How to Welcome Employees on Board

Orienting and training new employees properly pays off in retention, productivity, and customer satisfaction. The process of hiring, familiarizing, and acclimating new employees into your retail environment

is sometimes called "onboarding." Essentially, onboarding covers everything you do to make a new employee feel confident about performing the job. It's an important process, because new employees cannot be expected to perform well unless they are integrated into your business and become part of "the team."

Successfully introducing a new hire takes more than just a quick tour and an overview of their tasks. Taking the extra time to acquaint them with how the various departments operate can make a new employee feel a greater sense of involvement.

For tips on where to focus your efforts, read How Do I Set Employee Training Priorities?

Put Out the Welcome Mat

It's important to introduce new employees to their immediate supervisors. Don't just say their names; try to start a conversation that will make the process more personal and help your new employees relax. A lunch for newcomers or a social function of some type can make them feel at home.