Talk to anyone in any position in the car business and I bet they can tell you a story of a terrible First Day on the job.  If you are reading this, you are probably in the car business and have your own story to tell. 

So often, new employees arrive for their first day—excited and a bit nervous—and their reception that is anything but a “Welcome” and often more like an afterthought—and a bothersome afterthought at that. 

My bad First Day went a little like this:  I wasn’t greeted by my boss and wasn’t introduced to anyone in the office where I was working.  I found my way to the HR offices and was handed some paperwork, and log in information so I could complete the housekeeping like W4, I9, harassment training etc.  I was shown where my empty desk was—devoid a desk blotter or even a calendar—and told the name of the accounting clerk (there were maybe 35 employees in accounting) from whom I could order office supplies.  Then I was basically left to my own devices.   Because I’m pretty outgoing, I wandered in to accounting, took a deep breath, and started introducing myself.  I remember thinking:  “Oh my God, what have I done?” 

This video from Joe Webb at DealerKnows cracks me up every time I see it—The best humor always shows the ridiculousness of reality.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnAQVU66S5M

REALLY.  IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

There are some really simple ways that dealers can turn this around.  A welcoming onboarding for new employees isn’t that hard to do!  It’s a process, just like everything else in our wild and wonderful business.  There are so many reasons to do this but one of the most important reasons in my opinion is this:  New hires today are making a “stay go” decision very quickly—and how they are treated on their First Day will weigh heavily in that decision.  Your new hire could be on their Indeed App applying for their next gig, before you even get their hire paperwork in their file! 

In the employment environment we are in today—dealers can’t afford to keep focusing on acquiring top talent and ignoring the first steps to RETAIN them.  A recent article from SHRM points out, “Most experts agree that retention efforts should start on day one, and this makes the onboarding process crucial to retention success—and, sometimes, a predictor as to whether the employee will be short-term or long-term.”

What will you do today to either improve your onboarding program or start one?  If the prospect seems daunting—remember—It’s really not rocket science—take a breath and make a start.