We’re living in a world where change is so fast paced that we begin to see the present only when it’s already starting to disappear.

With a 24-hour news cycle, social media, and an information age at our fingertips … life seems to be flashing past us.  

Whether you’re leading a business, a department, or even just your family … if you haven’t adapted to the new speed of change, you’re already miles behind.

The best leaders I know have already modified their approach and upgraded their skills to focus on managing change effectively. They know how to build coalitions, manage people and earn trust with their teams.

Most importantly, they know how to get results that can transform their businesses and lives.

Nobody understands this better than my friend, Rodger Dean Duncan.

Rodger is one of the world’s foremost change-management experts and author of the award-winning, bestselling book, CHANGE-friendly LEADERSHIP: How to Transform Good Intentions into Great Performance.

By now, you know I’m fully committed to providing you with top-notch guidance and the most value possible.

That’s exactly why I’ve arranged for you to receive a hard copy of Rodger’s bestselling book… ABSOLUTELY FREE! You won’t even have to pay for shipping! (This offer is available for U.S. addresses only.)

<Yes, Of Course I Want This Free Book>

As a bonus, I’ve also arranged for you to receive a FREE digital copy of the book, as well as Rodger’s exclusive interviews with some of today’s top thought leaders.

Who Exactly Is Rodger Dean Duncan?

Rodger has decades of experience coaching and training business clients from the boardroom to the factory floor of some of the world’s top companies in multiple industries.

Check out these credentials…

He’s the REAL DEAL. 

So, if you’re serious about boosting your change-management abilities, don’t miss out on this phenomenal opportunity to get your free copy of CHANGE-friendly LEADERSHIP.

<Yes, Of Course I Want This Free Book>

Obviously, Rodger can’t afford to give everyone a free copy.  He’s set aside 3,000 copies through Friday for our clients, partners and friends. So, please act now so you don’t miss out!

Get your FREE COPY today!

What Are Others Saying about Rodger’s Book?

“A truly splendid book. Highly relevant, tremendously insightful, remarkably accessible.” – Stephen M.R. Covey, bestselling author of The Speed of Trust

“A gold mine of actionable wisdom. One of the best books I’ve read in many years.” – Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul, author of The Success Principles

“When your leadership gets stuck, read this book and follow its guidance. You’ll get the positive results you and your team really need.” – Dorie Clark, bestselling author, executive coach, Duke University business faculty

“Get out your highlighter and prepare to take notes. This book is a rare gem: entertaining, relevant, educational, and immensely practical.” – Marshall Goldsmith, recognized as one of the world’s Top Ten Business Thinkers and a leading executive coach, author of multiple New York Timesbestselling books including The Earned Life

“This book is both an eloquent manifesto and a practical guide for anyone who strives to create a high-performance workplace.” – Johnny C. Taylor Jr., President & CEO of SHRM, the Society for Human Resources Management (300k+ members)

Pretty exceptional praise, huh?  

So, what are you waiting for? Claim your free book today!

 <Yes, Of Course I Want This Free Book>

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The goal is to add value in whatever you do. Whether we are talking about person to person in your daily relationships, or business to customer in your dealings with clients, adding value to people shows up in the experiences that people encounter. So how do we create value? Some would call it ”going above and beyond”, or “giving a remarkable experience”, or ”going the extra mile.” Whatever you want to call it, value is given when the experience is above the expected encounter.

There are many definitions for the word ’value’ but the best definition I have seen is ”the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.” Making things or living your life where it adds value to the lives of others almost guarantees success.

There are many ways to sell more products and make more money, but at the most basic level you can either charge more for your product hoping customers will pay for it or you can make your product more valuable by adding value in other ways than just charging more, making it much more probable that people will pay more in the end.

Don’t expect success to come without first doing the work to add value.

The post Add Value appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

I travel quite a bit these days, and find myself listening to books more than reading through the pages of hard copies. It seems to fit into my workflow better, although I still prefer the feel (and smell) of a good old fashioned book. Plus, even if the content of an audiobook is good, the narrator of a book really makes or breaks it. Don’t you agree?

Anyway, what are you reading/listening to these days?

The post Books I’m Listening To… appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

The part I do struggle with sometimes is to give generously, while not keeping score. If I’m honest, doing good for those that have hurt me is difficult. Life has a funny way of reminding you of the things you need to work on. These ideas came up with Bob Goff back when he was on the podcast and now again with Ryan’s email newsletter that he sent out this past Sunday.

But most of all, these ideas remind me that motive matters. In our work, in our relationships. Maybe, at times, the motive matters even more than the work itself? The ‘why’ matters more than the ‘what’, because the ‘why’ drives the ‘what’ and even the ‘how’.

Why do you do what you do? Because you desire it or because competition has gotten the best of you and you feel the need to prove yourself to everyone else in the room? It’s a question to at least ponder, I think.

I’ve been quiet on the blog as of late because I’ve been trying to be a good dad and husband, while balancing my career, and everything else in-between. If the beginning of this post didn’t resonate with you, I know that this idea does.

We are all busy with life, racing for the pursuit of better, whatever that means to you. This will look different for all of us, but the idea is the same—that we are all headed in a direction, some direction. And on the road to your destination, remember that motive matters.

The post Motive Matters appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

I have missed writing here on the blog, but much has happened. We had our beautiful daughter Audrey on July 7th of 2019, and she has changed our lives forever. With two children it was much different, being able to play man-on-man defense, but now we must play zone coverage, having three. We are officially outnumbered…

Not only has my time been consumed with our new addition, but I am also working on my second book on the subject of competition. More on this throughout 2020.

But maybe even more noticeable than my lack of writing here on the blog is my disappearance from social media for the most part over the past year or so. I didn’t want to add to the ever-growing noise, because there’s enough of that. Plus, in the grand scheme of things, who really cares? Sure, I have a few fans, but they email me to see how I’m doing if they need me.

Whether we’re talking about people who share too much on social media or people that try to fake their lifestyle with extravagant purchases, we all have a mental image of social media gone wrong. I became exhausted with the machine that others tell me I need to subscribe to, so instead of competing, I bowed out for a while. I needed a break from it all, as I think we all do. With plastering my life across social media for more than a decade, I merely felt the need to try the opposite to see what results I might produce, and I’m happy with the outcome.

People tell me I need to stay on social media all the time so I grow my numbers so I can sell more books, and so the never-ending cycle continues. I hate feeling that I am part of “the machine”.

Putting my time where it matters most is always my intention, although that’s not always what happens. I now answer email maybe once a week, post on social media maybe once a month, and have been able to write and read more often. Uninterrupted time with family happens more often and has strengthened our bond. Life seems simpler, less stressful, and my mind is less cluttered. I am grateful for peace.

So, what does this mean for the future of my writing, podcasting, etc.? Here’s my official answer for those who are interested: I personally will be posting at least one article per month here on my blog. I will no longer be accepting guest posts here on the blog for quite some time. I will be posting on social media as I see fit, but definitely not as often as I did at one time. And as far as podcasting is concerned, I will start back at some point, and will let you know when that happens.

The main thing that I will be working on this year is my new book and will keep you updated when the time comes. Just know that I really dislike the entire book promo part, and wish that I could write a book and people would know to buy it without me saying anything, but I guess it doesn’t work that way…

Anyway, here are a few books that I read for a second time to begin the new year:

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni

What are your favorite books?

The post Books and Other Stuff appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

Information is flowing to businesses all the time. Customers are constantly telling businesses what they think about them either directly or indirectly. Conversations on social media, comments, reviews, and communication via helplines all enable brands to gather customer feedback. 

However, that’s only the first step to customer service improvements and, ultimately, growth. Businesses have to take what they learn one step further to actually improve the customer service experience. Here’s how companies can keep customers happy.

Gather Feedback as Early as Possible

You can start gathering feedback about your brand, product or service in the early stages before you’ve officially released anything to the public. Ask a small group of current customers, potential customers, industry experts, or influencers to test the product and provide you with honest feedback. You may not like what you hear, and it may require major changes before moving forward, but it’s better to find out now instead of later.

Practice Close Listening

Close listening means that you listen to what the customer is saying, understand it, and then clarify that you understand what they’ve said. Agents should ask questions to get to the root of customer queries and issues. 

When customers are angry, they are generally upset for a reason, and that reason may not be obvious in the heat of the moment. Close listening goes beyond that to understand the core problem and take action, whether than be to change things like company policies or product design. 

Your response shows that you truly hear and care about what customers say. Close listening is particularly important if a customer has been injured or hurt by a product. Even one instance involving an injury should raise an alarm about potential issues to prevent as soon as possible.

Direct the Narrative Through Your Responses

Businesses can’t control what customers say about them, but they don’t have to be at the whim of those comments and reviews, either. When a customer leaves a negative review, it’s important to respond to them as soon as possible and in a public way. That way, other customers can see that your company faces issues head-on. 

Customers don’t want to feel like they’re alone, and they want to know that their problems will be given attention. They don’t expect perfection from businesses, but they do expect to be treated well as customers.

Provide the Same Level of Support Online and Offline

Businesses that only pay attention to customers when they make public complaints can get a reputation for poor customer service. Customers want to feel like they’re important no matter where they are — whether that be in a store, talking with a support agent on the phone, or posting a review on social media. Businesses should communicate in the same way no matter who is (or is not) going to see it. Companies have to be consistent in their customer service in order to be trustworthy.

Give Certain Customers a Point Person

Customers who are having a complex issue may have to call customer service several times. If they have to wait through a menu and explain their situation to a new agent every single time, they’ll quickly get upset with the company. At that point, you risk having an unhappy customer or losing them completely. 

These customers should have a point person who they can easily contact through a direct line. Even better is if that point person contacts the customer — so long as they do so when they say they will. For customer issues that have been escalated, it’s best if the point person is a manager or supervisor instead of a regular agent.

Provide Technical and Product Support

Customers can’t be satisfied or pleased with products they’re unable to use. One role of customer success managers and the customer support department overall is to provide technical and product support so that the customer can actually reap the benefits of what they’ve purchased. 

That means that support agents have to be experts in the products or services you sell — if they can’t teach your customers how to use them, who can? Take the time to provide agents with the training necessary for them to answer customer questions accurately and thoroughly. 

Build a Knowledge Base

The more you work with and listen to customers, the more you’ll realize that many of them have the same issues. Maybe they have trouble navigating part of your website, or they seem to run into trouble with a particular product. 

If you find that you’re answering the same questions and solving the same problems over and over, build a knowledge base that customers can use on their own. You’ll empower customers to solve issues through self-service. This is more convenient for them, and you’ll alleviate the pressure put on your customer service department. Your agents can then be free to handle more in-depth issues or to work directly with VIP clients.

A customer service department is only as strong as its agents. Without happy agents who are willing to provide stellar support, your customers won’t be treated the way they should. Clarify your expectations and empower agents to go above and beyond for the sake of the customer experience. Your customers will thank you through positive reviews and brand loyalty.

The post Close Listening & Other Customer Service Strategies appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

Online ads are becoming painfully annoying, and more people have gathered a sort of instinct to immediately close out of the obvious ads. With the arrival of interactive social media, word-of-mouth marketing has also evolved, and new social communities have emerged in the online world.

The role of social media, online presence, and word of mouth are becoming essential to strong business cash flow for local and national businesses. Social media posts aren’t just for individual people with a personal agenda. Social media as a whole has come to play an increasingly crucial role for businesses, marketing, and social society. The online world can make or break a business reputation in a matter of minutes.

Marketing and Current Issues

The way current issues are handled can blossom or mangle reputations. In government, public administrators fill the role of making sure departments are not only well understood but well-funded in future election cycles. How public officials choose to communicate with an angry public about relevant issues requires unbiased skilland balancing what the public wants to hear versus how much can actually be done.  

Marketers can find that combining word-of-mouth, peer-to-peer programs and more activity related marketing (like customer reviews) will leverage the overall impact of their marketing efforts.

When it comes to taking advice on what to purchase and where, people are more easily influenced by personal friends and family. Taking advice from what is displayed in a news feed is becoming more common in social media, especially when a friend shares it. When a company targets a fan base the word can spread like wildfire reaching hundreds, or sometimes even thousands of viewers.

Joining the Club 

For marketers, this is the first time they’ve been able to readily plug-in to the real, uncultivated, word-of-mouth conversations of the consumer.

Concerns, questions, opinions, likes, dislikes — these have all been pushed into the public space, leaving marketers with a goldmine of information, ripe for exploration and exploitation. 

This data is allowing digital marketers to quickly predict where their target audiences are headed. According to Villanova University, “[social media] allows brands to converse with their target audiences in real time, engaging in conversation rather than simply broadcasting messages that may or may not be relevant to consumers.” They can tap into open communities like Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook to see what a wide array of people are talking about, while collecting invaluable facts and figures along the way.

Ten years ago, this kind of consumer information would not only be far more costly and cumbersome to obtain, it would almost assuredly be gathered using tiered market research techniques. These techniques don’t offer the same truthful transparency of naturally occurring word-of-mouth.

Today, marketers can obtain real-time insights by using social media to tap the word-of-mouth musings of nearly any demographic they might be trying to reach across the globe.

Is It Reliable?

Whether it’s being used for marketing, sales or something else entirely, oral communication has been the primary method of discussing and describing all matters of significance (and insignificance) in communities across the globe. But while the power of word-of-mouth marketing remains unchanged, the means in which we take advantage of it has. The internet, above all, has radically transformed how we utilize communication as a means of marketing. 

When it comes to making buying decisions, people turn to their community for recommendations before purchasing any kind of good or service. Consumers will default to the opinions of their friends, family, colleagues, and social peers with far greater frequency than they’ll listen to even the most polished marketing pitch. And to be fair, why wouldn’t they? It’s the marketer’s job to become a trusted source.

With the amount of content (digital or otherwise) besieging consumers on a daily basis, how can they be expected to distinguish the good from the bad or the false from the true? This is where word of mouth marketing gets a second take; it jumps, and it feels more genuine.

The post How Word-of-Mouth Marketing Can Generate More Leads appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

Digital marketing now represents the lifeblood of the marketing campaigns of many businesses. Even if you don’t love it, it’s well past time to commit to it. By 2021, U.S. businesses will be investing $120 billion in digital marketing efforts. Think digital marketing is overrated? It’s not, but the good news is that it’s not too late for your business to increase its capacity for online marketing efforts.

Digital marketing scales well. You can start with some basics, like a Facebook page and a website, and grow from there. While a professional digital marketer should net you the best return on interest (ROI), many business owners begin with those simple steps, and it’s more crucial to some industries than others.

Before you start (or consider hiring an expert), it’s vital to know about the crucial components of digital marketing and how you can assess its value to your business. 

Engagement Is Everything

This isn’t a new marketing principle, but it’s one that lends itself well to digital marketing because it’s easier to track online. As a business owner, you understand that if you’re broadcasting traditional ads, like print ads, to the wrong audience, you’re not going really stir a conversation about your product or service. You’d certainly do better if you reached your core users or prospective customers.

Digital marketing works similarly. With targeted pay-per-click ads and content focusing on a specific niche, you’ll attempt to reach your intended audience. With digital advertising, though, you can get super specific. You can even target people at certain companies with the right Facebook ad parameters. Jobseekers do it all the time to make sure prospective employers see their resumes or websites. 

Digital Marketing Relies on Data and Analysis

Effective digital marketing doesn’t mean taking a shot in the dark with your content or advertising. It should be informed by data and analysis. To make the most of this data, data scientists work with marketers to tailor a campaign to the right audience. Think of it as telling the ideal story to the people hoping to hear it. 

Data science is a growing field with 2.7 million new data science jobs projected to open per year by 2020. Since the metrics themselves prove ROI for marketing efforts, many business owners see data science as a safe investment. 

Data scientists track multiple data points for each website and marketing campaign. They can help marketers segment email lists so the right messages reach the right audience. Data scientists also use tools like Google Analytics to determine how website visitors use business websites, what content is the most popular, and even what types of interests your users have.

Google Analytics is a free tool from Google. If you’re not already using it to capture data about your website visitors, you’re already behind the competition. Data can have an extremely positive impact on your company’s bottom line, and this free resource should be your first stop for insights about site visitors.

Data scientists can make specific recommendations too. Let’s say you’re selling men’s shaving products. Your Google Analytics data may reveal that your audience happens to love ice hockey. You can use this data in a few ways:

• Create content or feature ice hockey in your ads.
• Place content on an ice hockey-related website.
• Interview an ice hockey player for your blog, even if it’s not directly related to your shaving products.

Your data scientist would then help you track the success of your content and make further recommendations to increase the value of your messaging. 

Content Rules Digital Marketing

As you can probably tell from our example, having relevant content is key to digital marketing. Gone are the days when your strategy consisted of faxing a press release to the local newspaper. Everyone is online — even the aging population, with the quickest growing Facebook demographic being senior citizens. It’s time to get out of that newspaper and onto a computer screen with your content.

Many marketers in the digital age rely on an inbound marketing strategy. The idea behind inbound marketing is simple: Identify what kind of content people want to read, create content around it, and let customers come to you via search engine traffic. 

Going back to our men’s razors example, if you interview a hockey player for your blog, it could potentially bring more customers to your site. At the close of your post, you should use a call to action (CTA), asking your readers to do something such as sign up for your newsletter. You can count this as a newsletter conversion.

Some of the most successful content is evergreen, meaning it’s continually useful. For example, a blog post like “how to teach your son to shave” might perform well over time. It’s something people will always need to know. 

Remember that effective digital content doesn’t try to fool the user. It makes them feel more positively about your brand. Your customers like digital content and products that make them feel closer, more connected, and part of a community.

If the idea of digital marketing still makes your head spin, consider retaining a high-level view of your marketing efforts. Start with just one thing: one Facebook page, one targeted ad campaign, or one piece of content on your blog per month. Over time, your efforts will lead to growth.

The post How to Thrive in the Digital Age When You Think It’s Overrated appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

There was a time when the best B2B lead generation tactics were limited to direct mailers, cold calls, and even in-person sales rep visits. Though effective, it typically required great personal effort to generate a single lead and even more to convert that lead into a sale. The cost-effective lead generation tactics in digital marketing were reserved for direct consumers and were not considered a platform useful for generating B2B leads.

Now, however, some of the most forward-thinking businesses have harnessed the power of digital marketing–specifically content marketing–to cast a wider net and generate more high-quality leads with minimal effort. Instead of salesperson drop-bys, you can send automated emails. Instead of preparing and sending out vast quantities of direct mailers, you can focus on having the best B2B content in your niche, nurturing a good newsletter following, and ranking highly on Google for relevant search terms.

Consumers are not the only ones who have evolved to become web-centric. Businesses rely heavily on search engines and digital content as well. The people who either make or influence buying decisions within firms use the information they gather from search engines, blogs, ebooks, infographics, social media, and newsletter subscriptions. In fact, recent studies led by Content Marketing Institute show that 88% of B2B organizations have shifted to content marketing as a response to this change in behavior.

Content marketing is a strategy that involves consistently developing and distributing valuable and relevant content to capture the interest of a target audience, and consequently, convert them into paying customers. To engage in this marketing strategy for B2B lead generation, here are the most important things to keep in mind:

Track the results of your lead generation efforts.

In traditional advertising, it’s challenging to track where leads come from. Apart from the tedious task of asking each of your leads where they learned about your business, how do you really measure the results of an ad you placed in an industry-leading magazine? What about all those direct mailers you sent out? How many actually made it to the intended recipient? How many were opened? And how many reached out?

Thankfully, virtually everything is measurable online. On your website, you know how many people visited, what led them to your site, how many read through your content, and how many signed up because of it. For every newsletter you send out, you’ll know how many actually received it, how many opened it, and how many performed your intended action (asked for a quote, signed up for a service, etc.). Don’t take that capability for granted.

Always measure the results of each of your lead generation efforts. That’s the only way to determine what works really well and what can be scrapped. As you streamline your marketing campaign, you’ll enjoy continued improvement not just in the number of leads you generate but also in the cost to attain those results.

Synergize your sales and marketing teams.

In traditional B2B lead generation models, marketing teams were mostly responsible for building and sustaining a brand. For most, the end goal was to cultivate brand awareness so that potential customers are more accommodating when the sales team comes in.

Sales teams generally spend a whole lot of time generating leads. In some cases, they spend more time generating leads than closing them. If your marketing team is successful in launching and maintaining a good content marketing strategy, leads approach the sales teams, and not the other way around. That way, sales reps can devote their time entirely to closing deals.

The trick in getting this to work in a B2B standpoint is to get sales and marketing teams to work together. To launch a successful content marketing strategy, sales need to clearly describe the ideal target audience. Who are they? What do they like? What kind of language are they most responsive to? Marketing teams should consider all that when developing a content strategy. At the same time, sales teams need to work with marketing in order to provide consistent messaging throughout the sales funnel.

Establish your authority.

When starting out with content marketing, it’s easy to think that your ultimate goal should be to get the top results on search engines and boost your web traffic. Of course, that’s all very important. But, the most important goal to pursue is establishing your authority in your niche. When you’ve achieved that, SEO and web traffic will follow. So, too, will premium-quality leads.

Establishing your authority is, by no means, an easy task. You’ll need to determine what questions your target audience needs to be answered. Then, you’ll need to answer those questions and provide any other information that they might find useful. Doing this would give you the reputation of being an expert in your field.

Once your target audience knows that they can turn to you for your expertise, you’ll be established as the authority in your niche. That automatically earns you the trust of the decision makers of your target businesses. Once you get there, you’ve basically created an automated B2B lead generation system.

Pre-qualify your leads.

Land-and-expand is a common sales tactic. For B2C, this typically involves asking for the smallest commitment necessary to land a customer and then encouraging them to expand their commitment later on. In email marketing, for example, you don’t overwhelm potential subscribers with a bunch of questions before they sign up. You first ask for their email address, add them to your list, and find ways to ask for more information next time.

For B2B, that might not be the best tactic. What you want to do is pre-qualify your leads so that your sales teams are spending their precious time on those who are most likely to convert. To do this, you can ask simple questions like what their job title is or how many employees work at their company. These might not seem too significant but may go a long way in helping you distinguish genuine leads from those who are just curious.

Nurture prospects at each stage of the customer journey.

Closing B2B leads can be a long, drawn-out process. Business generally can’t make a buying decision in an instant. In many cases, it could take weeks, if not months to close a single lead. In the meantime, you need to make sure your business continues to be at the top of your buyer’s mind. Otherwise, you risk being forgotten altogether.

If content can be useful in drawing in B2B leads, it’ll also be effective in encouraging those leads to make a buying decision. The best thing about it is that you can automate specific content marketing procedures not only to save time but also to make sure your leads are nurtured using targeted messages.

With email marketing specifically, you can map out your entire buyers’ journey and set messages to send at each stage automatically. Plus, you can segment your subscribers in great detail so that each one gets messages that are most appealing to them. If you get this done right, you’ll have an automated system to churn out not only leads but sales as well.

Test and react quickly based on your data.

In today’s data-driven marketing world, another undertaking can help you streamline your content marketing efforts: A/B testing. Constantly endeavor to find the best ways to communicate with your target audience. What words pique their interests? What tone works best? What’s the most engaging design and layout? What offers are most appealing?

All these questions are incredibly important and can only be answered by testing. A/B testing in B2B content marketing involves pretty much the same process you’d go through for any other audience. But in most cases, the stakes are much higher so you can’t get into it haphazardly. For anything that you test, measure the results, and then use the same insights for all your campaigns moving forward.

Next to your actual content, the most critical part of content marketing is your data. It can’t be emphasized enough how important it is to measure your results continually. Then, make the necessary changes to boost your campaigns to optimum efficiency. One thing to note, though, is you need to react quickly. With a good enough tool, you can make changes as soon as you find the flaws. In many cases, a day’s difference could mean quite a considerable sum in sales.

A content marketing strategy limited to email has largely been recognized as one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to boost B2B leads. But, launching a full-scale campaign involving web content, SEO, and social media has the potential to make your business unstoppable.

No matter the platform, a solid online presence can be all you need to have a constant inflow of B2B leads. The best thing about it is that leads funneled in from these channels are those that are more likely to convert into actual paying customers. In many cases, all your business needs is a powerful marketing tool to support you through your entire campaign.

The post How to Use Content to Drive B2B Lead Generation appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

33% of new employees quit within the first 90 days, and there are as many reasons for that as there are employees. Regardless of the reason, however, it’s important for companies to do everything in their power to retain as many new hires as possible, as the process of finding new recruits is both time-consuming and expensive.

Improving your onboarding process and retaining new employees seems difficult, but it can actually be achieved in a few simple steps. So, let’s take a look at five of the best methods that’ll help companies improve their onboarding process, saving time and money along the way.

1. Streamline the Onboarding Process

It’s crucial for companies to have a formal onboarding process that they follow consistently. Without a formal outline in place, you’d be overlooking so many things. New employees might not have received the IT resources needed for the job, they might not have been properly informed about the expectations and goals, etc.

And there are many tools and software that can help streamline this process, making it even more efficient and easier to follow. Automating the onboarding checklist saves everyone time and energy. It’s easier to gather data about the employees, keep track of their progress, and keep them informed about the workflow.

2. Deploy eLearning Software

Online training software is the perfect solution for streamlining the onboarding process. It brings countless benefits both to the company and to new employees.

When it comes to companies, first of all, eLearning software helps them increase revenue. It gives them better insight into the development of the new employees, showing their strengths and weaknesses so that the managers can offer better support.

As far as new recruits are concerned, most eLearning software has dashboards that provide them with immediate feedback. Employees can quickly find out what they’re doing right and wrong, and feedback can be customized to point them in the right direction and suggest the best course of action.

Online training software offers room for self-paced learning, ensuring that all new employees are mastering all the necessary skills. Slower learners can go over the topics as many times as needed, while more advanced learners can skip ahead if needed.

3. Engage New Recruits ASAP

The number one mistake that most companies make with new employees is disregarding them and their input in the first few weeks. This can leave them feeling isolated and unwanted, and it’ll prevent them from building relationships with the rest of the team.

While it’s important not to overwhelm the new recruits on the first day, giving them the opportunity to express their opinions in meetings, or asking them to do some research and give you feedback can work wonders, leaving a great first impression on them. This will show them that they’re an important part of the company and that you respect and value the things they can bring to the table. An added bonus is that they’ll feel more motivated and become more productive. When new employees feel appreciated, they’re more likely to stay loyal to the company.

4. Build Relationships

Millennials account for over a third of the U.S. workforce, and the best way to keep them loyal and motivated is to build strong relationships with them right from the start. Just like new employees try their best to leave a good impression on the first day, so too should the managers.

After day one is over, make sure to regularly check up on the employees and find out if everything is going well. Get to know them, and give them a chance to get to know you too.

5. Help New Recruits Achieve their Goals

Unless the new hires are given the opportunity to grow and develop, you cannot expect to retain them. Offering career training and development would keep 86% of millennials from leaving their current position, and much job satisfaction is in the hands of managers.

During the onboarding process, it’s crucial to let the new hires know exactly what the company’s goals and objectives are, what the key performance indicators are, and what the promotion system is like. Constantly communicating with new employees, helping them figure out whether their goals match the company’s, and guiding them on the path to success is invaluable both to the company and to the employees.

Closing Remarks

Improving the onboarding process is essential to increase the retention rate of new employees, especially when it comes to a younger workforce. Having a streamlined onboarding process will ensure that nothing is overlooked and that new employees and managers are always up to date.

Investing in eLearning software will make it easier for both parties to keep track of the progress made while engaging the new employees immediately and building strong relationships with them right from the start will ensure they stay motivated and productive.

Lastly, helping them set and achieve their goals will keep them loyal, and can offer many wonderful benefits. A company can only be successful when its employees thrive, so giving them opportunities to move up the ladder is essential.

The post Recruiting Strategy: 5 Ways to Improve Your Onboarding Process that Work appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.