How can leaders effectively engage first-time employees?

First-time employees entering the workforce can be slow out of the gates due to a lack of experience and general nerves. It’s key that employers and leaders have clearly outlined strategies to support these workers from the get-go.

HR Leader recently spoke to Dr Paul Donovan, author of Bosses Behaving Badly, to discuss how employers can effectively support and engage first-time employees who are entering the workforce.

“We want young people engaged in the workplace. Any employee who is engaged is between 25-50 per cent less likely to get injured at work,” Donovan said.

“If you can engage a young staff member and ideally engage a team, then you can expect both productivity and profits to be higher, at least 20 per cent higher for those teams that report higher engagement. There are a lot of payoffs to work on engaging people and teams, not just give them a job and walk away.”

Donovan believes that the initial setting up period is crucial for the long-term success of a young employee. This can be established by understanding what the young employee wants to achieve with the organisation.

“Set up young employees for success by asking them what they want from their job. It doesn’t matter if their first response is ‘money’. Go deeper by following up about anything else that they would like to experience while they are in this job.

“Then, as part of that, let them know what your expectations are as the employer. Be specific, be particular, and let them know exactly what the boundaries of their role are,” Donovan said.

“After that, please check in. The problem that can happen with young employees is that they don’t know what to do. They’re afraid to ask. So, they do need an employer to check in. Observe them if possible, and when giving feedback – even on menial tasks – expect high standards.”

“Finally, connect these young people to other people at work. It’s really critical. What we don’t want is for them to get themselves isolated. They won’t be happy; they won’t be engaged. They need to be connected to other people at work.”

Ensuring that these young employees – who, without a doubt, will be nervous about the environment they’re entering – are somewhat nurtured and welcomed to connect with their surrounding colleagues is imperative to their development and can have a huge effect on retaining their talent in the long run.

“So even if their work is a little different, connect them by ensuring they have lunch with people, making sure that they’ve got other people to ask about their job structure, their work, so they will not get isolated – but rather their work keeps them connected with others,” Donovan said.

“There’s really nothing worse for a young person to be doing a job that they feel nervous about or that they feel that it’s probably mindless, and then they’re alone. The most memorable thing from their early job will be not the work they did but the people they met and the relationships they built. And so your job as an employer is to structure it so they do get connected.”

Kace O'Neill

Kace O'Neill is a Graduate Journalist for HR Leader. Kace studied Media Communications and Maori studies at the University of Otago, he has a passion for sports and storytelling.