It’s important for business owners and HR professionals to realize that employee onboarding can actually make or break how new–hires view your company.
For example, if a new employee has a negative experience due to little or no onboarding, they’re likely to run the other way – and tell their friends. If you have multiple employees quitting each year, it can cost you thousands in resources and productivity. Not good.
Reviewing your organization’s onboarding processes for efficiencies and potential improvements is a must. The tips below illustrate how you can strengthen and streamline your processes to encourage new employees to stick around and grow with the company.
The Importance of Onboarding
A good onboarding policy does more than show newly hired staff where the bathrooms are and how to use the coffee machine. It helps them integrate into the day-to-day requirements of their job, get in sync with the culture, and find their value to the organization. A recent business study has shown that employees who participated in a well-structured onboarding process were 69% more likely to be with the company at the three-year mark.
Onboarding and Orientation Are Not the Same
Yes, there’s a difference and too many organizations confuse onboarding with new hire orientation. Orientation involves necessary paperwork, compliance training, and working with IT to understand the computer network. Onboarding involves people: creating connections that can help new hires during their first stages of employment and stay with them as they continue.
Finding the Time
Time constraints and workload may make it challenging to incorporate working with new hires. However, the payoff is worthwhile – making the effort to onboard a new hire can mean gaining a long-term employee. Some organizations even provide extra benefits to those who volunteer to train or mentor during the onboarding process, such as paid time off or additional pay.
A Streamlined Process
A structured onboarding process includes welcoming and assimilation tasks that begin before the first day and continues through the first months, including:
- Prior to Day 1: Send an email or message from a manager, welcoming the new hire aboard and asking to meet as soon as they arrive.
- Have their office/workstation set up and ready. People want to feel welcomed and valued: a readied work area shows you’re excited to have them on board.
- Organize walk-throughs and introductions. While most new hires will meet their team on Day 1, there are others in the organization that can impact their success – including IT! If it’s a work-from-home position, organize a virtual walk-through.
- Assign a mentor or buddy to help the new hire navigate their environs. A partner/mentor can ease the transition and be a resource for information and questions.
- Schedule follow-up meetings. The frequency will depend on the job, but on average, weekly for the first month, then monthly for several months thereafter.
Automate!
Automating as much of your onboarding process as possible leads to less stress, and less room for human error. In general, the best things to automate are training, follow-up, and feedback. This doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be human interaction, but some processes are simply better and more streamlined if automated.
Lanmark Staffing provides over 40 years of combined human resources, recruiting, temporary placement, sales and management, and temp-to-hire services. Visit our website and learn how our team of local, experienced professionals can help you find the right employee for the job.