Human resources (HR) are one of many departments whose standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been thrown into turmoil by COVID-19. In one example, the onboarding process is more challenging when new employees can’t orient into a physical space. Today, remote or virtual onboarding is now much closer to being the rule rather than the exception.
For successful onboarding, HR professionals must prioritize intentional solutions that recognize the needs of each employee. To break the ice from a distance, more HR professionals are getting creative and using the power of gift-giving to elevate the unique hospitality of their organization. Here’s how.
Making Personal Connections By Elevating Hospitality
As borrowed from the hospitality industry, the concept of elevating hospitality in the HR environment means creating tangible experiences. These experiences can:
- Anticipate and solve the unique challenges of the new hire.
- Leverage the unique and authentic personality of the team, the organization, and the culture.
Successfully elevating hospitality as an HR professional yields real returns. According to Business News Daily,
- 69% of employees who have a positive onboarding experience are more likely to remain with the employer for three years.
- On the other hand, one-third of new employees begin searching for a new job within six months of hire.
- Companies spend approximately 20 percent of an employee’s salary to replace them.
Now that remote onboarding is so common, HR professionals must put themselves in the virtual shoes of their new hires. A first day or week is stressful enough when it takes place in person. With a series of online meetings and training sessions, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Try to retain focus on the primary goal of onboarding, which is to help new hires make genuine connections with their coworkers and begin to acclimate to the corporate culture.
The first hurdle to be cleared is that of connection. A welcome gift is not only practical but brings some good feelings and positivity to that first week. A well-planned gift also can reinforce the new hire’s decision to join this company and demonstrate consistency between what the company presented in the interviews and their actual working environment. This is elevating hospitality in action.
Tangible Hospitality Provides a Warm Welcome
Although a lot of emphasis is put on this statement, it truly is the thought that counts. It is not enough to simply send a cardboard box of items branded with the company’s logo, without any consideration for the new employee’s role, location, or responsibilities.
Instead, these welcome gifts should be carefully curated to reflect both the company’s culture and the employee’s likely needs. Gifts designed around the concept of elevating hospitality could also respond to needs that are both practical (what is needed to do the work) and emotional (what makes the job more fulfilling or creates a sense of belonging).
For instance, health-related companies could consider gifts that will benefit the new hire’s health in their work environment – anything from the most popular brand of herbal tea from the office breakroom to an ergonomically designed keyboard or mouse. An engineering firm could provide high-quality pens and “brain breaks” like sudoku puzzle books or customized crosswords featuring company buzzwords and trivia during the onboarding process.
A few other ideas to spark HR’s concept of elevating hospitality through a welcome gift include:
- Does the team take regular coffee breaks together? Supply a gift card to buy the coffee on that first day or week. Don’t forget snacks!
- Zoom is now a fact of business life, so consider items like earbuds with a built-in microphone or a company-branded hat for bad hair days.
- Localize the gift to their home office: Is it cold where they live? Consider fuzzy socks or a colorful scarf. Is it warm? Perhaps a pair of comfortable flip-flops, if the corporate culture assumes they’re wearing them under the desk anyway. Is it dry? Moisturizing lotion, cough drops, and lip balm are often found in employee desks. Wet? Perhaps an umbrella to facilitate those walking meetings.
Along with the physical gift, elevating hospitality means answering the new hire’s need for information. Most of their work will be done on-screen, so a printed source of employee information like a booklet or magazine can feel special and even unique. This onboarding-in-a-book could include a view of the company from a long-term employee, a list of resources for support, ice-breaking information about team members, tips on maintaining work-life balance, and much more – all in support of building connections.
Remember that, at this early stage, new hires will react to the organization in the same way customers do. Make a great first impression by delivering these welcome gifts in a beautiful package that makes your company’s hospitality tangible.
The timing of the delivery is also important; it needs to arrive one or two days before the first day, or early in the morning of the first day at the very latest. If a cohort of new employees are onboarding together, they should all get the same caliber of gift delivered on the same day.
Gifts Keep On Giving
Implementing a successful remote onboarding program is key to not only welcoming new hires and helping them feel at home, but in retaining them long-term. A thoughtful welcome gift can go a long way toward helping new employees feel valued and truly “seen.” Anything HR professionals can do to foster these feelings and elevate their organization’s hospitality will contribute to their company’s success even after these challenging times have passed.
