Onboarding: the secret of employees productivity and well-being
By: Business Fox
Tags: HR, Recruitment, Employment, Onboarding, Business

The process of employment uses a lot of different supplies. Especially time. Knowing that more time usually means more money it is very hurtful to waist it for long searches of new specialists whose work would increase the value of organization. Even if employee is hired to a free position, no one can guarantee that he would not decide to quit after a month or less. Is there any solution which could contribute to keeping a new talent in your business? The answer is onboarding, and here is some introduction of what it is and why is it beneficial.

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Helpful for both — employer and employee

Onboarding means helping the employee to better assimilate into the company. It causes focusing on knowledge and skill transfer in a friendly way to help the new employee integrate better with the environment and to increase employee efficiency. Employees who feel unadjusted in their new workplace or who do not feel part of the new team are vulnerable to plenty of stress-inducing factors. This will directly affect their effectiveness, motivation, and the choice whether to stay with the new company or not. Onboarding reduce the number of stressful situations. This, in turn, results in higher retention rates and higher profits, owing to the increased productivity of the employees, and helps reduce costs which could be incurred in the recurring recruitment process.

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Step by step to feeling part of organization

According to research by Glassdoor, great onboarding can improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%. So, adequate preparation for this process is essential. It is worth mentioning that great onboarding begins at the moment when the job interview is completed: when the recruiter or manager talks to the candidate about the organization, the corporate climate, the company’s mission, vision, goals, and strategies, as well as about the working etiquette. The next stages of onboarding include the pre-employment time: the period when the new employee receives information about the company and signs the contract. Then, the most important phase starts off: the time when the employee is taking part in training and workshops, getting to know the company and the colleagues, and receiving support from the mentor. The final stage of onboarding is the evaluation of the whole process — it is necessary to introduce new tasks gradually as the employee should feel taken care of rather than overwhelmed.

Every detail matters

Onboarding usually starts with lectures and trainings. It should include information about occupational health and safety rules, internal rules, details about the company and the benefits, development opportunities. Also, don’t forget simpler things such as how to handle company’s equipment when it comes to office and the kitchen or showing the employees how to use the printer, coffee machine, etc.

Can’t speed up the process

It is difficult to say how long the onboarding process should last — its length depends on the company itself, its organizational culture as well as on the post and the related responsibilities. The average time is about 3 months, however, sometimes one month is enough, whereas in other situations the process lasts for 6 up to 8 months. However, research suggest increasing employee retention by extending onboarding throughout first year. It is a must to keep in mind that the time it takes for a new employee to start feeling well in a new job depends also on personal traits of the employee. When preparing your onboarding programme, remember to take individual variables into account.

Feedback leads to success

The final stage of onboarding should be the evaluation of how the actions taken by the company allowed the new employees to assimilate successfully. After completing the training, the new employees should receive special surveys and fill them in carefully. All the feedback received by the employer from the new employees matters. The employees can evaluate onboarding process and point out its drawbacks. Likewise, all the data collected in the surveys can help to decide whether some changes should be done to improve process of onboarding.