If you are the founder or co-founder of a startup you are aware that one of the most difficult aspects of creating a successful company is managing employees.

From the moment they join your company, employees go through a journey that the HR team needs to lead carefully. And this journey is known as the employee life cycle.

This is to guarantee that they are motivated, engaged, and productive. In this article, I’ll explain the various stages of the employee life cycle and how the HR department influences each step to aid the development of a high-performing workforce.

What is an employee life cycle?

Employee life cycle refers to the six stages of overseeing or managing employees throughout their stay in a company; from hiring to separation - whether voluntarily or involuntarily.

An employee lifecycle is to the HR team what a client journey is to the sales and marketing department. It provides useful patterns and trends that will assist startup founders in making better hiring decisions.

Why is the employee life cycle important?

First and foremost employee life cycle covers everything from recruiting and hiring to onboarding, training, performance management, and, eventually, offboarding – separation.

Now, why is it important for startups or scale-up companies? The answer is simple: to succeed, companies must be able to attract and retain excellent employees. And to accomplish so, they must establish a pleasant employee experience from the beginning to the end.

Consider it this way. If a startup's recruitment process is badly or negatively designed, it may miss out on the top employees or talent.

And if they don't give sufficient training and assistance to new hires, those employees may become frustrated and eventually resign before having an opportunity to contribute significantly to the company's success.

On the other hand, a company that creates a positive and thriving place to work and invests in its employees will likely have a better employee life cycle.

The advantages that followers are, first, it will aid in attracting top talent. It will equally aid in keeping these talents – employees – engaged and motivated. And when employees are happy and productive, the company has a better chance of succeeding.

What are the stages of the employee life cycle?

1. The Attraction Stage

The "attraction" stage refers to the first thing that comes to mind when someone hears the name of a company. This is the stage where  "employer branding" comes in handy a lot.

By "employer branding" I am referring to the image and reputation that a company has as an employer – what makes people want to work "here" and not "there"

The attraction stage is a necessity since it establishes the tone for everything that follows. If a company has a strong reputation and people desire to work there, it is more likely to attract top-tier talent.

It involves everything from initially learning about the company to learning about a job opening. This stage is often for the human resources and marketing departments to collaborate to ensure that everything people see or hear about the organization makes them want to work there.

They can make the company appear better than its competitors and employ interesting marketing methods to pique people's interest. Especially those with the skill and knowledge that makes them potential employees.

2. The Recruiting stage

First of all, recruiting is the process of identifying and employing new workers. This stage begins when a company posts a job opportunity. It continues until a candidate receives the job offer.

To locate the finest employees, the company performs a variety of activities during this phase. Such as employing a system to track applicants –which is one of the HR recruiting tools.

In some companies, an in-house HR professional handles the recruitment process. While other companies may prefer to hire an external HR agency. Depending on which option is best, a company can even split the process between the two.

So that the recruiting agency finds applicants and organizes the first interviews. While the internal team conducts the final interview and makes the official offer.

It is essential to ensure that the companies hire the right candidate as it can have an impact on the company's performance, culture, and future growth.

3. The onboarding stage

The integration of new hires into the company takes place during the onboarding phase.

It includes the process of signing official employee documentation and any first training session. Employees are also introduced to the payroll and other benefits at this stage. Employee onboarding is a crucial phase for introducing them to the specifics of their position as well as the company's principles and culture.

HR teams play a significant part in onboarding. In addition to managing the administrative tasks of payroll and benefits, it is the HR team who instructs new workers about business values and offers job-specific training through learning management systems.

A successful onboarding stage can provide a good first impression and establish the groundwork for a long career with the company.

4. The Development stage

The development stage concentrates on all activities by the company towards improving the abilities and expertise of new employees. This includes providing formal training, mentorship, coaching, and other learning opportunities to the new employees.

For instance, sponsoring them to attend conferences in the field, arranging programs to upskill their skill set, and eventually conducting reviews. And yes, promotion and pay raises are often linked to these things. Hence, professional development is optimal for employees, especially new ones.

How does the HR team function here? They implement a performance management program for the employees. They also develop a formal review process to offer professional development for both managers and employees.

Additionally, HR departments provide resources for both internal and external learning. This could take the form of sponsoring staff members' attendance at industry conferences or the implementation of learning management systems to deliver training and development programs.

The development stage is imperative because it can result in better performance, more job satisfaction, and career advancement.

5. The retention stage

What does this stage entail? The retention stage involves all activities from a company to ensure that employees remain engaged, motivated, and committed to the company.

This stage is usually oiled with activities like providing a positive work environment, pay raises, opportunities for career advancement, and recognition for a job well done. The retention stage is also very important for any company as it can help reduce turnover, retain top talent, and maintain a positive and inspiring company culture.

6. The separation stage

This is the final stage of an employee’s life cycle. Many factors come together to make up the separation stage. These factors range from retirement to resignation and even termination. Although this stage is always the shortest in the employee life cycle, it is not the least important.

Just like the previous five stages, HR is heavily involved here. As this is where they conduct exit interviews (to understand why the employee is leaving if the separation was voluntary).

They also provide information about final paychecks or benefit continuation among others in cases of retirement. All proceedings are often geared towards one goal – to ensure a smooth transition for the employee leaving the company.

It is worth noting, that for any company to excel, it is paramount to perceive these stages as continuously flowing phases. Rather than as distinct steps when considering an employee's life cycle. This way, the employee experience will be enhanced. And collaboration and communication will grow.

Moreso, it should be noted that the stages of an employee's journey are not always sequential. This is because employees can transition between stages, such as wanting to stay with the company or wanting to advance in their profession.

They could even be in two or three stages at the same time. And even if someone has already left the company they may return in the future. Therefore, these stages are just general groups and not strict categories.

The role of HR in the employee lifecycle of a startup

By now it should be clear that the HR department plays a crucial role in the employee lifecycle of a startup. Arguably, the HR department is the heartbeat of a startup's workforce.

Imagine the HR manager as the conductor of a symphony orchestra. The conductor's job is to ensure that each musician is in tune, playing the correct notes, and following the correct tempo.

Similarly, the HR department ensures that all employees are aligned with the startup's vision and mission. That they have the necessary skills and are performing their roles effectively. They provide the necessary resources and tools to support the team's success.

In summary; the HR steps in at stage two of an employee’s life cycle where they conduct interviews to recruit and hire the right candidates. Then they proceed to onboarding the selected candidates and officially welcome them as employees of the company.

Next, HR will provide opportunities for the new employee to learn and grow within the company and equally ensure the employees have a workplace that encourages and motivates them.

All of these steps are carefully planned out to reduce employee turnover and build a workforce that will help the company achieve its long-term goals.  

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