A poor onboarding process can lead to confusion and unmet expectations, which drives turnover and internal conflict when some team members are perceived as "not pulling their weight". Common onboarding mistakes include:

1. Failing to clearly outline day-to-day tasks and expectations.

2. Overlooking professional expectations like attitude, dress code, and communication.


How to Solve It:

​Create a comprehensive onboarding process. Outline clear professional and role-specific expectations, and review these with each new hire. Everyone should be on the same page regarding their responsibilities and the business’s policies.
​
​You'll know that they know. Ensuring everyone is onboarded in the same fashion will also ensure there are absolutely NO misunderstandings about what is expected from them personally and professionally.
​

​Management plays a critical role in retention. Turnover often happens when managers:

1. Don’t develop meaningful relationships with employees. A positive, genuine relationship is required to gain the respect and influence required to initiate tough conversations or communicate effectively with a team.

2. Fail to hold team members to consistent standards or don’t recognize workload gaps.


How to Solve It:

Take a personal interest in your team. Set time aside to build genuine relationships with every team member. Strong relationships build trust and allow managers to have influence and healthy conversational leverage when it counts.

Support your team consistently. Offer hands-on help and ensure every employee is held to the same standards. When employees are held to different standards it creates unhealthy bias, unintentional discrimination, and a lack of safety in the workplace.