Hello hiring machines!

Welcome back to the SportsGrad Talent Newsletter, your bite-sized guide to attract and retain elite operators.

Every fortnight, we share insights from our community to help you hire better candidates who stick around for longer.

This week the SportsGrad Community told us about:

Onboarding is crucial to ensure new hires can do the job you hired them to do, as quickly as possible. Getting it right sets them up for success, getting it wrong leaves them stuck, confused, and with new-job-remorse. However, there are easy things you can do in the onboarding process, that will make staff rave to their friends about their new employer. So what makes good onboarding? To find out, we asked the people going through it. Below is a list of recommendations from Pro Members of the SportsGrad Community on what you can do to create a positive onboarding experience.

1. Check in a week before they start

Part-Time, 2y exp - “I got sent a bunch of great info before my first day as well as a call from my manager to check in prior. Because part of my role was working from home, I also got sent a welcome package”

Casual Contract, 2y exp - "Firstly, my manager sent a few emails in the lead up to my induction that gave a clear indication of the onboarding process which made me more comfortable in the lead up because I knew what to expect”

Full-Time, 1y exp - “I received an email a week from the hiring manager before I started to check in and also a phone call with them two days before I started.”

2. Fill the new starters calendar

Full-Time, 1y exp - “On my first day, I got given a schedule of the day ahead as well as some already setup catchups with some of the staff I’ll be working with so I wasn’t just left to my own devices”

Full Time, 1 yr exp - “I enjoyed how my first day consisted of just small activities to dip my toe in first, instead of going head first. I also had a session on organisational goals so I could see the bigger picture of why my role existed’

Full-Time, 3y exp - “For the first 2 weeks, each day in my calendar was 70% populated with online training, 1 coffee catchup, an assigned lunch buddy and 30% my own time. I completed a trait indicator before I started which allowed my employer to tailor my onboarding experience to my preferred learning style which was pretty cool!'“

3. Grow their internal network

Interning for the first time - "I had a tour of the entire club facility, not just where I would be working from which was great and then had some team bonding exercises and coffee with the team which made me get comfortable quicker”

Full-Time, 5y exp - “Before starting, I attended a team drinks/catchup to get to know the team outside of the office, which I really rated because it enabled me to feel comfortable pretty quickly which was nice.

4. Show them why their job is important

Casual Contract, 2y exp - “She then gave a presentation that was engaging and interactive. She really made us feel like part of the team straight away and stressed that we were valued members of the organisation. I think the sense of inclusion that she built really stuck with us and we got a sense of the culture at straight away”

5. Make expectations clear

First Full-Time role -”I had an elaborate meeting with my manager on my responsibilities, the specific accounts I would be working in, and my expectations from the job which made it crystal clear for me”

Casual, 1y exp - “Someone who takes the time and effort to understand the individual and their role and how they can help them execute their best at said role”

6. Give them standard operating procedures

First Full-Time role - “I got a document with the names of every department's GM, emergency contacts, office amenities etc. A couple of courses around navigating the software I would use for the job had to be completed over a week so this onboarding was a slightly longer process but got me up to speed”

Full-Time, 1 yr exp - “The hiring manager gave me a file with step by step instructions on what needs to be done for the start of each item I was managing”

✍️ Ryan’s Note: The biggest theme here is around making the new starter comfortable and the easiest way to do that is to create some structure around their onboarding experience. Onboarding is not just a 1 day process, but weeks long and the more you can do around setting up meetings with people in the business, coffee catchups with the team and having lunch buddies helps speed this process up. At the end of the day, the nerves of a new starter come from wanting to fit in and make a good impression, so the more you can connect them with people, the more confident they’ll get in their role.

Keep reading for some more insights into our community and how you can get involved.

Let’s get it!

Ryan Walker 💛

Co-Founder

Meet the Community 💛

Get a taste of our Community, check out their stories below 👇🏻

• [Blog]: Sekhar Sridhar, Customer Support Coordinator at Cricket Australia

• [Blog]: Gen Horton, Ticketing Executive at SailGP

• [Blog]: Chris Burgess, Coach Member & Program Services Administrator at Tennis Australia

Become a Corporate Member 🤝

Networking is equally important to fill your pipeline of candidates.

So if you haven’t got the time to attend every event, reply to every message, or scroll LinkedIn, our network of talent can give you your precious time back.

Become a SportsGrad Corporate Member and save thousands of hours and dollars.

• Unlimited Job Posts - scale your team rapidly with bulk ads

• Speedy Shortlisting - Contact us at any time to get quick talent recommendations

• Discounted Recruitment - We’ll do the heavy lifting for you to find the perfect candidate

Talent Recommendations 🔥

Need someone quickly and don’t want to go to market? We’ve got people ready to go. Reach out for an introduction.

1. Melbourne based member with over 5 years experience, previously working in community partnerships.

2. Melbourne based member, 2 years of freelance experience, looking for graphic design roles in sporting clubs.

3. Sydney based member, currently interning, looking for social media and content creation roles.

International Women’s Day Event 🥂

We’re only 2 days away from our International Women’s Day Event, in collaboration with Play Like a Girl Australia this Friday! Last minute tickets are still available, which includes guest speakers, panel discussions, networking and all food and drinks. See you there!

See the link below for ticket details 🎟️

Other ways to get involved with SportsGrad 🤓

📈 SportsGrad Pro Discount - Help your staff grow their career by tuning into monthly industry expert Q&A’s and building their network. Book a call.

🎪 Join a Job Fair - Showcase your organisation and roles available to our community. Express your interest.

🤝 Attend a Meetup - Meet talent and help your staff grow their network by attending an industry meetup. 50% discount applies for Corporate Members. Get your tickets.

💬 Join a Q&A - Got an industry superstar in your ranks? Get them to share their career wisdom with our community. Nothing needed to prepare, jump on a Zoom, answer some questions, and ‘pay it forward’. Get involved.

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That’s all for now! Whenever you’re ready, there’s 4 ways we can help you hire great talent and promote your brand.

1. Post a job to the SportsGrad Community job board

2. Get unlimited job posts and talent recommendations for your organisation by becoming a Corporate Member.

3. Need to fill a role ASAP? Enquire about recruitment

4. Want to develop your staff? Let’s chat SportsGrad Pro or Meetups

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