In a recent Korn Ferry study, 90% of executives said keeping new employees onboard is a major challenge.

They admitted that between 10% – 25% of new hires leave within six months because their role doesn’t live up to expectations.

This indicates that a great workplace culture, one that retains and engages employees, starts on day one, with Onboarding.

At Virgin Pulse, we’ve found our software is a great way to help people kick-start this process. Our solutions help build healthy habits across all areas of wellbeing, driving long-term health, engagement and productivity results.

Based on our own experience, here are four ways to make first impressions last:

• Make employees feel welcome before they start – help them get to know their manager and team before they all start working together. This way, it’s easier to walk through the door that first day. The element of mystery and suspense is removed.
• Set expectations and provide tools to succeed – ensure new starts are trained on the product, processes and systems they need to use to be successful. The quicker new team members feel that they have goals – and support to help achieve them – the more connected they feel, and the higher they will perform.
• Outline how their role connects to other departments – this is about understanding the big picture and helps employees build relationships and inter-departmental collaboration. It also provides the safety to go and ask others for help when they don’t have answers – critical for new team members.
• Connect individual ambitions with the higher purpose – at Virgin Pulse, we make sure all new starts understand why our business exists, our values, and our mission. Then, we plug in their individual talents to that. Finding a balance between employee and organisation helps create a common language: success.

For more on how to inspire your employees, download our case study – Connect across departments and geography.