Onboarding, is simply the term used to describe the activities and processes of integrating a new employee into an organisation, to familiarise them not only with the service or products, but also the team and company culture.
Onboarding is not the same as induction, which is more generally used to describe the process that a new starter goes through in first few days at an organisation, this will include payroll paperwork and mandatory training, such as health and safety.
The importance of onboarding
After spending significant time, money and effort in the recruitment process, it is important for business leaders to ensure that the new employee is engaged and brought up to speed regarding the role and the business as quickly as possible. It is a fantastic opportunity for an employer to align new employees with their expectations. Investing in an onboarding programme will help an employee to settle in faster, be more engaged and feel more motivated to do well, which results in them contributing to the bottom line sooner compared to if they don’t have any onboarding.
A report by Aberdeen Strategic Onboarding 2013: A New Look at New Hires, found that 90% of businesses believe that employees make their decision to stay with an organisation within the first year of their employment. By investing in a good onboarding programme an organisation can make a good first impression and new candidates are more likely to make the decision to stay.
Tips for the onboarding process
Don’t rush the onboarding process, it should be designed to help new employees acclimatise, they don’t want to be overloaded with information or overwhelmed by paperwork that needs completing in the first few days. Look at ways to make this process as fluid and user friendly as possible, for example, can you make forms available online and automate forms to cut out any repetition of information required?
Tailor make the onboarding programme for individual roles and departments, as these will require different training and knowledge. You want to make it relevant to the individual so that they don’t become disengaged.
Ensure the new recruit’s manager is fully engaged with why the onboarding process is so important and their role in ensuring that an effective onboarding programme is carried out.
Allow for plenty of opportunity for two-way feedback with the new recruit, so that any issues or concerns can be identified early.
Whilst organisations recognise that engagement is vital to productivity and retention only some have put in place a comprehensive onboarding programme. Sharing the mission, goals, objectives and the culture of the organisation are essential to keeping employees engaged and focused. Having an onboarding process helps them to do this and helps to make the decision to stay with an organisation.
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