Credit unions and community banks obsess over those they serve. And rightfully so! Your members or customers are the core of what you do every day. But have you done new hire journey mapping to invest in your new hires as much as you invest in your new members?
The Great Resignation hasn’t stopped, so this is an important question if you’re hemorrhaging employees.
Sapling says organizations good at onboarding increased retention by 82%. That’s a major return on investment!
To reap that return, you’ll have to obsess over new hire journey mapping as much as member journey mapping. Your new hire journey map should be consistent, give support and make brand disciples.
Set Up Consistent Training Programs to Increase Effectiveness
Inconsistency makes training chaotic (for you and the new hire). Chaotic training could confuse new hires and lead to negative effects down the road.
A study by The Training Associates showed a correlation between training consistency and effectiveness. For the 32% of people in the study whose training was inconsistent, it was also ineffective.
Try increasing consistency and effectiveness by:
- Hiring a dedicated training person (or people) who gets to know the new hires
- Training for a set period of time
- Making a universal guidance handbook to teach all new hires
All three points will help your new hires feel comfortable. They’ll know the person helping them each day, how long they’ll train and the right guidance. When this consistency leads to better work performance, they’ll be happier too!
And a happy employee won’t run off on you.
Create Support Channels So New Hires Aren’t Lost In the Woods
Have you ever forgotten something you should already know? If the answer’s yes, then you know how it feels. You have to find someone to help you, and it’s a bit embarrassing.
Creating good support channels can prevent new hires from feeling the same way.
Consider setting up:
- An “onboarding buddy” system: The “onboarding buddy” is a tenured employee. They teach new hires about the credit union’s processes, structure and culture.
- A best practice library: Training is like an information fire hose, so it’s nearly guaranteed new hires will forget at least some details. Whether digital or physical, a best practice library gives new hires quick reminders about stuff they learned day one.
These systems will help new hires feel confident and supported. They’ll either know the answers or they’ll have safe places to get them.
Convert New Hires Into Brand Disciples To Give Them Purpose
In his book “Building a StoryBrand,” Donald Miller says new hires need to know they’re part of a larger story. A brand story where “nothing happens, nobody cares, and the popcorn’s stale” won’t increase employee loyalty.
Use your training to answer the question, “Why am I here?” To do this:
- Don’t start with paperwork, which suggests your brand is about policy. Start with why your brand exists.
- Make training fun! Nobody likes a boring job. Play games, and maybe give away some cool brand merch as prizes.
- Give new hires a thrilling identity. At On The Mark Strategies, we give new hires an “Avenger name” after a month with the company (Hawkeye, Spiderman, etc.). A fun identity makes new hires into heroes rather than workers.
Overall, you must give new hires more than a paycheck to keep them. You must give them a great culture.
But maybe you don’t have time to implement a whole new onboarding program right now. Our team at On The Mark Strategies will help you out. Register for our branding services today, and we'll help you make a new hire journey map that makes those new hires stay!
