Welcome and Sell to Employees

I saw this post on one of my favorite sites -Creating Passionate Users and it made me think how this relates to employees. You spend a fortune on recruitment and attracting people to your organisation then what do you do?

1. Give them a legalese job contract in a really bland format.
2. Some kind of handbook which is all about rules and regulations.
3. Give them forms re Health and Safety etc that they must trawl through and fill in.

What if we saw these items as a further way of selling to our new employees. People make their impression of the company in the first 3 months - it is a danger period for employers. Why not jazz up your internal documents?

• Have a Welcome Wiki.....where new starters build answers to all the questions you dare not ask.
• Look at the contract is it branded? Does it speak to your values? You can include the legal requirements but add an employer promise about how signing this will benefit the individual.
• Remove the word induction  - who wants to be induced! Have a welcome day, a welcome party( could be your "induction schedule"), a welcome magazine which says why they have chosen well with stories from previous new starters, resources.....
• Give the a development passport when they join....set out your desire for them to grow, they can then stamp it when they receive the development...and take it with them when they leave.
• Include a dvd or podcast in the welcome pack so they can take it home and show their family...maybe address it to the family, saying we value life/work balance...
• Start a new starter blog...so people can blog about their experiences. Powerful dialogue.