Onboarding refers to the process of introducing a recruit into a company and is an important step in assisting the staff in comprehending their new roles and responsibilities. It allows them to seamlessly integrate with the rest of the company. This process involves several steps, from the job offer to training, and is approximately a 90-day-long process. But the completion of this long and tiring process for the HRs leads to more confident and competent employees.
La Tonio Dean-Brown, senior manager of people and organization at QVC, states that “Onboarding is the window to your company’s values and beliefs.” An investigation by SilkRoad Technology into the significance of onboarding procedures for employee retention suggests that nearly 10% of the employees blamed poor onboarding as a reason for them leaving the company, and 37% claimed the onboarding experience to be awful as their managers did not play a crucial part in assisting their onboarding process.
Therefore, it is essential to have an effective onboarding. And to achieve that, a strategic onboarding program and proper onboaring documents, that specify the joining date of an employee are required.
Here are a few steps to consider while designing a seamless onboarding program:
- Plan for a grand Day 1: The first day of any employee, be it an experienced employee or a complete newbie is a little more intimidating. Try to make their first day at work as comfortable as you can. Before they even start their office work, make sure their desk space is all set. Try making a short video or a presentation introducing all the team members and their specific roles in the company. You may also add a few personalized gifts stating welcome with the company’s name engraved on them. In this way, your employees would get an assurance that your company is willing to make investments in them, and as a result, they will perform their best. And remember to keep the initial days a bit lighter for them, so that they get accustomed to the new work culture.
- Assist them in creating strong internal connections: The cost involved in hiring a new candidate is 3 to 4 times the salary of the replaced candidate. Hence, make sure you try every single way to make the recruits feel at home. Host virtual coffee or chit-chat sessions apart from the regular business meetings to get them comfortable around the space and the new faces. In a team of 5 members, if a new candidate is added, make sure each day a new member helps the recruit with the office tour or paperwork.
- Inform and introduce them to the major company stakeholders: Hold meetings to familiarize the recruits with the major stakeholders of your company. As they are now a part of your company and deserve the right to know, the names and functions of all the massive personalities they might need to work with in the future. Setting aside time for them to meet informally with staff members to talk about their requirements, dependencies, and connections can play a significant role in ensuring that the recruits get not only the “what” but also the “why” of their roles.
- Gamify the process: Host team lunches, trivia nights, ping pong, etc. to make the onboarding process more engaging and exciting.
- Clear vision regarding the company’s expectations from a recruit: It is very much necessary to specify the expectations and goals a company has right from the go. Make sure to inform them about every minute detail during the onboarding process and also keep directories of qualified staff, who will be willing to assist the recruits. Both better hiring and better onboarding come hand-in-hand. Therefore, hiring top talents would not benefit much if the onboarding is weak similarly if poor talents are employed, nothing could be achieved even after a classy onboarding process. Moreover, if the recruits are well aware of the goals and expectations of a company, then they might act accordingly and participate in the company’s productivity.
- Assign a guide: Irrespective of their previous experience, provide them with a mentor. They might be able to find a mentor on their own, but if you can designate someone who is eager to assist, who cares about the company’s progress, and who they can contact right away, will be of major help.
Think about hiring an internal coach to serve as the new hire’s point person and facilitate their integration into the company. For the first 90 to 100 days, link new hires with coworkers who embody the business culture and are highly appreciated across the organization.
- Measure effectiveness: “Clarification,” “Confidence,” and “Connection,” are the pillars of measuring the effectiveness of a training program. Of which ‘clarification’ symbolizes if an employee has clear views on the goals and workstyle, ‘confidence’ suggests how easily an employee is taking up a new skill and ‘connection’ will suggest how your recruit is coping with all the other team members. Measuring labor turnover and the results of exit interviews will also help data-driven HR teams determine how effective their onboarding initiatives are and what the organization has to do to reduce employee turnover.
- Proper feedback system: Make sure to provide and receive feedback at regular intervals as this would help both parties in excelling in their jobs. The manager will get to know where in the process there are lacunas to work upon and the recruits will get updated on where their efficiency is lagging.
- Streamline paperwork: Some organizations may be able to send out paperwork, like offer letters or handbooks, and have candidates complete it electronically before their first day, saving a tonne of time during onboarding. This is made possible by utilizing effective Human Resources Information System (HRIS) software or an LMS. Additionally, HR needs to ensure the documentation process of the onboarding is completed digitally, in an attempt to reduce chaos. This might involve gamification, virtual learning, sending the onboarding framework via an LMS, and so on.
- Meticulous planning of their first week: Guide your recruit on every step of their first week at work. Plan their schedule and also the breaks they might be in need of. Ensure and encourage frequent breaks for them as this would help boost their productivity.
Conclusion: Developing a successful onboarding program is not easy. Numerous factors like documentation, progress, training, etc. need to be addressed. The aforementioned steps might assist in achieving a seamless onboarding program.
