Employee onboarding can be a daunting topic for some to consider, it is one that is often overlooked, yet it is an aspect of a business that requires diligent attention and hard work.
Why put so much effort into onboarding?
The Facts and Figures
The rate of employment is currently at a record low and statistics reveal that a good onboarding experience has far reaching benefits. Similarly, a poor onboarding experience only promotes disconnection and disloyalty in the workplace, leading to an increase in staff turnover and hiring expenses, and a simultaneous decline in productivity and total revenue. Therefore, it is worth avoiding a bad onboarding experience at all costs.
The average onboarding process involves 54 activities and 58 percent of organisations report that their progress focuses of processes and paperwork; this is despite the conclusions of experts who have realised that successful onboarding focuses on people, not paperwork, and physical training over processes. While a negative onboarding experience doubles the odds of an employee looking for another job, a good onboarding experience increases the retention of new hires by 50 percent. Almost 20 percent of staff turnover happens with the first 45 days of employment, giving further evidence to the fact that new employees need to be nurtured for an extended period – a lot of employers suggest an onboarding period of 90 days! If you’re a manager, it makes you a lot happier, and your job a lot easier, when you know your employees can carry out their tasks efficiently without constant supervision. Successful and efficient onboarding training can help you and your team to achieve just that!
How To Do It
With all those facts and figures in your mind, you might be wondering just how a successful employee onboarding procedure can be accomplished. Let’s consider some of the advice for welcoming new hires and helping them to attain to success:
- Allow the new employee to experience the workplace model. If your company runs a hybrid model with both virtual and in-person meetings, reflect that in the onboarding process. Give the new employee the chance to experience a combination of work environments so they can fully appreciate the environment of the company while also learning about the company’s cultures and values.
- Assign a partner for the first 90 days. With the company and help of an experienced employee, the recruit will have someone to go with questions or stresses. It will also give tenured employees an opportunity to interact with new people.
- Have a plan that include weekly itineraries. This will help the new employee to understand what is expected of them and what they need to learn throughout the onboarding period.
- Make it personal. Every new hire is different and that’s what made you hire them in the first place. Therefore, an effective onboarding plan isn’t a “one size fits all” – customise the plan for each new hire so that the new employee can become a valued member of your team.
- Help them to transition culturally. Onboarding is more than just technical training. The new employee needs to learn about the company’s cultural norms, so prepare to give them the resources and relationships they will need to operate as one of your team.
- Give them a vision for their future in the company. New employees need to see themselves in the long-term future of the company so help them to discover real life in your organisation. Allow them the opportunity to hear stories from other employees and see how they can fit into the future of the business.
- Schedule meetings for them to get to know key members of staff. As a new employee, it’s hard to know who to go to with different problems. Don’t leave it to chance, take the initiative to help employees meet the different members of staff they’re going to need and encounter on their journey at your company. Give them the facilities they need to do so by proving them with the needed communication tools such as a mobile, PC, software, or email account.
- Assign them a mentor. The relationship between a tenured employee and a new starter will benefit both parties. The experienced employee will bring a knowledgeable perspective, and the new starter will bring energy and enthusiasm.
Onboarding the Remote Way
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a great shift in the methods and normalities of business and the workplace, and the onboarding of employees is so exception. Is it possible to offer virtual onboarding as the trend to work from home continues?
- Help the recruit with setting up a designated workspace. Ship the required equipment, provide clear instruction son how to set it up and assist them in installing everything they need to get started. Arrange a video call with a member of the IT department who can help them out. Doing so will relieve a lot of the technology induced anxiety than new employees often face.
- Introduce them to the team, even if it must be virtually. So that the new employees can feel like they belong, and so they can be a valuable member of the team, they need to know who they’re working with. Set up a virtual lunch meeting so that the recruit can make new work connections and feel like they fit in with the team.
- Build a buddy system. A buddy system works in the literal office and works in the virtual workplace too. This kind of system will encourage openness and communication, allowing recruits to express concerns, ask questions and feel like a team player, even though their workplaces may be spread across the country.
A great asset in developing a successful employee onboarding process is in the technology of onboarding software. These kinds of systems can speed up onboarding without compromising on quality, so that you can make your workforce a strong, successful, and well qualified one without the hassle and stress of monitoring the progress manually. It also helps new employees feel connected and means that they have access to all the information they need as they adjust to their new role and organisation.
