Employee Onboarding is an essential part of the recruitment process and can have a huge impact on the success of any organization. It is the employees’ first impression of your company. Therefore, it is important to ensure that new hires are welcomed and integrated into the team in a way that is both efficient and effective. It helps to set the stage for a successful working relationship between the employer and employee.
By mastering the art of onboarding, companies can ensure that new hires feel welcome and supported, leading to improved performance and retention rates.
What is an Onboarding Process?
- An employee onboarding process starts after the selection process in recruitment and continues even after the onboarding formalities are over.
- An onboarding typically includes paperwork, training, socialization, orientation, etc.
- This is all about getting new hires to adapt themselves quickly to the working environment and be as productive as they can be.
- The more extensive the onboarding process, the better it is for employees to speed up their productivity levels.
- An onboarding encompasses many things, one of them being helping new hires understand their job responsibilities.
- The onboarding process is generally shorter for freshers and longer for experienced professionals.
- It simply doesn’t matter whether you have a large, medium, or small enterprise. The point of concern is how effectively you can manage the recruitment process, including the onboarding.
Important Employee Onboarding Statistics
91% of new hires stick with a company for at least one year if the organization has an efficient onboarding process in place.
According to a survey conducted by Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), new hires are 69% more likely to still be with the company after three years if they experienced great onboarding.
Research (Glassdoor) revealed that companies with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82%. In addition, those companies saw a 70% increase in productivity and a 54% increase in new hire engagement. Therefore, a bad onboarding experience may lead to decreased productivity and also high turnover.
A study conducted by the Wynhurst Group found that companies with a standard onboarding process saw a 50% greater chance of new hire retention than companies without one. The same study found that companies with onboarding programs improved new hire productivity by 11.5%.
Finally, a survey conducted by the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) revealed that organizations with a formal onboarding process are 52% more likely to improve new hire retention, 60% more likely to improve new hire performance, and 53% more likely to improve new hire satisfaction and commitment.
This shows that a smooth and successful transition to work is important.
How to Master the Art of Onboarding?
- To master anything, it is important to delve deeper. The same rule applies to onboarding as well.
- Unless you put yourself in the shoes of the candidate, it is very difficult to realize what the candidate expects from an onboarding process.
- Therefore, for a moment imagine yourself to be the candidate instead of the recruiter and ask questions like,
- “What would I want my first day in the office to be like”?
- “How do I feel more inclusive and welcome in my new workplace?”
- You will have plenty of answers coming up.
To help you master the art of onboarding, here are some tips and tricks that will make the transition process smooth enough:
Initial Steps of an Employee Onboarding Process
- The first step to mastering the art of onboarding is to create an onboarding process that is well-defined and structured.
- A recruitment management system can help streamline the onboarding process by providing a step-by-step guide to ensure that all the necessary steps are taken.
- Additionally, many hiring tools can be used to make the process easier, such as an applicant tracker system, which can help track applicants throughout the recruitment process.
- With the right tools and processes in place, companies can create an efficient and effective employee onboarding process that sets new hires up for success.
Getting Started with the Preliminaries of an Onboarding Process
- You may send recruits a handbook with all the information that they might require.
- It is wise to send a welcome packet a few weeks before they get started with their work.
- The welcome packet may include a map of the building, the parking area, and any paperwork to be filled out.
- Additionally, a welcome card from the hiring manager is going to make the candidate feel appreciated.
- Make sure you have all the office supplies ready so that you avoid any last-minute commotion.
Making Candidates Feel Welcome
- Make new hires feel welcome and supported from the very beginning.
- This could include things like providing a warm welcome and introduction to the team, offering clear expectations, and providing resources such as an onboarding guide or mentor.
- Choose your onboarding process as grandiose as you want it to be.
- Several companies have different ways of welcoming their newbies.
- So, experiment with what the candidate might find appealing.
- This may include a red-carpet entry or presenting some fresh flowers and a greeting card.
- Treat a recruit as an important person as long as you want to make your recruitment process a candidate-centric one.
- Give a tour of the office space, cafeterias, and coffee machine to your recruit.
- Do not rely on the assumption that your hire will eventually come to learn about it from their colleagues but instead reach out to them and provide them with a personalized experience.
Pre-Communicating About the Onboarding Process
- Communicate the entire onboarding process to the recruit in advance.
- Do not make them feel overwhelmed on their first day.
- Effortless communication makes candidates feel at ease.
- This will help them stay prepared and confident and they will also get to solve their queries or doubts.
- The professionals who may offer help in this respect include the employee’s manager or a designated contact person for the onboarding process.
- In addition, the company website also must have relevant information regarding the onboarding process.
Orientation
Orientation includes the following:
- An overview of the employee’s job responsibilities
- Introduction to the company culture
- Tour of the company’s facilities
Orientation and onboarding are two different things. Orientation may be called a subset of an onboarding process. Onboarding is all about integrating the employee into the work culture where a mutual understanding of the larger values develops. Orientation, on the other hand, largely comprises HR paperwork, setting up email, etc.
Introducing Candidates with the Technical Systems
- Even though the candidate may seem familiar with the technical processes, you should take the initiative to introduce the procedures to them.
- Also, if you have something new technical procedures involved, it is better to explain that to your recruit, to avoid any confusion.
- The candidates also need to be familiar with the basic technical aspects of an office like submitting a leave request or ordering office supplies.
Introduce the Employee’s Co-workers in a Fun Way
While you are introducing the recruit to the list of employees in your organization, it will be undoubtedly difficult for them to remember so many names.
One way to get more creative is to have a collage of all the workers with some personal information like their pets, hobbies, favorite travel locations, inspiration, etc. This initiative will make the new employee less stressed and feel like they are joining a family instead of a workspace.
It will always be ideal to have a mentor or someone in the building who will help the recruit transition smoothly in the office environment.
Socialization
- Socialization is one of the important aspects of onboarding.
- You may arrange lunch meetings for a chat or after-work drinks.
- In those meetings, you may introduce the company culture which is different for every company.
- Introducing the company culture is essential as the new employee gets to know what is acceptable and unacceptable in the workplace.
- You may also talk about the growth prospects within the company so that the recruit feels motivated.
- Also, new employees should be encouraged to ask questions or clarify any doubts.
- Apart from that, one-on-one time meetings are also important because there could be more discussions available.
Gather Feeback About Your Onboarding Process
- After you have prioritized the candidate during the onboarding process, it will be worthwhile to reach out to them quarterly in their first year.
- This will make the candidates feel valued.
- Once you are done with the recruitment process, it is time to gather feedback from them.
- Feedback from candidates is one of the best ways to gain insight into how a recruiter is doing during the onboarding process.
- It can provide an understanding of how well they communicated the job expectations, how they interacted with the candidate, and what kind of impression they made.
- This can also give recruiters insight into what can be improved and how they can make the process smoother for future candidates.
- In addition to gathering feedback from candidates, it is also important to gather feedback from existing employees.
- This can provide insight into how the onboarding process is impacting current employees and what changes could be made to make it more effective.
- For example, feedback from existing employees can help identify areas where the onboarding process could be improved and what communication areas could be improved.
- Welcome both the positive and the negative feedback and use it to improve your hiring system.
Tracking Progress of New Hires
- For organizations that want to go a step further, Talent Management systems can help with the onboarding process.
- These systems provide the ability to track and measure key performance indicators of new hires, enabling managers to ensure that they are progressing as expected.
- Additionally, these systems can provide insights into areas where new hires may need additional training or guidance.
How HireME Helps you master the Art of Onboarding?
Recruiting and onboarding new employees can be a daunting task for any organization. HireME, a recruitment management system, streamlines the onboarding process, making it easier for businesses to get new talents on board quickly and efficiently. HireME provides a comprehensive suite of hiring tools, applicant tracking systems, and talent management solutions that help companies master the art of onboarding.
HireME as a recruitment management system helps companies find and connect with the right people for their open positions. The platform’s intuitive interface makes it easy to search for, identify, and shortlist potential candidates. From there, the system allows users to easily move qualified applicants into the onboarding process.
HireME’s applicant tracking system helps organizations keep track of the status of their candidates during the employee onboarding process. The system’s analytics and reporting features enable businesses to monitor their candidates’ progress and ensure they are ready to start their new roles. This helps companies keep their onboarding process organized, ensuring that all employees have the necessary information and resources to start their new job without any delays.
HireME enable companies to manage their new hires with ease. The platform’s onboarding automation tools help organizations set up and manage their onboarding processes in one place. This helps companies ensure that all new hires have the proper onboarding documents, training materials, and other resources they need to get started.