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The Key to Retaining Young

Workers? Better
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Onboarding.
by Donald Tomaskovic-Devey and Reyna Orellana
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 HBR / Digital Article / The Key to Retaining Young Workers? Better Onboarding.

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The Key to Retaining Young
Workers? Better Onboarding.

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by Donald Tomaskovic-Devey and Reyna Orellana
Published on HBR.org / May 12, 2022 / Reprint H070J9

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Illustration by Nata Schepy

It is no news that hiring right now is incredibly difficult. Labor

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shortages are widespread, young workers are expecting higher starting

wages, and after employers hire and train a new employee, the risk that
they will jump ship for a better paying job is rising fast. The cost of
turnover is high, but it has always been higher than many employers
realize and it’s probably bad for your firm’s bottom line.
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How can employers do a better job hiring and keeping young workers?
To find out we talked with workforce development professionals

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— people who help employers find workers and young adults find
employers. We asked them what employers should do to promote good
hires, ones that last. These professionals see and appreciate both sides
of the hiring process and were able to tell us what works and what

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fails in the hiring process for young workers. Our research focused on
young workers filling the core production tasks in many types of jobs,
including factories, health care, and administrative service firms. For all
types of jobs our focus was on what employers can do to find and keep
new entry-level employees.

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To attract and keep their core production people, many firms are
raising wages, some are switching to full-time benefited positions,
and some are even offering signing bonuses. These are essential,
but what we learned is that what is more important to get young
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workers to stick around are the social aspects of hiring, especially
those having to do with developing mutual respect and trust. These
are particular challenges for workers of color, who often expect to
encounter discrimination.
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Our goal is to help employers examine their hiring and training

practices, increase the speed at which new hires become productive
team members, and reduce the high dollar and emotional costs of
turnover from failed hires. We learned ten lessons in our research
to help employers hire successfully. The workforce specialists we
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interviewed developed these insights by observing the typical mistakes

employers make, sometimes over and over again. Here’s how you can
correct them:

1. Create career jobs.

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We’re in an era of increased expectations for good jobs. A good job

is not simply one that pays a little above the minimum wage; these
are everywhere and plentiful. Good jobs promise a future and make

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 HBR / Digital Article / The Key to Retaining Young Workers? Better Onboarding.

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young people feel valued. Career jobs pay living wages, have predictable
hours, visible skill and wage progression, and most importantly foster
respectful relationships with supervisors and co-workers. Bad jobs
communicate that the employer does not care whether employees stay

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or go.

2. Communicate opportunities for career progression.

Young people may have had multiple short-term, dead-end jobs before
you hire them. It is important to recognize that what employers might

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see as a training period — with the goal that this will be a long-term
relationship — for young workers might feel too much like the jobs that
they have had in the past. What may seem obvious to the employer can
be a mystery to a young employee. If you see this hire as the beginning
of a long-term relationship, make that clear from the start. If you do not
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make this clear, young workers may leave prematurely for a job they see
themselves growing in.

3. Build positive relationships prior to hiring.

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If you are having trouble building a high-quality applicant pool,

outreach prior to hiring can help. Young workers often need to be able
to imagine themselves in your workplace, doing your jobs, working
with your people. Mock interviews can communicate what employer’s
value, prior to the (often stressful) real interview. Workplace tours and
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job shadowing are effective in helping candidates see themselves in a

role, although if everyone already at work is white or male, tours and
job shadowing might be signals to many potential hires that they do
not belong. The same goes for websites and training videos: If no one
looks like me, I may simply assume that I am not welcome. Since the
workforce of the future will increasingly be people of color, employers
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need to think about what signals they are sending to workers of color.

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4. Ensure a positive first day reception.

Everyone gets nervous, but young workers are often particularly

uncomfortable entering a new workplace. One of the biggest mistakes
employers make is assuming that new workers are ready to work and

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will figure things out. This may be true for those who stick around,
but it is also a signal that you don’t care, and that will lead some to
leave. The extreme version of this is when a new employee shows up for
work and everyone seems surprised to see them. From the employer’s
point of view, this may indicate poor communication between HR and

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department supervisors. From the new employee’s viewpoint, this is a
sign that you do not care. First impressions are crucial to retention.
Introductions to coworkers, supervisors, support staff and the boss are
vitally important.
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5. Assign new hires a mentor.

Employees need to learn both job skills and the informal culture of the
workplace. If you leave it to chance, some employees will figure things
out, some may get lucky and be adopted by a more senior colleague,
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and others will struggle. One tendency is to think that the strugglers
are lazy or dumb. More often, they simply have not been adequately
mentored and need help figuring things out. Mentors can provide
information and integration into the social life of the workplace.
Assigned mentors are particularly important for young workers of color
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who are often overlooked or ignored by older supervisors until they

“prove” themselves. Many firms have well-developed mentor systems
for their managerial and professional workforces but leave onboarding
of lower level workers to chance. This is a mistake, especially since these
people are often your core production workers.
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6. Communicate and explain expectations clearly.

Every workplace has both formal and informal rules around expected
behaviors. Many people discover these rules by keeping their head
down and looking around. But some rules — like no use of cell

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phones on the job or the importance of calling in if you cannot get
to work on time — may seem self-evident to supervisors but arbitrary
or unreasonable to young workers. For example, cell phones are often
young workers’ most expensive possession, a lifeline to their children
for parents, and central to their identities and relationships for most

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young people. Of course, checking phones can be dangerous in some
manufacturing settings, rude to customers in many service jobs, and
irritating to supervisors in general. There is nothing wrong with a rule
that makes sense, but it is the employer’s job to communicate not only
the rules, but why they make sense. Otherwise, you may sound like a
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coercive parent or teacher telling them to “just do it.” We all remember
how ineffective that was when we were young.

7. Create a culture where young workers can ask questions.

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Young workers are often hesitant to speak up and ask for help. They fear
failure, and as a result, do not ask for help or explanations when they
need it. Getting the hang of things happens sooner and more effectively
when the new employee feels like asking questions is normal and that
they will be treated with respect when they risk revealing ignorance.
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In an atmosphere of disrespect and impatience, the tendency is to hide

your need for help. Allow your young workers to ask questions and be
clear that it is productive to do so.

8. Understand non-work lives.

Young workers typically live different lives than more established

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workers. This is particularly true when your emerging labor force

are people of color or immigrants. Some have children. Many must

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commute on mass transport. Some are in school or their children are.
Successful supervisors understand that they must learn the reality of
their young workers non-work lives. Children get sick, mass transport is
often late and schedules sporadic, schools schedule exams or teacher

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work days, doctor appointment times are out of all of our control.
Recognize that their life may be far different from yours. Taking the
time to understand can prevent mistaking complex lives for bad work
habits.

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9. Foster a climate of respect and dignity for everyone.

Sometimes supervisors and coworkers who are equal opportunity

bullies are excused by managers despite being the source of toxic
racist encounters and sexual harassment. Managers should never treat
routine bad behavior as an excuse for racism and sexism. Tolerating
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disrespect in any form drags morale down, reduces productivity, and
encourages turnover. Workplaces characterized by dignity and respect
for all employees, regardless of race, citizenship, gender, or just plain
newbie ignorance are going to be much more successful in hiring and
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keeping young workers.

10. Create a racially equitable workplace.

Workers of color and immigrants have experienced discrimination in

past jobs, schools, and public places, and are worried that they will
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experience it again in your workplace. A color-blind approach to race

is an insult to immigrants and people of color’s lived experiences.
Employers should pay attention to the basics, such as race and
gender discrepancies in pay, shifts and hours, and job assignments.
Additionally, building stable and respectful relationships between
supervisors, coworkers and new employees from all backgrounds is key
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to creating a racially equitable workplace.

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 HBR / Digital Article / The Key to Retaining Young Workers? Better Onboarding.

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Think about a new hire’s first few weeks as a probationary period
for both the employee and employer. Both are anxious to develop
a long-term productive relationship. While employers are curious as
to whether the employee will adapt to the rhythms and expectations

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of the workplace, new hires are gauging whether this workplace will
be a respectful and encouraging place to build a career. Successful
onboarding and reducing premature turnover requires communicating
that you value a long-term relationship and that your workplace is a
welcoming and respectful one.

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Donald Tomaskovic-Devey directs the Center for Employment
Equity at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he leads
the “What works?” project, which focuses on successful managerial
strategies to expand equity and inclusion in workplaces.
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Reyna Orellana is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology at the
RO University of Massachusetts, Amherst engaged in research on labor
and understanding its changing dynamics. She previously worked at
the UCLA Labor Center where she focused on low wage workers in
the Los Angeles area.
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This document is authorized for educator review use only by ARMANDO AGUADO, De La Salle University - Phillipines until Jun 2022. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860