I was driving down a busy street in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and counted all the places that were hiring on a single street. How many I found, astounded me. It seemed as if you could pick up a rock and throw it in any direction and it would hit a “We Are Hiring!” sign. Which made me wonder- why are these eager employers not being applied?

Out of curiosity and because the opportunity was there, I talked to a manager of a nearby fast-food restaurant. What he said shocked me- He was getting and training at least 3 new employees every month. However, turnover was a huge problem and most of them left within 2 months. He scoffed and said something about how the rising generations were lazy, chuckled, and went to direct his perpetually short-staffed crew.

As I watched him interact with his staff bustling to and fro barking orders and seemingly not being happy with anything that his team provided I quickly learned the reason why he had so many new hires and employees leave. He simply didn’t understand how to provide onboarding and training to best serve the younger employees.

30% of new hires will leave a company within 6 months of being hired. While that might not be that alarming of a number, this is on average over a wide span of companies spanning multiple different industries. If you have a high turnover, especially with new hires. You can usually look in the mirror for the source of the issues. By learning these tips you can create a better onboarding process that will help retain these “jumpy” millennial and Gen-Z workers.

SETTING CLEAR EXPECTATIONS:

Imagine yourself in a wide-open desert, the sky above you is a clear blue without a single cloud within the vast view of the landscape. There are no identifying landmarks, just sand as far as you can see. Logically you surmise that if you continue to walk in a straight line that you will eventually get out of this desert. So, you begin to walk, and after a time you come across your own footprint in the sand coming to a full circle. This phenomenon is studied by a group of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybergenetics in Germany proving that lost people really do go in circles.

The same will be for your new hires. This generation of workers, while loyal, are like empty pitchers waiting to be filled with knowledge. They are eager and hungry to learn. But without clear goals and defined expectations. Your new hires will flounder about, not sure of what is expected or needed from them. This creates an extremely demotivating experience and is the number one reason why new hires leave so quickly.

All employees need to have a clear perspective of what their tasks are, what they are expected to do, and how their role fits into the company. I suggest having your trainer or HR rep create a bi-weekly meeting discussing the progress and learning new skills that are pertinent to the job- such as terminology, team building, and mastering the tools of the trade. This will also serve to have the trainer as a point of contact for the new employee so that questions about corporate culture, company, job, or even task can be asked.

INVESTING IN THE EMPLOYEE:

Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart famously once said “If you want the people in the stores to take care of the customers, you have to make sure you’re taking care of the people in the stores. That’s the most important single ingredient of Wal-Mart’s success.” Since Walmart has been a successful business for almost 60 years, I am of the mind that his not so secret ingredient of success is one that many more companies should model.

Functional Training, also known as engineering onboarding is a four-step process that requires the use of stimulating and interactive activities that will create a long-term employee even with decreased productivity and higher costs initially. But with this proper training, a foundation can be built upon throughout the months as opposed to a 90-day employee which will cost you far more money. Investing in your employee will save you from many headaches and frustrations.

Digital new hire programs that serval companies implement not only work more efficiently than the traditional onboarding methods like “shadowing”, or my least favorite is the “overseer”. While some of these techniques are necessary at times, making them your primary source of education will be detrimental to the onboarding experience.

COMMUNICATION:

One out of ten new hires reported that the reason they left a company so quickly was because of a lack of attention from the managers or staff. A friendly smile or simple acknowledgment of completed tasks goes a long way.

We often talk about the ideal workplace with words like home, and family. But since the average American is only a family at a particular company for 4.5 years (the lowest average by the way) I find myself looking at Italy, and Japan. They respectively have workers that average at 12 and 11 years. What makes these businesses so good at retaining employees?

Then I found another living legend of a businessman: Kazuro Inamori. He believes similarly to Sam Walton, if his employees are taken care of: Mentally, Physically, and Socially that his business will succeed. Businesses in japan often model this philosophy by having several work parties, leadership training, seminars, conferences, and more all contributing to the close-knit, family-like feeling that so many employers desire.

If you want your new hire to be a lifetime employee then you have to sustain the culture that employees would need to thrive. By meeting the Physical, Emotional, and Social needs of your employees by doing more than offering a bare minimum insurance package, the lowest wage or salary you can offer, or keeping an uptight and stantch “professionals only” act. Then you are killing all the best things about upcoming generations creating demotivated workers, seeds of distrust, and a higher turnover.

YOU ARE NOT SO DIFFERENT:

The new generations that are entering the workforce are highly intelligent, and best succeed when they are allowed to think creatively. They value tight-knit communities that are fueled by the digital network. IBM reports that these are the only differences that new generations have from older generations. The stereotype that younger generations are lazy, entitled, selfish, and self-centered has to be done away with. Because IBM reports that Millenials, and even Gen-Z, have similar business philosophies as Gen-X or even Baby Boomers themselves.

The difference then? Technology. They posses a familiarity with technology and are easily adaptable to software, programs, and more. Younger generations also have degrees from higher education at a higher rate than previous generations. Gen-Z is the highest number of enrolled college freshmen right out of high school.

In conclusion, the onboarding process is a vital part of a company’s business plan that is often overlooked, with unemployment rising, and employers desperate for workers. I think that it is time that instead of companies looking to change employees, they change the company culture in order to attract and retain these incredibly loyal workers.