Is Your Onboarding Process Due For a Health Check?
The experience employees and contractors have in the first days and weeks in their new job is critical to job satisfaction and retention. Recruitment is a time-consuming process and we need to ensure that we protect the hours spent sourcing, interviewing, and vetting. Doing this means a professional and seamless onboarding process for all employees into your business.
When was the last time you analysed your onboarding process? Reviewed the people and personalities involved? Have you fallen into the trap of seeing it for compliance, briefing, inductions etc?
What would your process look like if you saw it as an opportunity to set your new employee for success and start a strong and trusted working relationship?
According to research by Glassdoor, organisations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%. Reviewing your current process is a good business decision.
Speaking with Suzi Johnson, Team Leader at Titan Recruitment, she was able to share some common complaints from candidates;
Computer / log ins / phone didn’t work for days
Direct Managers being on annual leave on the employee start date
Lack of introductions to key team members
Dirty desk and lack of stationary
First days consisting of hours of video inductions
Below are five reasons delivering an excellent onboarding process is essential:
1. It eases first day worries and assists confidence
Acknowledging employees from day 1 instills they made the right decision when choosing your organisation. Making them feel welcome, introducing them to other employee’s and ensuring they feel comfortable in their new environment makes a positive long-term impact.
2. It shows positive leadership
Starting a new job is nerve-wracking for most, new systems to learn and new people to meet. Connecting a new employee with a senior leader can show they are important to the organisation, even if it is for 5-10 minutes to make them feel welcome. It’s an opportunity to answer any questions and outline / illustrate the company values.
3. It develops the manager-employee relationship
A Gallup poll showed 50 percent of employees who left their jobs cited the manager as the reason for their departure. By starting a strong manager-employee relationship straight away can mitigate future issues that may come up. It is critical to share expectations throughout the onboarding process and letting new employees know they are available for questions.
4. It shows training is a priority
HCI found that 58% of organisations onboarding programs are focused on processes and paperwork, rather than hands-on training. Although it is difficult timewise to train in all aspects of a new role in the first week or two, it should be communicated what training and professional development programs are available. Letting employees know their long-term development is a priority will assist the onboarding process and reinforce their confidence in making the right employment decision.
5. It allows for Employee feedback and satisfaction
The best employee onboarding programs extend throughout the employees first 90 days and allow for regular check-ins to see how the employee is tracking and ensure they are supported. This allows managers to tackle issues early and adjust the onboarding process for future hires.
The employee and contractor onboarding experience can be a busy time for managers and an overwhelming time for the new hires. However, a strong onboarding strategy for introducing employees to their new working environment with training and tools will help them adjust and become productive faster.
Titan Recruitment assists their client’s employee onboarding with proven, effective talent management strategies. If you would like assistance with performing a “health check” on your current onboarding strategy then please feel free to contact Suzi Johnson for a consultation.
