Onboarding a new employee benefits both them and the company. Implementing a robust onboarding procedure not only makes new hires feel welcome, but it creates an important bond of trust that affects retention rates. Consider evaluating ways to improve your company’s onboarding process.
What Is Onboarding?
Onboarding is the step that follows job acceptance: it’s a process that introduces a new hire to the people, procedures, and responsibilities of the company and their position. Effective onboarding is structured, provides clear instructions and guidance, and connects the employee with someone they feel comfortable asking questions.
Why Is Onboarding Important?
The hiring process is an investment in the future of your company. It takes valuable employee time and budget to find the right fit for open positions. The energy you devote to hiring should carry over into onboarding, ensuring your new hires’ first impressions are positive. Surveys of new hires reveal some startling statistics about their first days at a new job:
- 86 percent make decisions about their future in the first six months of a new job.
- Onboarding helps employees build relationships and find job satisfaction sooner.
- 80 percent said a good onboarding process would make them stay at a new job.
- Positive onboarding experiences greatly influence retention.
- 93 percent said some onboarding before day one made the process go smoothly.
- Rather than waiting for the first day of work, have new hires fill out forms and provide company information beforehand. This can help lessen the feeling of an information dump on day one.
- 84 percent found communication before and after day one beneficial.
- In addition to preboarding, follow up after the first day to address any concerns right away.
- On average, employees said it took six to seven months to feel comfortable in a new job.
- Onboarding can ease the transition, ensuring new employees want to stay well beyond their onboarding period. They are more likely to feel happy at work, which leads to greater productivity and collaboration.
In addition to supporting important job satisfaction and retention goals, effective, well-organized onboarding ensures legal compliance by collecting the documentation required to meet federal and local labor laws.
Elements of Effective Onboarding
Explore the key elements of an effective onboarding process.
Preboarding
Before day one, you could set up new employees with access to the company portal. This is where ApplicantStack can ease the workflow. Candidates are easily transitioned to hires, who are assigned a series of tasks to complete. You can collect tax documents, give access to benefits information, and set up contracts for e-signatures. ApplicantStack can send reminders to ensure all tasks are completed on time. This early access gives employees a chance to review the paperwork at their convenience, under reduced pressure.
Day one welcome
For an in-person employee, the first day of work should include logistics such as showing them their workspace, providing the necessary computer or phone, and giving them a tour of the office. Some businesses provide company swag to help new hires feel welcome and part of the culture. You can ship tech and swag to remote employees if they’re not close enough to come into the office to pick it up.
Other materials might include a welcome packet with information on dress code, expected work schedule, timekeeping, and other aspects of company culture to help a new hire feel comfortable right away. Provide any entry codes or badges with a thorough explanation of security procedures.
Orientation and shadowing
To drill down into job responsibilities and tasks, set up a meeting with supervisors, other team members, and an assigned buddy to help them through the first few days of work. Shadowing can be an effective way to show collaborative tasks, require use of equipment, or involve interaction with customers or clients. It can show the nuances of how your company works, even if the person has held similar jobs before. Ensure that the person assigned to be the point of contact is open and available to answer questions, so the new hire doesn’t hesitate.
Demonstrate patience with new people. “Overall goals for the first week should include role definition, goal setting, explaining performance indicators and beginning assimilation into your company culture,” says Forbes’ Liz Masoner. Expect technology and policy glitches and reassure the new hire that it’s all part of the introductory process.
Ongoing support
Referring back to that “comfort at six to seven months” statistic, recognize that new hires need more than just a week-long introduction. New things will crop up that they didn’t know to ask about, and they need to feel that others are available and open to helping, even months into their employment. Consider offering weekly check-ins, open-door policies, mental health support, or find ways to recognize and acknowledge the work they have been contributing in their short time at the company.
Developing an organized, thoughtful, and welcoming onboarding program can help you avoid churn as you hire new employees. The more new hires feel educated and guided as they start their new roles within your company, the more they will feel like a valued part of your business and contribute the skills and talents that helped them stand out in the hiring process.
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