Premium Content

Make Day One the Best Day

To help reduce turnover, focus on the employee’s first-day experience at your chain.

“How many of us make the first day the best day any new employee ever had? That’s the key,” Kleiman said. 

To do this, consider the first hour the employee is on the job. Make sure someone is available to welcome them when they arrive and show them the ropes. If there’s unlikely to be time, can the manager and new employee arrive 30 minutes early on the first day, so the manager has time to welcome the new employee and talk with them before the day gets busy?

“There’s a script for the first hour,” Kleiman said. 

Ask the employee why they decided to work for your company and take the time to give them positive reinforcement about why you chose to hire them.

“You just set an expectation. You raised the bar, and you made that person feel like a million dollars,” he said.  

It’s equally important to check in with the employee at the end of the first day and ask them how the day went and what problems they encountered.

“How frustrated do you think that new employee is at the end of the day? What are the odds that they gave them things to do that they’d never been trained to do? What are the chances that the store is short staffed? How fast did they get involved with the cash register? How much training did they get when they needed it? Checking in is a way to smooth over any challenges,” Kleiman said. “Don’t let people go home frustrated.”

Of course, it’s important for managers to listen to that employee feedback too and do what they can to address the issues causing frustration. Follow up again at the end of their next shift and at the end of the first week to listen to how things are going, and again, address any concerns or needs they might have.