Tap into new workforce

GIVEN that matriculants lack workplace experience, combined with their needs as millennials, companies hiring these new labour pool entrants need to ensure they provide sufficient and specialised on-boarding.

This is according to Kay Vittee, CEO of recruitment agency Kelly, who says: Effective on-boarding can help employees be productive faster.

Plus, the more they understand the company s culture, how to do their jobs and what s expected of them, the more likely they are to stay with the company.”

She shares some suggestions for successfully on-boarding the latest crop of matriculants:

Express your expectations: Ensure that you inform new employees about what is expected of them.

You may believe they should know certain things, such as not wearing tatty jeans and a funky T-shirt to a client meeting, but such assumptions can come back to haunt you.

Outline issues such as appropriate dress, social media policies, appropriate behaviour, performance expectations and workplace attitude. Remember to also put these in writing.

Pay attention to what they have to say: In the age of social media, millennials have become accustomed to making their voices heard.

Connect on a weekly or bi-weekly basis with the new employee to provide them with opportunities to raise concerns, gain clarity and share ideas.

Make the transition from learner to employee easier with mentors: Up until now, matriculants have had teachers, coaches and tutors to guide them.

Assigning mentors to them allows them the opportunity to better navigate the work environment.

Use appropriate information sharing channels: Millennials are not strangers to consuming video as a way of learning.

Since video is something familiar to them, it will be a welcome tactic for efficiently providing information on company culture, internal hierarchy and any office how-tos.

By condensing information in this way, it is more easily digested.

Put fun into acquiring the fundamentals: Millennials look for effective and interactive experiences that can motivate and

Ndhavuko i Rifuwo engage them in their learning process.

Gamification is an emerging discipline that allows learners to explore, learn and receive feedback on their performance immediately, in terms of scores or rewards.

Why not offer game-based training to help new hires quickly attain knowledge?

Socialising is essential: Millennials want to feel they belong. They want to like their co-workers and get to know them as people.

It is therefore important to provide opportunities that enable new and existing staff to become better acquainted through informal get-togethers.

You could also look into setting up an internal social network to support networking.