b'the department or the general functions of the job.investment they make in bringing employees and Jessica spends the day aimlessly, introducing her- retaining talent into their organization.If looking self to colleagues and navigating the departmentfor a place to start, try the following approaches.as best she can. By midweek in the department, Jessicas enthusiasm for the organization begins toRaise the Collective wane and, by the end of the week, she worries that perhaps taking the job was a mistake. Emotional Intelligence of the Jessicasexperienceisnotunusual.Infact,herOrganizationstory is so commonplace that it scarcely raises anResearchsupportsthefactthatself-awareness eyebrow.Thisisbecause,incompaniesalloverleads to higher team performance and high emo-the U.S. and beyond, there are thousands of em- tional intelligence makes for more effective lead-ployees whose new employee onboarding experi- ers. Emotional intelligence (often referred to as EQ) ence is interchangeable with the one Jessica had.is the ability to comprehend and control ones feel-Yet, the costs associated with bringing Jessica andings, while also understanding and managing the others like her into organizations add up to millionsfeelings of others. Emotional intelligence is at the per year. In Jessicas case, that investment began toheart of empathy, which leaders need in order to depreciate within a week because the organizationsee their environments with fresh eyesas a new did not have the culture and structure in place tohire would. Current employees need high emotion-shape her onboarding experience once she becameal intelligence in order to create a welcoming envi-an employee. ronment, which in turn, makes a new employee feel Labor costs (the amount a company spends on wag- safea key element in the composition of high per-es, benefits, and taxes) can run as high as 70% offormance teams. The good news is that emotional a companys operating expenses and,intelligence can be developed by creating ways for whilevaryingbyindustry,manage- employees to learn the attributes associated with ment experts expect this cost to keepemotionalintelligence(i.e.,self-awarenessand rising. As such, attracting high qualityself-regulation), as well as giving them opportuni-talent,inspiringnewhires,keepingties to practice in a safe space, and it is a worth-existing employees engaged, and de- while organizational investment.veloping them over the course of their career will remain the biggest expenseCreate an Onboarding companies will incur. Given the signifi-cant financial commitment labor costsApproach That Turns New represent to companies, empoweringHires into Brand Ambassadorsleadersandstaffwiththetoolsand processestoquicklysocializenewAwell-designedonboardingprocesscreatesa hires to the organization and integratenew hire experience that has a net positive effect them into existing teams is critical toon increasing employee satisfaction, engagement, an organizations sustained success and performance. The inverse is also true: A lack both in terms of meeting their missionof planning for a new employees onboarding con-and business priorities. tributes to 20% of new employees leaving within There are many steps that companiesthe first 45 days of employment. In order for a suc-can take to build an onboarding culturecessful onboarding program to turn new hires into based on processes that support theambassadors, three critical success factors need to be present:31'