“I expected my role in this company to be different. I decided on a different job offer.” Ever heard this from an employee taken on less than a month earlier? This is an increasingly common situation, and the recruiter is not at fault. Most often it is the result of neglecting onboarding.

We know this story: a disappointed employee decides to accept a different job offer within the first month, and the boss blames HR for ineffective recruitment. It’s just that in the last two weeks neither the recruiter nor the supervisor has spoken to the new employee even once.

Quick resignations are happening more and more often and precisely because good online onboarding is more difficult to find. The new person who works remotely is invisible to the boss. There is no chance for a lunch with other team members or a chat in the kitchen, which often helps to orientate in the informal structure and simply feel good in the new organization. Growing anxiety turns into a belief that this is not what it was meant to be and that it could be better somewhere else. And from here is already a step away. Because it is easy to leave a band with which you don’t have any ties.

Unfortunately, quick departures are a huge disturbance for the company’s work – they reduce the effectiveness of the employment machine, destabilize the work of teams. As an HR employee or head of the company, can you do anything to reduce them? You can. And plenty of it. First, take care of the basics:

1. Contact new employees as often as possible. Call them, send messages. Check how the people you have hired into the company feel in the new environment, whether they have questions or doubts.
2. Talk to the boss of a new employee, with his colleagues. Check if the new person feels good in the team. Ask what he’s working on. If the project is well below his or her ambitions – attention – it could be a wake-up call.
3. If you see a risk – react – convey your doubts to your supervisor or your superior’s superior. Don’t wait with your arms folded.
4. If you are able to foresee certain situations, e.g. you know that within a few weeks the supervisor will not be able to devote enough time to the new employee – prepare candidates for it at the recruitment stage. Let them know that a little patience will be required of them.

Nothing revealing. As HR people, we know very well what to do to make people feel cared for. The most common problem is the lack of time and overloading the HR team with tasks. In the case of limited internal resources, outsourcing is the best solution. So if you know that you yourself will not be able to provide comfort to new employees – do not be a victim, actively seek solutions. These can be professional external coaches who, within the so-called transition coaching, will supervise the process of integrating a new employee and help him or her find their place in the new environment. You can organize a coaching team or work with a specialized supplier. There are many possibilities.

Regardless of how you approach the topic – remember – if applicants have options, quick resignation can happen anytime. However, the excess of them is a very damaging signal for the rest of the team… and for the HR team.