New hires are increasingly likely to quit in first year, survey says

New hires and newlyweds have one thing in common: The honeymoon phase. But your company’s new hires may be falling out of love with you a lot faster than recently betrothed couples.

Almost 40% of employees who’ve been with a company for less than six months plan to leave within the next 12 months, according to a report from experience management software company Qualtrics, a 6% jump from last year.

While new employees are typically the most happy and excited, Sarah Marrs, director of the employee experience product team at Qualtrics, told HR Brew, they’re often not being set up for success. She offered advice for how HR can help reverse the trend.

Why is this happening? New employees may be heading for the exit because they’re not getting the support they need after starting their new job, Marrs said. In fact, earlier this year, Qualtrics reported that 50% of CHROs called talent attraction and hiring a “very important” priority, and only 41% said the same about onboarding.

“There’s a gap between the amount of effort that [they’re] putting into hiring people and getting them through the door, and the amount of effort that they’re putting into actually onboarding,” Marrs said. “[HR has] operated under the assumption that once they’re in the door, they’re in the company, and there’s a commitment that’s going to be made and going to be stuck to.”

But that’s not the case, she added. Employees, especially in light of layoffs and a tumultuous job market, “still have one eye on the market when going into a new role.”

I can fix that. Marrs recommended that HR leaders balance their recruitment and retention efforts. “As much effort as you put into getting someone into the organization, take that [effort] through their, ideally, first year, but minimum first six months,” she said.

For example, don’t just train employees to do their jobs effectively, but provide them with the team-building resources they need to get settled at the company. If the company is remote or hybrid, she suggested incorporating an in-person element into the onboarding experience.

“[Build] stickiness between a new hire and their team,” she suggested.