RETEX is a purely Czech company that has been manufacturing non-wovens since 1950, especially for the automotive and construction industries. In addition to the emphasis on maximum quality, the company’s priorities are also ethics, fairness and, last but not least, environmental sustainability. Up to 70% of the input raw materials are recycled! The company processes 80 million PET bottles and 2,500 t of clothing annually.
A new colleague joins you at work. He is full of motivation and energy and is looking forward to a rewarding new job opportunity. But for his enthusiasm to last, he needs to get what he expects from his new job. This is why onboarding is very important and should not be taken lightly.
Not many people know that poorly executed onboarding is one of the most common reasons for employees leaving companies. They can lose motivation and desire to work if they don’t experience what they expected from their new job for the first few days. In fact, the first few months are crucial – up to 31% of people leave a job within the first six months. What can you do to keep new faces at work and not have to say goodbye after a few months?
A modern onboarding solution can be a community portal. Thanks to the large number of features it offers, it will ensure a smooth integration of the new employee into the team and help them to find their way quickly and easily in the first few months. Let’s take a look at how our Plusco community portal can be used in onboarding.
The effectiveness of onboarding often falls down on communication. Every employee, whether they’ve been on the job for a month or a year, wants to keep up to date with what’s going on in the company. For this purpose, the News and Updates module has been created on Plusco – there the employee can find up-to-date information that should not be missed. He can also find older articles to get an idea of what has been happening in the company in recent weeks and months, and what kind of environment he is entering.
In addition, the employee should have an overview of important dates, such as training or company events. The Calendar module provides this. The latest versions of important company documents should also be available, which also have their own module in Plusco.
An important step is also to acquire knowledge of people and their functions in the company. It is ideal to have an accessible list of all employees, their positions and their contacts. As offered by the Contacts module. Here, the newcomer can get an idea of who is who and, if necessary, call the person directly. The Organizational Structure module can also be used for this purpose, where all working relationships in the workplace are depicted.
Am I doing it right? Isn’t something more expected of me? These are questions that newcomers worry about and companies sometimes forget. Put the new team member at ease and ask for their thoughts, concerns and feelings. This is also where the community portal can help you, with the Questionnaires module.
Like other modules, questionnaires can be targeted to a select group of employees – in this case, new members only. You can schedule several questionnaires at a time. Ask questions such as: Are you missing anything? How do you work with your colleagues? Do you enjoy your new job and does it meet your expectations? Are you motivated to stay with the company after the probationary period?
If you know how the employee feels, let them know how you feel. Do you share his or her views? Are you happy with his/her performance? Think about the already mentioned communication and treat your employee empathetically and honestly.
Satisfied employees are undoubtedly the key to a successful company. If they are not happy, they will look elsewhere for work, and you may lose a really capable person and increase your turnover rate. In this article, we’re going to look at just how to help keep your employees happy, and thus keep your company turnover rate at bay.
Turnover can be of two kinds. The first is desirable turnover, which indicates an asset to your company – that is, someone new coming in who has a wealth of experience to pass on to others on the team. But today we’re going to focus on undesirable turnover, which stems from employee dissatisfaction and employees who begin to leave the company.
Unsurprisingly, one of the biggest causes of employee dissatisfaction is poor financial compensation. This can be combined with other common factors such as long distances from the workplace, little flexibility, limited opportunities for personal development or inappropriate management style.
A common turnover rate is between 5-15% of employees per year. If you’re stuck at a lower rate, your company is stagnant and not thriving. Higher rates put your business at risk, especially in terms of financial losses. You will spend sums of around a few hundred thousand crowns on recruiting and onboarding new employees.
Now that we’ve covered the reasons why employees are dissatisfied, let’s focus on how to prevent it and what we can do to prevent employees from leaving and thus increasing turnover.
The environment we are in has a strong influence on our mental health. Adjusting it should not be underestimated, as a pleasant environment can rapidly increase employee performance by up to 20%. If you don’t want to embark on costly renovations, just add a few plants to the rooms, control the ventilation in the office and provide a quality light source that is good for the eyes. Your employees will also enjoy a coffee machine with quality coffee and healthy snacks. For added relaxation, you can create a relaxation zone at work with a foosball or dart board.
For general satisfaction in the company, it is important to set up internal communication. This can take various forms – both on a common notice board and in the form of meetings. It is advisable to use communication portals to facilitate the transfer of information. If employees are constantly informed about everything, they will not be so afraid to talk about things openly, and as a result, any problem will be solved at its beginning. For example, in Plusco’s communication portal, the News and Updates module facilitates communication, so that employees know about everything important that is happening in the company. Communication is also helped by team activities, where everyone strengthens relationships and gets to know each other better.
The Competitions module in Plusco is an effective way to get involved in the company and strengthen relationships. For example, you can create a guessing contest for an extra day off and motivate your employees to be more active. The Gallery module, where you can share your shared experiences, also helps to strengthen the team.
Don’t forget about feedback. This helps your employees to discover their strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, it will help in the future development of both them and your company. If you let people know how they are doing on a regular basis, they will have a sense of concern on your part, which will add to their satisfaction.
As mentioned above, money is a common reason for job dissatisfaction, especially at a time when food, rent or energy prices are rising. If employees are underpaid, they feel frustrated and lose motivation. Benefits can also be an additional reward, but they must be practical and up-to-date. But be careful never to compensate for underpayment with them!
You’ve changed the working environment, started communicating more and maybe even got a pay rise. But how do you know that your employees are really happy and that you have done your best for their well-being? Get their feedback!
By meeting your employees in person, you can show them that you care about them and that you care about their opinions. However, it’s possible with this form that people may be shy and not be completely honest with you, and you won’t get the feedback you want to move you forward.
A common way of getting feedback is by completing satisfaction questionnaires or surveys. These will help you reach out to everyone in the company, and the anonymous mode ensures that employees are more likely to open up and give their honest opinions.
To get feedback, you can use Plusco’s Questionnaires module, which allows you to create large-scale satisfaction surveys and simple polls to get your employees‘ opinions quickly.
You can combine both approaches to show your employees you care, while getting relevant feedback that can in turn move you forward.
