company. You want to show them you appreciate them in as many ways as possible. An employee who feels appreciated is more likely to keep working as hard as possible to give everything they’ve got. Think of when you were “just” an employee, without a business to run. Signs that you were valued probably went a long way towards boosting your morale. No one likes a boss who talks about how much they appreciate the people who work under them, but vanishes when it comes time to show it. Don’t be that boss.
It Starts During Interviews
Sure, an interview allows you and the rest of the decision-makers at the company to figure out if the candidate would be a good match, but the candidate is also testing you out just as much as you’re testing them out. The mutual audition process starts from the moment they arrive at the airport. You’ve brought them from out-of-town, so let them know that’s not something you take lightly. Send a car service to the airport to pick them up and take them to their hotel. A first impression is vital. They’ll probably be impressed that you took the time to hire an actual chauffer for them, and that will motivate them even more to really knock the interview out of the park. If you can, get someone to pick them up and bring them to the interview as well. It can be the same car service, or it can be an employee who volunteers. The volunteering part is crucial, because you want the employee to fill their ear with good things about the company and its benefits on the way there. Happy employees are a great ad for both the work you do and the way you do it.
Take Care of the New Hires
Make the decision about whether or not to hire as quickly as possible. One of the hardest things for an applicant is waiting to find out if they’ve gotten the job. It’s normal to take a few days to mull things over, but try to make your decision within seven to ten days if possible. It may be an overly optimistic timeline, since red tape and other things have a way of popping up during this process, but do what you can to make filling the position a priority.
Then, once you’ve made the call and your top candidate has accepted the position, let them know the company will do whatever it can to help them get settled into their new town. The most prestigious companies offer corporate housing to new employees, which is a wonderful way of showing them that you know they aren’t just company robots whom you expect to sleep under their desk every night. In fact, you don’t expect them to sleep at the office at all, because work-life balance is critical. You know that relocating is stressful, and you care about helping them start things off on the right note. Your employee may only need the furnished apartment for six months or so, but it checks one big item off their to-do list for moving.
It’s common to take new hires out to lunch on their first day of work. Feel free to do that, and make it a nice lunch. Don’t just go to any middling chain restaurant. Go to a quality steakhouse; tell your new hire it’s OK to take a long lunch. Then ask questions and be ready to hear the answers. The boss-employee relationship is a two-way street, after all. They chose your company for several reasons, and you want to constantly remind them that their choice was a good one.