Ever wonder why some new hires come up to speed faster than others? Or wonder why some employees quit before they hit their first year? Onboarding is a critical part of your overall talent strategy, but it is often overlooked.
According to a study by the Aberdeen Group of senior executives and HR staffing and recruiting functions, more than 80% of new employees decide whether or not to stay with a company within the first 6 months on the job with 1 in 4 actually quitting. An unorganized or incomplete onboarding process can cause these employees to rethink their decision to join your company.
Good onboarding practices will improve your first-year retention, reduce ramp-up time, and focuses on three key topics: People, Processes, and Performances (an area we are particularly proficient in!)
Let’s dissect these just a little bit to give you a better idea of what we mean:
People – Onboarding is all about people; no doubt about it. It’s about connecting new hires with mentors, peers, managers and other employees.
Processes – Onboarding can be simple, or complex, but it is fundamentally a network of systems and tools used by people with a clear cut goal of getting the information from the people who have it, to the people who need it. When you create processes to reduce manual intervention, while clarifying roles and responsibilities, you foster speed and efficiency in your onboarding process.
Performance – Better processes means a faster return to productivity. New hires, managers, and HR are busy and have different goals in onboarding, but one goal they all share is to ensure the workplace returns to its most productive state as quickly as possible after a new employee is hired.
Every organization wants to accelerate new higher productivity to drive organizational performance but engaging new hires and connecting them to your company’s purpose isn’t easy. Modern onboarding technology can quickly and effectively guide, connect and develop new hires increasing engagement and accelerating productivity.
With the use of onboarding technology, new hires can start connecting with the information and people they need right away, and some software will allow for a personalized experience to guide new hires on what their first day at work will look like. This allows them to connect with mentors, peers, and teammates, as well as get access to the key content and resources they need to succeed in their first few months.
What’s better is that consistency in onboarding processes gives HR, hiring managers, and shareholders confidence that new hires have the information they need to reduce compliance risk.
Simply engaging new hires, connecting them to the people and information they need right from day one will help ensure new employees get off to the best start possible with your company.
Would you like to know more about how technology can help boost your onboarding strategy? Book a call, one of our onboarding strategy experts will be happy to consult.
