According to Consulting firm BCG, employee onboarding has a significant impact on the business. It stands at number two in importance, right after recruiting. If employee onboarding is done well, it can double the corporate growth and revenue. (https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-management/wow-new-hires-with-extreme-onboarding)
Traditionally the employee onboarding journey has been very mundane – it is cumbersome and overwhelming; it encompasses heaps of paperwork, lots of form filling and sign-up, policy education and videos after videos. However, this is the first impression that the company is making on the candidate, so it should be capitalized on to make a great impression.
Rather than being a drag, the employee onboarding journey should be welcoming, add value and prepare the employees to ace their new roles. A report by Society for Human Resource Management indicates that 4% of employees leave if their onboarding experiences are bad.
The company should improve its onboarding process to prevent disastrous effects such as inhibiting workplace efficiency, setting a new employee up for failure, and changing how the company is perceived. Failure to do so will incur high attrition and high cost.
Here are seven steps to improve the company’s onboarding process:
1. Go Digital
To make the process error-free, automate them. Get rid of paper-based processes and don’t go back and forth with the employees. Automating form filling, verification, and due diligence will ease the process for both HR and the new hires. This will also leave a long-lasting impression from the start. Automated reminders to finish pending onboarding formalities are better than having a dedicated resource to track and follow up. Background verification companies in India provide end-to-end employee onboarding solution that seamlessly integrates with your existing systems. This speeds up the process and ensures it is scalable and efficient.
2. Prepare the teammates and colleagues to welcome the new hire.
Before day one, brief the team about the new hire so they can welcome the new joinee well. They should know a little bit about the employee already, such as past work experience, role at the company, and what they are here to do. This will better prepare the team to welcome and assist the new joinee.
3. Empower the employee to get acclimatized to the new workplace from day one
A new employee is already entering unknown territory; depriving him of necessary tools will ruin it for them. Things like setting up the new employee’s phone, laptop, and e-mail and providing them with essential office supplies can instantly make them feel like a part of the company. Apart from all the workstation tools, ensure that all the electronic files, software and tools are accessible. Getting this in order takes time, and the employee shouldn’t be left to do it by themselves.
4. Make introductions
Schedule a few slots for the employee to meet key people in their department and across departments they will be required to work with. Though they may not recall everyone’s names, they will at least have an idea about the points of contact if they find themselves in any situation.
5. Exhaustive role-specific training
The training phase is the critical phase of onboarding and directly impacts the success of the new employees. Without formal training, new joinees will lack what it takes to thrive and remain dissatisfied. A well-drafted new hire training plan will show the employees that their growth and career at the workplace matter. Give them a cheat sheet or any learning materials that they can keep referring to from time to time.
The training should be exhaustive and cover company processes, rules, expectations and procedures. Assign a mentor to help better them acclimate to the new role.
6. Plan a team get together
Arrange a team get together such as lunch or an after-work gathering within the first week for the employee to mingle with the team. Play some ice breaker games, so everyone is relaxed and comfortable with each other.
7. Keep following up
Employers need to keep following up with the new hires from time to time. This step is the most significant and often overlooked by employers. Even if it appears that the employee is well settled and thriving in his new role, ensure a 30, 60 and 90-day check-in with them. Get some feedback regarding their employee onboarding journey and see areas where you can improvise.
Automating whatever you can is the first step to making the employee onboarding journey fruitful. This alleviates not only the burden on the employee but also the HR. A successful employee onboarding journey is indicative of the effort and time put into it by the company. The first few weeks are crucial to shaping the employee’s perception of the company and will set the tone for their relationship with the company in the long term.
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