I have had six jobs in my life. None of them gave me any sort of new job orientation. They all just threw me to the wolves, and I picked up what I could from people around me. In hindsight, that was an accurate reflection of the places I worked — the companies were run in a disorganized, haphazard way. It’s worth noting that only one of the six is still in business today. That probably says it all.

When I started my company, I knew I needed to provide a much better onboarding experience for employees. Our head of recruiting and culture felt this was was a priority too and developed an excellent orientation slide deck, and I make it a point to spend 30-45 minutes with every new hire.

I think this accomplishes a lot of important things that pay off later.

For background, our company currently has 20 employees and is growing. We have had as many as 70 through a previous company that we sold. New team members generally spend a week training with someone and going through our training materials while they work at one of our stores.

How to onboard like a boss

Here’s our process, which I think many retail businesses would benefit from implementing: Our HR person sets up an orientation meeting with me two to four weeks after the new hire’s start date. Sometimes there is more than one new employee; other times, it’s one-on-one. HR sends the orientation PDF to the employee as well as a shopper form for them to complete after they blind-shop one competitor.

HR sends me the new hire’s resume, which I review. I note a few questions to ask about where they grew up, their past jobs and current situation. These meetings are generally at 9 a.m., but because of work schedules and time zones, for me it’s often at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. on Saturday via Zoom.

During the meeting, I go through the orientation deck with the new employee. I start with my personal history and then share the history of the company. I talk about who we are as a company, covering our purpose, core values and what we do. I explain our brand and how we want to be represented.

I ask them to share their experience shopping the competitor and compare that to what they have seen at our store, both in product quality and customer experience. My company has identified five feelings we try to create with customers; the slides in the orientation deck give examples of what employees can do to inspire these feelings and help us make good on our brand promise.

We then talk about where we are going as a company. I review our current one-page strategic plan and cover the company’s goals for the year. I end by talking about our profit-sharing plan and their future. I also ask for their thoughts and comments — which sometimes gets engagement.

The five benefits of CEO participation in onboarding

What do we as a company get out of doing this? In my experience, this meeting provides five key things to new team members:

1. Imparts value

The new person feels important and valued by virtue of my taking the time to meet them and discuss these things.

2. Shares information

They get a well-rounded picture of what the company is all about, much more so than if I did not meet with them. I think they see that we are a solid and organized business, which reinforces their decision to join our team.

3. Sets expectations

This meeting helps new employees learn about our expectations of them in their roles. Not only do I explain what they can do with customers to stay on brand, but I also cover actions they can take to match our four core values. This is pretty specific stuff. We are sharing with employees from day one the actions they can take to maximize their chances of success in our company.

4. Acclimates on company direction

They learn where the company is going in the next few years, which enables them to contribute to the company’s goals so that they are rowing in the same direction from day one.

5. Opens the door

Finally, they get to know me a little, opening the door for them to communicate directly with me.

As a CEO, this meeting allows me to get to know the new employee and their background. I can pick up on things that may show up later in their 30-, 60-, and 90-day reviews — or even further down the road. I try to discover a little about their strengths to help me guide them toward the right role over time as well. It also gets a rapport going, so when I visit on-site, we know each other and it is less awkward.

As you can see, the CEO taking less than an hour of time to onboard a new team member has a ton of value.

You can’t argue with success

I was curious how other successful entrepreneurs onboard new team members, so I polled 25 business owners I know.

The answers surprised me. A few said they don’t do a formal orientation but should. However, eight entrepreneurs shared specifics of their onboarding process, which were fairly consistent in practice and length. Most took about four hours and included company background, HR information and training.

I concluded that the top, best-run businesses all prioritize new employee orientation, and arguably the best four companies in that group include a 30-minute, one-on-one meeting with the owner. It was striking to note the strong correlation between this process and how successful and well-run the company is.

While I cannot state with certainty that conducting a formal new employee onboarding leads to success, I can ask this: Why would you not do everything you can to bring people into your organization in the most informed and best way possible?