Onboarding is the process of bringing new hires up to speed and into the organization, which is essential to a successful integration. A well-executed onboarding program ensures that new employees are productive and safe from the first day on the job.
The purpose of onboarding is to integrate new hires and help them feel comfortable in their role. Examples of activities performed during the process include:
Orientation
Introducing the company’s structure
Outlining the organization’s vision, values, and mission
Introducing team members and duties
Offering insights into the organizational culture
A company’s onboarding process could last for several days or multiple months. Onboarding is more than simply orienting a new hire with their surroundings. It’s designed to provide an employee with the information they need to succeed in their role and contribute to the company’s overall mission.
Benefits of Employee Onboarding
Faster time to higher productivity while promoting safety
High employee engagement levels
Greater sense of commitment and teamwork
Higher rates of employee retention in a high churn environment
Cost savings
Confusion and inconsistency are common complaints among new employees who don’t feel positive about their onboarding experiences. Gallup reports that just over 10 percent of new hires felt good about being onboarded. But it’s interesting to note that those in that group were nearly three times more likely to feel they were in the best possible professional role.
Since fewer than a third of employees surveyed felt prepared and supported to excel in their new roles, onboarding processes have substantial room for improvement. Starting with pre-boarding as soon as someone accepts an offer can set the tone for a better process. A company might do some or all of the following activities:
Invite the new hire in for an office tour
Send a gift, such as a treat or some branded swag
Offer details about benefits, organizational structure, or other information
Assign a mentor to provide support
Invite the new hire to set up a profile in the company’s HR system
What is Included in Employee Onboarding?
Basic onboarding includes:
Paperwork – gather tax forms, contact details, direct deposit instructions, benefits eligibility online, certifications and licensing such as CDL
Planning – deliberate, organized, and with frequent check-ins
Introductions – introduce new hires to the team and broader workforce
Questions – provide virtual channels to make it easy to ask questions.
Shadowing – live, but not necessarily in-person, training can be done through video conferencing or other means.
Team building – formal and informal strategies can be used to build rapport and common cause.
Office equipment and software – acquire and set up equipment
Meeting participation – setup DLs, teams, calendars, video conferencing
Face-to-face – regular meetings are held, but they are not necessarily in person.
Why Start Onboarding Early?
The onboarding process begins the moment a new employee accepts an offer of employment. There’s no need to wait until Day 1. Begin by sending a welcome letter. While the new hire is completing paperwork, use the time to build rapport and excitement. If your new hire is available, allow them to start their paperwork early. Make sure your forms are paperless, so new hires can access them online. Most will find this very helpful.
The stress of starting a new job is often significant. But taking steps to alleviate that stress and prepare the employee can make a big difference. An HR professional or manager may also save some steps on the first day by requesting information from the new hire prior to starting.
Orienting an employee might include introducing the company’s mission, vision, and values. New hires might go through the organization’s policies and employee handbook, complete required paperwork, and handle other tasks. Regardless of the specific tasks on an onboarding checklist, the purpose is to establish a strong foundation for a new hire’s long-term success.
The Value of Online Onboarding
Online onboarding:
New hires are given the flexibility of time to complete their tasks.
Lets new hires pull together details as they can
Provides immediate access to paperwork even if you are remote
Makes the paperwork more snackable and less overwhelming
Eliminates the possibility of misfiling or losing important documents
Conducts an optional WOTC interview
Gathers tax, licensing, payroll details, contact details, direct deposit and more
Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements are presented as needed.
Provides access to and time for reviewing the employee handbook, safety guides, emergency procedures, and other documents relevant to the new hire’s specific job.
Collects electronic signature
Moves the focus onto team building from Day 1
Should I Start Tracking Time from Day 1?
Yes! You should set up a system to track time. Have it ready on the first day of employment. Every employee should have a formal method for reporting their hours. Your business needs it to comply with the Affordable Care Act, Family Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, and other federal and state laws. Your managers need it to ensure they meet labor cost budgets and track job costs. Your employees need it to confirm that they are paid properly.
Here’s a list of some key features your time tracking system should include:
Time clock – make it easy for employees to clock in and out of work using a physical clock or phone-based app. A physical clock is convenient for factory workers and those who work at company headquarters. Phone-based apps are more popular among service technicians who travel to customer sites, staff who work from home, and supervisors who may split their time between locations. You can choose which option is best for each new hire.
Geolocation – the software automatically records the location of clock activity to ensure that employees are where they should be when working.
Department – automatically assign time to a department, or allow employees to split their time between departments.
Position – employees are allowed to select if they switch between positions with different pay rates, or work that needs to be tracked separately. For example, if an employee is qualified for arc and tic welding and also sometimes performs general machine shop work, time should be tracked for each role.
Breaks/meals – employees are prompted to take breaks based on governing rules. This helps you prove compliance with regulations while keeping your operation running without interruption.
Project – prompt employees to select the job or project on which they are working so that time is captured for all work on the project. This can be critically important for shops that do custom projects or cost-plus contracts.
Mileage – records mileage or other details during clock in/out.
Time tracking is essential to cash flow and job costing. Start tracking time on the first day of work, giving everyone confidence that onboarding is underway. As soon as the new hire is contributing to a job or project, the hours can be assigned to that activity.
ApplicantStack, the leading applicant tracking system and employee onboarding system, announced today the availability of its integration on ADP® Marketplace. ApplicantStack helps companies simplify the task of onboarding new employees and adding them to ADP Workforce Now® payroll.
This seamless integration with ADP Workforce Now payroll allows ApplicantStack hires to be automatically pushed over to ADP Workforce Now at a time of your choosing. No need to copy/paste your hire any more. When the integration pushes the hire to ADP Workforce Now, ApplicantStack sends all of the data about that hire. Simply log into your ADP Workforce Now account and see a list of hires pushed over from ApplicantStack. Users will have a chance to edit the hire, if needed, before pressing the submit button in ADP Workforce Now to add them to your payroll.
“We are thrilled to join the ADP Marketplace to help deliver this solution to small and mid-size employers,” said Nathan Shackles, CEO at ApplicantStack.
ADP Marketplace is a cloud-based HRA Store designed to help employers dynamically manage an ecosystem of enterprise applications from ADP and world-class partners. This enables companies of all sizes to extend the value of their workforce solutions seamlessly across their entire organizations via a secure, single-sign-on process.
About ApplicantStack
ApplicantStack: the affordable, easy-to-use, full-featured recruiting and employee onboarding system trusted by 2,500+ companies since 2009 to automate and streamline their recruiting and onboarding process.
We spent our careers in human resources, bogged down with paperwork and craving more time and resources. Our goal is to provide organizations the tool we always wish we had. We created ApplicantStack, a simple, gets-the-job-done software that has everything companies need and nothing you don’t. It’s not another system to manage, but the tool that helps you manage your day.
ADP and ADP Workforce Now are registered trademarks of ADP, LLC.
Free Onboarding Software Onboarding Made Simple Go paperless with our easy-to-use onboarding software system. Create new hire paperwork checklists, manage tasks, and more. Request a demo or try our onboarding software free for 15 days. Onboarding Software For...
Candidate screening is a fairly common strategy among organizations that are actively searching for candidates to fill open roles. It’s a bit like a pre-interview, before the actual interview and serves as a way for a hiring manager, recruiter or other HR personnel to briefly evaluate job applicants ahead of time to determine their suitability for the position they’ve applied for.
The process typically involves checking the applicant’s resume or CV against their job application. While this can happen without involving the candidate, a screening call held over the phone or a video call helps a recruiter gain a good sense of what a person is like, learn why they applied for the job and more.
Here, we’re talking about why screening is essential and strategies to help you improve your process from start to finish.
Why Candidate Screening Is a Hiring Must
While screening can technically mean internally reviewing resumes, cover letters and other application materials, lots of employers take the opportunity to conduct a screening assessment. The process gives each qualified candidate a fair shot at showcasing their best characteristics ahead of the actual interview.
While it’s important that a job candidate is qualified for the role they’ve applied to, it’s too easy to dismiss someone with huge potential if you don’t chat with them first.
Here are just a few reasons why screening is a hiring must:
Hiring efficiency
Screening helps you narrow down the pool of applicants. These days, it’s not uncommon for certain jobs to receive upwards of 1,000 applicants.
Of course, you can’t hire all of them and there are surely some who aren’t qualified. By conducting screening calls, you can weed out candidates who aren’t an ideal fit, thereby saving time and resources by focusing more time-intensive hiring efforts on more qualified individuals.
Quality of hire
The quality of hire can determine how well an employee will perform in their role. If it’s not an ideal match, you risk turnover. Make a hiring mistake like this more than once, and it can start to cost your company big time.
By thoroughly evaluating candidates during the screening process, employers can identify individuals who possess the necessary skills, work experience and attributes required to excel in the role. This increases the likelihood of making successful hires who can contribute positively to the organization and may stick around for longer.
Compliance
Screening helps ensure that hiring decisions comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws and anti-discrimination policies. It helps prevent bias and ensures fair treatment of all candidates throughout the hiring process.
Cultural fit
Hiring the right candidate is more than just ensuring they’re technically qualified for the role. Culture goes a long way in employee satisfaction and retention, too! In fact, research shows that employees who feel connected to the workplace culture are 3.7 times more likely to be engaged.
Screening candidates allows employers to assess their values, attitudes and work styles to determine their compatibility with the organization’s culture. Hiring individuals who align with the company’s values and goals can foster a positive work environment and improve employee engagement and retention.
The Role of Tech in Candidate Screening
These days, employers have access to various types of tech tools to make screening and interviewing candidates a breeze. Not only that, but particular tools can streamline the entire hiring process from start to finish—from job posting to screening, interviewing and onboarding, and everything in between.
One exciting example of how employers are using technology to enhance the efficiency of candidate screening processes is an applicant-tracking system (ATS). An ATS is invaluable for streamlining hiring processes—just ask Fortune 500 companies, 97.4% of which say they use an ATS regularly.
Using an effective applicant tracking system helps hiring managers automate various aspects of the screening process, such as resume parsing, applicant management and candidate communication. Important hiring duties that recruiters completed manually in the past are now quicker, allowing them to filter and sort through large volumes of applications based on predefined criteria, saving time and effort.
What Criteria Should Recruiters Look for in Candidates?
This begs the question: What should recruiters be looking for, exactly? While specific criteria will depend on the job at hand, here’s what you should be on the lookout for, in general:
Relevant work experience
Skills and competencies
Education and credentials
Growth potential
AI-Powered Screening Tools
As artificial intelligence becomes more powerful and useful for optimizing particular tasks, recruiting stands to benefit from advanced algorithms. AI and machine learning models can analyze resumes, cover letters and other application materials to automatically identify top candidates based on predefined qualifications and criteria.
With time already stretched thin and expectations of efficient and communicative recruiting processes, it’s only a matter of time before AI is a necessary tool—and we’re nearly already there.
Online Assessments
Online assessments are becoming more commonplace in the recruiting world. Ahead of a screening call, candidates can complete a self-direct evaluation highlighting their skills, knowledge and abilities. Assessments can be tailored to specific job roles to provide objective insights into candidates’ capabilities, helping recruiters make more informed screening decisions when the time comes to jump on a call.
Social Media and Online Profiles
Technology enables recruiters to leverage social media platforms and professional networking sites to gather additional information about candidates, such as their professional background, skills and interests.
Integrating social media and online profiles into the screening process can provide valuable insights into candidates’ qualifications and cultural fit.
Data Analytics
Advanced analytics tools can analyze recruitment data to identify trends, patterns and areas for improvement in the screening process. By analyzing metrics, such as time-to-hire and candidate conversion rates, recruiters can optimize their screening strategies and enhance overall efficiency.
Streamlining the Screening Process for a Better Candidate Experience
Effective hiring requires various steps—candidates want easy, fair and productive processes. To achieve this requires intentional and focused effort that spans the entirety of the system. Here’s how to do it:
Provide clear job descriptions: Not only do clear job descriptions ensure that potential candidates understand each job requirement, but they also reduce the likelihood of mismatched hires.
Have a simple application process: A simple application process makes it easy and efficient for candidates to apply. This helps attract a wider pool of applicants and improves the overall candidate experience.
Automate tedious manual processes: Automating burdensome manual processes such as scheduling interviews, sending out confirmation emails and collecting feedback saves time and reduces human error. Additionally, it allows human resource professionals to focus on more strategic tasks.
Communicate with candidates promptly: Prompt communication with candidates demonstrates respect for their time and helps keep them engaged and informed throughout the hiring process. Incorporating texting also increases the odds of your messages being received and read.
Avoid leaving candidates hanging too long after the screening: Leaving candidates hanging after the screening process can damage your reputation as an employer and deter qualified candidates from applying in the future.
Gather feedback: Collecting feedback from candidates about their experience during the recruitment process provides valuable insights for identifying areas of improvement, helping you refine recruitment strategies and ultimately attract and retain top talent.
Commit to continuous improvement: Developing better, more efficient processes is key to recruitment, ensuring that your organization remains competitive in today’s increasingly aggressive job market.
Improve Your Candidate Screening Process With an All-In-One Platform
Screening is just one, albeit important, part of the recruiting puzzle. With ApplicantStack, hiring managers can streamline all aspects of recruitment, from candidate sourcing to onboarding.
Utilize pre-screen and knockout questions to qualify candidates even before the official screening—so only the best candidates for the job are presented to you. Post-screening, communicate any next steps easily with email notifications and text messages to keep candidates engaged and excited.
Sign up for a free trial to see how ApplicantStack can help you hire qualified candidates, faster.
Applicants in the modern job market expect timely and frequent communication. In a survey conducted by CareerBuilder, results showed that 84 percent of candidates expect an email confirmation that they received an application or resume, and 36 percent expect to receive communication throughout the process. Yet the survey revealed that only 26 percent of companies meet these expectations.
For small businesses especially, it’s understandable how these things may unwittingly fall through the cracks. If multiple employees are contributing to the hiring process, it can be difficult to keep track of who is meant to send responses. Read on for some tips to help improve your communication with eager applicants.
Why Is Responsive Communication Important?
In a competitive job market, timely communication can set your company apart. Imagine being known across job boards and forums as the company who always responds, who keeps candidates apprised of their place in the process, and shows prospective employees they are valued at every step along the way.
The communication worst-case scenario is ghosting, when a company or an applicant abruptly stops communication without explanation. This industry trend is on the rise, with 77 percent of job applicants reporting being ghosted by a prospective employer since March 2020. Even if you believe that your company stays far on the other side of the ghosting line, everyone can benefit from examining company practices to improve communication with applicants.
Along with showing respect and building trust, effective communication techniques can save you time and money. Here are some tangible benefits:
Shorter Time to Hire. This important metric is affected by every stage of the hiring process. Every day that passes between application and onboarding costs the company money. Speeding it along involves participation by both the company and the applicant.
Higher Acceptance Rates. Effective communication not only can foster a positive personal connection but it can give your company the edge with an applicant who is weighing multiple offers. Losing a perfect candidate because of tardy communication forces you to start the search again, wasting valuable company time.
Methods of Communication
The world has moved to almost an entirely electronic form of communication vs. telephone calls and paper mail. Video messaging took the world by storm after the pandemic cut off in-person communication. In the application stage, email and text messaging are most frequently used, and interviews may be conducted by phone, video, or in-person.
The sheer volume of wanted and unwanted messages in the modern world means what you send ought to stand out in the sea of data. It’s become more common for hiring managers to use both email and text messaging to communicate, but it’s still important to observe some etiquette.
Email Etiquette Tips
Email has long been considered the most formal and appropriate method of communication by most businesses and job applicants. It’s still important to consider some of the following ways to use it best:
Craft your email subject to be noticed in a quick scan by the recipient. Make sure it’s descriptive but not too long and avoids being perceived as spam.
Use salutations like first name or Mr./Ms. and full-name signatures with your job title.
Use correct grammar, appropriate capitalization, complete sentences, and extremely judicious insertion of emojis. Third-party services that offer grammar suggestions as you write can be extremely helpful.
Make sure the tone matches the level of your relationship. Don’t try to be overly familiar or jokey in initial contact.
Be concise and use formatting like bullets or short paragraphs, especially when sharing a large volume of information.
Inform the recipient the days or hours you will respond to emails. For example, let them know no one will respond on the weekend or after 5 p.m. if that’s applicable. You can also let them know what to expect in terms of response time if replies are received within working hours.
Text Message Etiquette Tips
Text messaging is the most used form of communication in the modern world, and it’s possible to use texts effectively for hiring purposes. Younger job applicants especially may prefer it to email. ApplicantStack has a built-in “Text-to-Hire” feature that keeps your messages organized, allows for batch sending, and allows tracking within the ATS.
Consider some of the following to effectively use text messages:
Obtain a candidate’s permission to communicate via text message before sending anything.
Start with a greeting and identify yourself. Don’t assume the person has saved you in their contacts.
Use professional language. Imagine you’re writing an email and meet that level of speech.
Use capital letters, pronunciation, and good grammar. Proofread before sending; you could even paste into a document to double-check with a third-party editing plug-in.
Avoid long strings of information in text messages; use them for acknowledgements, follow-ups, or reminders. Make sure the language sounds human even if you’re using a prepared script.
Only send and reply to text messages roughly within your company’s business hours. This can be an important signal to the recipient that you value work-life balance.
Points in the Hiring Process that Require Outreach
When scrutinizing how your company communicates at all phases of the hiring process, consider the following touchpoints and how effectively you’re keeping in touch:
Pre-Application Phase. This would cover anyone who has signed up for a company newsletter or information about open jobs. This is an opportunity to sell yourself to prospective applicants.
Application or Résumé Received. This first contact establishes the tone for future communication. Automated responses through ApplicantStack can save time and avoid mistakes. The contents should sound like it came from a human.
Personal Contact. Once a candidate makes it past the initial review, a personal and professional email is warranted to set up plans for the interview process.
Scheduling the Interview(s). The relative urgency of scheduling and confirming appointments makes it a prime candidate for text messaging if the applicant consents.
Post-Interview Follow-up. Even if the company isn’t ready to make a formal offer, a “thank you” message is usually well-received. Some companies take this opportunity to solicit feedback or questions on the interview process.
Status Updates. Some companies leave application periods open for a set length of time no matter how many qualified applications they receive. If there’s a gap between initial contact, interviews, and when you can make an offer, check-ins and status updates will likely be welcome and keep communication open between you and preferred candidates.
Job Offers. Even if a verbal offer is part of your company style, a follow-up with a written offer makes sure everyone knows the particulars of salary, job requirements, company policies, and other vital details.
Start Details and Onboarding. This communication is vital to a new employee. As soon as someone has accepted an offer, prompt attention to their next steps will help them immediately feel a part of the company.
Hiring managers don’t have control over every detail of the job process, but communication is an area where you can always improve. It’s important to identify weak points in how your company communicates and set up policies and procedures to save time and money. ApplicantStack is a perfect solution for centralized tracking and messaging so nobody slips through the cracks.
