Onboarding, or helping new hires become comfortable, productive members of your team, is no small task yet it is vital to your success.

Consider the facts:'

• One in five new hires leaves within the first 45 days of starting a job;
• Employees who go through a structured onboarding program are 69% more likely to stay for three or more years.

Even if you’re an onboarding expert, there’s always more to learn. So, here are five tips to help refine your onboarding process into a thing of beauty.

Tip 1
Onboarding never ends.

 

How long do you spend training, evaluating and acclimating your new hires? One day? One week? A month, or more? While 90 days is a good benchmark for being able to review the fit and performance of a new hire, remember that your employees are people who enjoy and appreciate any gesture that helps them feel more appreciated and productive. Recognizing and rewarding hard work in your organization with social events and perks should be considered part of your onboarding efforts — no matter how long the employee has
been with your business.

Tip 2
Day one is too late to start.
As the employer, it’s your job to project preparedness and professionalism to your employees, who then reflect the same back in the quality of their work. It’s standard to set up your employees’ work space, telephone and email accounts before they show up for work on day one. Go a step further and use e-signature software to knock out all that pesky onboarding paperwork, such as benefits approvals and IRS Form W-4, beforehand. That way, your new hire’s first day on the job is open for more training and more face time with new co-workers.

Tip 3
Not all onboarding happens in the office.
With remote and mobile workforces becoming more and more common, the office water cooler is quickly losing its status as the main social hub of your business. However, it’s still important to make sure your team gets informal time together to bond outside of work. Schedule some time during your new hire’s first week for a social outing, such as a happy hour, when they can get to know new co-workers outside of the work environment.

Tip 4
Tailor your onboarding approach to your company’s specific needs.
Similar to the previous tip, consider how new technology is affecting your hiring practices. If you need to add lots of new hires quickly, especially if they’re working remotely or on the go, sending your onboarding documents the traditional way with overnight shipping or printing, faxing and scanning can become prohibitively expensive. Look for tools that can help bridge that distance easily, like secure file sharing and e-signature software.

Tip 5
Onboarding is a two-way street.
“Culture” is the current favorite buzzword in HR circles, but culture isn’t created by your company alone. Your employees are essential for creating and maintaining a positive company culture, and as such, HR teams should look to involve your whole team whenever possible. During onboarding, make sure to schedule review time when your new hire can give feedback on your onboarding process and your company as a whole. You’ll gain trust and buy-in from your new employee, and improve your onboarding for future new hires at the same time!

Contributing editor, business coach and co-founder of TrueWinds Consulting Fred Haskett often writes about a wide variety of management issues, including planning, training, recruiting, and sales and marketing. You can reach him at fred@truewindsconsulting.com

There's positive legislative news to report from Harrisburg, Pa. On Monday, Nov. 15, House Bill 1665, which the ASCA crafted and gathered state legislative support for, was voted out of the Insurance Committee and to the floor of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for a full vote

The ASCA’s model legislation, the Snow Removal Limited Liability Act, which has become law in Illinois, Colorado, and Connecticut, makes a contract null and void when the property owner or property management company passes their liability onto the snow and ice management company. The association and its Pennsylvania members have been lobbying for this legislation for the last four years.

It is critical for Pennsylvania snow professionals to reach out to their representatives in Harrisburg and voice their support to vote the bill out of the House and on to the state Senate, says ASCA Executive Director Kevin Gilbride.

"It is important for elected representatives to now hear from Pennsylvania snow contractors on the importance of bringing this bill to the House floor for a vote within the next 10 days," he says. "In fact, we've made it easy for snow professionals to respond in a unified voice."

Pennsylvania snow professionals are encouraged to CLICK HERE to locate their elected state representatives. Once on the site, contractors can click the white envelope under their rep's picture and paste and send the following message:

Please support House Bill 1665, the Snow Removal Limited Liability Act, which the Insurance Committee recently voted on unanimously. I am a professional snow and ice contractor living in your district. This bill would go a long way to properly assign liability and make your district safer. It will also help control skyrocketing insurance rates for all snow and ice management companies – which are owned and run by Pennsylvania entrepreneurs.

Gilbride adds the ASCA and its snow industry partners in Pennsylvania continue their lobbying efforts to get the bill voted out of the House and on to the Senate where it will go through the same process. If successfully voted out of the Senate, the bill would then head to the governor to sign into law.

    

Imagine, if you will, that the business you own is a dogsled. You are in a race and counting on your team of dogs to pull you and your sled across the finish line ahead of all the other racers.

The sled is your business, the dogs are your employees, and the other racers are your competitors. To beat those competitors, it’s critical that you assemble a dog team that works well together and is committed to winning the race.

Elite racers know that building the best dogsled team begins with choosing those that work to win. The key is to find dogs that actually want to pull the sled. Not every dog likes to pull it—and not every person can excel at providing the kind of customer service you need to beat your competitors. Learn from mushers—hire for relentless performance.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN HIRING STAFF  
Customer-service professionals are made, not born, so good core attitudes are essential. You must identify and hire people who have the skills and attitudes you want and then help them learn the skills to provide exceptional—and relentless—customer service. Those people will have an instinct for talking to people and treating them with respect and concern—the foundational elements of great customer service.

Positive energy and attitude will go a long way in building a service culture within your workforce. Look for positivity, mental agility, sincerity, and creativity. Once empowered, those people will be relentless in serving your customers. It is critical that you hire people who want to drive your business, who share your goals, and are committed to driving your business. Just as not every dog wants to pull your sled, not every employee wants to do whatever it takes to ensure that your company succeeds.

ATTITUDE
In fact, Vernon Hill says, his employees use smile charts to rank applicants’ attitudes during the interview process. His modus operandi is this: If there is no smile, there will be no second interview.

You can train people in the skills necessary to do the job, but you can’t train them to have a great attitude; they either have it or they don’t. If your employees don’t have great attitudes, they won’t focus on treating your customers in a way that will increase their loyalty to your business—and that will drive your sales. A great attitude includes treating people—coworkers and customers—with respect and concern. It means being enthusiastic and sincere.

Apple is a great example of a company that has highly skilled employees who also have great attitudes. They provide valuable expertise while at the same time exuding warmth and concern for their customers and any problems they might be having. It’s probably more difficult to get a job with Apple than it is to get into Harvard.

IDENTIFYING EMPLOYEES WITH POTENTIAL
Another question is this: How do you identify potential employees who have the positive attitudes you need? The first step is to have several people conduct interviews with the applicant, which will provide you with different perspectives of applicants. Get input from others who have had contact with applicants, including your receptionist. What did she or he observe about applicants as they waited to meet with you? How did they treat your receptionist as they checked in?

During the interview, ask open-ended questions rather than those that require a simple “yes” or “no.” Most applicants will tell you want you want to hear. If, for example, you ask applicants if they’re hard workers, they all will tell you they are. Ask for examples of whatever applicants tell you. Probe for additional information.

Ask for examples of how they have solved customers’ problems in the past. Are they empowered? Are they willing to bend or break the rules in order to provide customers with the best service possible?

Listen to what applicants tell you—and watch them as they do it. Body language is important; it can tell you much more about people than their words can do. Does the applicant convey warmth, enthusiasm, and energy? If you were a customer, would you trust this person to treat you well and solve any problem you might have?

SET HIGH STANDARDS
I acknowledge that hiring good people in today’s economic climate is difficult, but that doesn’t mean you should lower your standards. It is critical that you hire people who are self-motivated, warm, positive, enthusiastic, and energetic.

Your employees can make you or break you; the fate of your business is in their hands. Make sure those hands are capable and caring.

A frequent Snow Magazine contributor, John Tschohl is the founder and president of the Service Quality Institute—the global leader in customer service—with operations in more than 40 countries. He is considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on all aspects of customer service and recently released his latest book, “Relentless.” John’s monthly strategic newsletter is available online at no charge at www.customer-service.com. He can also be reached on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

                            

When compared to 2020, the snow and ice season has gotten off to a slower start this year across the Plains, Midwest, and Northeast. This is due to above normal temperatures in place through October and into early November. However, this looks to make a quick change as we head into the next couple of weeks, with cooler temperatures settling in and opportunities for snow on the horizon.

© NOAA

Overall, winter (December-January-February) 2021-22 is looking somewhat similar to last year, but with some caveats. Last year, we discussed that La Nina was going to be one of the main pattern drivers, and it will be again this year. The difference lies in the strength of La Nina and the location of cooler Pacific Ocean waters.

Below normal sea surface temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific are basin-wide, which is more widespread than last year. Additionally, La Nina is expected to peak early in the winter and then gradually weaken through the end of the season, unlike last year where we saw it continue to strengthen.

Historically, when considering all La Nina years between 1951-2008, these conditions have led to snowier winters across the Pacific Northwest, Upper Midwest, and Northeast, with below normal snowfall in the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley. However, when considering just weaker La Nina years, snowfall increased significantly across much of the Snow Belt.

Another factor to consider for Winter 2021-22 is the amount of Siberian snow cover already in place. This is significant because it allows for colder air to develop over Siberia, which is transported to North America during cross-polar flow. Cross-polar flow occurs when cold, continental air can travel directly across the North Pole from Siberia to North America. This occurs when the Polar Vortex begins to weaken. While these periods are typically short-lived, they can bring historically cold temperatures to the US and Canada.

The weakening La Nina during the second half of the winter season will present challenges to the forecast. Other factors will begin to have greater influence on the overarching pattern. The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Arctic Oscillation (AO), Pacific-North America Index (PNA), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) are a few of these factors. While I won’t go into the specifics of these, it’s important to know they have direct influence on the upper-level flows of the atmosphere. When the NAO and AO are in negative phases, the US experiences colder temperatures and a more active pattern. In general, the second half of winter looks to feature this increased activity.

The greatest uncertainty for this winter will be the cold air supply. Analog data, seasonal model guidance, and the La Nina influence all point toward the potential of warmer-than-normal temperatures across central and eastern portions of the country. However, that’s not to say there won’t be cold periods. The timing of cold air arrival behind surface low-pressure systems will be key, as always, in determining snowfall potential.
 
The greatest confidence lies in the precipitation patterns. Above normal precipitation is expected across the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes/Ohio Valley region. However, wet does not equal snow. Rather, it means increased precipitation. Additionally, drier-than-normal conditions are expected across Southern and Southwestern regions of the country. In these areas, drought is expected to persist and possibly develop further.

Frequent Snow Magazine contributors Joseph Cooper and Beth Carpenter are meteorologists and co-founders of Thermodynamic Solutions, a private meteorological consulting company based out of Indianapolis.