During this period, both sides work out if they are a "fit" and if the employee is not working out, then their employment is not confirmed (read - sacked).
Almost 100% of employees start a new job with the hope of doing the right thing and being successful in the role. They genuinely want to build and support your company.
So, why does it often not work out?
What I am going to say may sound harsh. In my experience most failures during probation are squarely the fault of the manager and the company. The top 7 reasons new employees fail are:
1. Incorrect recruitment. You grabbed the first person breathing who looked at your job and didn't really match their interest, attitude and skills to the position.
2.Incorrect induction or no induction. You didn't explain the company and how their particular role fits into the bigger picture. You were not welcoming. You didn't explain basic internal processes and rules and the person broke the rules.
3. Unclear communication. You were not clear in explaining what had to be done, in what order and for what reason. If you are fuzzy, what hope has a new employee without your experience of the business have of getting it right?
4. Muddy management reporting lines. Does your employee know who their direct report is or are they getting torn between different managers telling them different things?
5. No explanation of the code of conduct. Did you explain what acceptable and unacceptable behaviour was?
6. Poor performance management. When they were going off track, did you take time to bring them back gently on track or did you just nuke them? Did you give them feedback that there was a problem, or did you just sack them?
7. Changing boundaries. The person was hired for one position and you changed the role and duties after they started.
There will be the odd occasion where a person genuinely doesn't care, but these are less than 1% of all new employee failures.
If you find that you are having a number of new employee failures - then go back and check out where the problem really lies. You usually will find it is not with the individuals hired, but with the person doing the hiring.
So, what do you do about it? When you have a vacancy, start by being really clear on the role you want to fill. What precisely will they be doing? Who do they report to? What are they accountable for?
Next be clear on the person who will best fit your role - their skills, attitudes and attributes.
Once you have found someone - how can you make them feel welcome, important and valued? What do you need to tell them so they quickly understand your business and "how you do things around here".
If they get off track - talk with them and explain what you really meant for them to do. Ask for feedback on your communication and act on suggestions to improve it. Guide them back on track as gently as possible.
Yes, all of this takes time. But so does having to constantly hire new staff. Where would you prefer to invest your time
When beginning marketing on the internet we are led to believe that promoting affiliate products is a quick and easy start in establishing a foothold in the very competitive internet marketing business. Our mailboxes get flooded with promises of immediate income and long term success. Needless to say not all of them are going to be the magic bullet that is advertised.
It may look easy, especially to someone who has not yet experienced the many ups and downs of any online business. I have 7 possible causes of failures in promoting other peoples products and suggestions as how to avoid them. No one reason is going to be the downfall to affiliate success but a combination could really hurt.
1. Failure to realize that it takes work. One can not just sign up, get a referral link and post a few ads. Then the sign ups will swarm in! Many advertisers will promise that with 5-60 minutes of work everything will be on autopilot and thats it. Obviously one has to prepare by studying the product, plan an advertising campaign that will use several methods, (more on that later) and use resources that the site owner may provide.
2. Failure to take time to get to know the product(s). Too often the affiliate will promote a product about which he knows very little. If researched carefully sometimes a product which appears to be good really is not as cracked up as advertised. If one finds he does not like the product after all, he either can not really successfully promote it or if he does not like it maybe others don not either. Not that everyone likes a product enough to purchase it, but your percentage of sales may not be that great. And if too many customers turn out to be dissatisfied your reputation could suffer.
3. Failure to adequately research the site, not just the product. Is the site well established or is the owner a successful marketer? A good track record should indicate future success. It can not be said that even an expert can not fail occasionally. He may be promoting a product that just does not work out. Also a newcomer could come out with a new product that actually becomes a big hit. So sometimes it does not hurt to take a chance.
4. Does the site stress the compensation plan or the product? It is easy to look at those high commissions offered but if the product is not very good what help with it be? So beware. Is the product offered globally? If it is not it could restrict your market.
5. Failure to estimate true advertising costs. It is not just the classified ad that may cost you. There are other means of advertisement that can cost money or time, such as using ezines, articles, forums, your own website, etc. One can find many free ways to advertise but there are usually better results when paying. For example using traffic exchanges to help send people to your link or website can be a useful free source but upgrading to the paid versions will definitely help the number of hits you will get.
6. Failure to learn from your upline and established marketers. Many of these offer good advice on the best methods of internet marketing and promotion. A good idea is to take the most relevant advice from each of several so that you do not rely totally on one. Pick what seems to work best for you and gradually you will establish your own promotion strategy.
7. Failure to realize that you will receive many rejections before successes. This can lead to frustration and often premature withdrawal from your beginning online business. Just be sure that you organize your campaigns, keep reevaluating the results and be prepared to make changes. You will gradually begin to gain momentum. You can then work with the programs that are starting to bring you those commissions. I would also suggest that as you start to earn put some of the money back into the business.
Both Ingrid Cliff & B R Sankhla are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Ingrid Cliff has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing, Web Development and Health Care. Ingrid Cliff is a leader in People Management and Business Communications. Find out how to get your People and your Communications aligned with your vision at