HR managers encounter various problems on a day-to-day basis, but none are more intensive than recruitment and employee onboarding. The demand is unquenchable, yet the talent pool is gradually shrinking. Despite the talent shortage, finding the right candidate has become more important than ever. Nevertheless, once the appropriate person is found, an even greater task emerges. Thus, in this piece, we will talk more about the on-boarding of employees, its checklist, process, and training.
After spending countless hours searching for, finding, interviewing, and recruiting the perfect people, if the new hire leaves for a greener pasture, all of your efforts will be for naught, and you will be back at square one.
What is Onboarding?
Onboarding is a human resources industry phrase referring to the process of introducing a newly hired person to a company. Also known as organizational socialization, onboarding is a crucial aspect of assisting employees in understanding their new roles and job needs. It is the process that allows them to integrate with the rest of the firm. There are various actions that go into the onboarding process, from the job offer to team training.
How Long Does Onboarding Take?
Onboarding can span from a few weeks to a year, although the most effective onboarding usually takes at least a few months. When the onboarding process is finished, employees should feel confident and capable.
While there is no hard-and-fast rule about how long the onboarding process for a new employee should take, it is important to be thorough. Many firms have an onboarding process that lasts about a month or a few weeks, which puts new employees in danger of feeling overwhelmed with their new tasks and failing to connect with the rest of the company.
Many HR professionals recommend that an onboarding process last 90 days, although some specialists propose that the process last up to a year. This ensures that employees get the resources they need to become acquainted with the organization, assimilate their training, and feel confident performing their duties as expected.
Onboarding of Employees
Employee onboarding is defined differently by each organization. While the process is nearly identical, the time span and duties involved make each onboarding program unique.
Some HR managers seem to think that the onboarding process is just filling out paperwork for new hires. However, smarter and more motivated team members have a different view of what onboarding is all about. They consider the entire period from the time an offer is released until the point that an employee becomes a valuable contributor to the organization to be part of employee onboarding.
From the moment you make an offer until the person begins to actually produce in a role, on boarding takes place. Yet, the time required to accomplish this may differ from one business to the next. Some firms regard onboarding as a one-day event, while others view it as an 18-month process. Nevertheless, almost all firms begin the employee onboarding process immediately after an offer letter is delivered to a prospective employee.
On boarding is all the things that happen during this time, like the orientation program, the training plan, setting up performance indicators, and making a feedback loop.
What is the Employee Onboarding Workflow?
An employee on boarding workflow is a series of pre-defined stages that expose a new employee to the surroundings and culture of the firm. A flawless on boarding process is essential for firms to engage with their employees early and provide them with a positive on boarding experience. The onboarding process consists of a variety of activities such as new employee orientation, training, socialization, and so on.
Why Does Efficient Employee Onboarding Matter?
Employee onboarding is the first interaction an employee has with the company following the lengthy interview process.
- If the experience falls short of expectations, your employee may come to regret accepting the job offer.
- A poor onboarding process may alter their perspectives. It gives them preconceived notions about the firm, and eventually force employees to resign early.
- A robust employee onboarding process is necessary to assist your new hires settle down in their employment, getting to know the organization, receiving clarity on their job objectives, and develop a positive relationship with other employees.
- A remarkable on boarding experience not only makes employees feel welcome but also helps them gel with the current organizational family faster.
- HR managers are already overburdened. Just the prospect of tackling the massive quantity of paperwork needed in the on boarding process is enough to trigger nightmares.
So, shortening the onboarding process not only impresses new employees but also decreases the workload of the HR team.
Onboarding Process
When a potential employee accepts an offer letter, they become an official member of the organization. The onboarding process consists of the following steps.
#1. Inform employees on corporate policies and benefits.
Give detailed information on policies and employee benefits on the employees first day in the organization. Everything from compliance to insurance to tax responsibilities to corporate policy on leaves and diversity and inclusion should be covered in the training session or materials. At this point, have the employee sign all of the compliance paperwork that formally confirm their membership in the organization.
If digital signaturesOpens a new window are permitted on state/federal compliance documents in your country, you can use employee on boarding software to communicate the appropriate documentation with new employees before their first day at the company. This means they can complete all compliance obligations beforehand and become contributing members of the team immediately from day one.
#2. Give role clarification
What exactly is an employee required to do as part of their job? A breakdown of all their everyday tasks is necessary to assist people understand their function. Who communicates this information? The manager is best positioned to provide a clear picture of what an employees role will entail at this point in the onboarding process.
This information should be supplied over the first 30 days on the job, as the new employee learns and slowly takes ownership of their function. In this process, it is also necessary to tell the employee of whoever they must collaborate with to get their job done members of their own teams as well as members of other teams along with the reporting matrix for such partnerships.
#3. Facilitate training
The immediate manager is the best person to facilitate training as part of the long-term onboarding process. Even the most seasoned employee has to be supplied with a training session to grasp how processes run in their new business or new team.
Businesses can start giving this training even before workers’ first day at the organization. Basic training materials can be emailed across, and employees can be given a synopsis of the duties they are expected to do through employee on boarding software.
#4. Integrate into organizational culture
Assimilation into organizational culture is a continual process. Yet, when an employee joins the organization, HR managers and team managers must provide them with a wide picture of the culture. How can they do this? One method is to ensure that the company’s vision and mission statement reflect its culture.
#5. Help form social bonds with colleagues
While this is not entirely the responsibility of the manager/HR, it is their job to enable communication between employees, even if some employees are not very open to integrating. This entails fostering an environment in which coworker friendships are fostered.
Several firms use the new-hire buddy system, in which one employee is assigned to help the new employee navigate the workplace, from job-related activities to administrative questions and everything in between.
Onboarding Checklist
An onboarding checklist is a technique for recruiting managers to organize the steps required in assisting new hires through their initial days and months at a company. The checklist guarantees that each key stage of the new hire onboarding process is completed. It serves as a jumping off point for job-specific procedures.
But, you should know that completing an onboarding checklist doesn’t necessarily convert into a successful onboarding. The greatest onboarding process strikes a balance between the employee’s needs, such as assisting them in embodying the company’s culture, and unexpected practical events.
What Should Be Included in an Onboarding Checklist?
These are a few things any onboarding checklist should have:
- Recruitment process
- Role of the employee
- Goal setting
- Job training
- Introduction to company culture
- Dates for check-ins
- Meeting with other employees or superiors
- Documentation
- Learning the product
Onboarding Training
An successful training and onboarding program can help new workers feel welcomed, adjust to your company culture, and become productive faster. New hire training and opportunities for continuing learning can also help you retain skilled team members.
Here are six excellent practices to help you dramatically affect new employees during training and onboarding.
#1. Establish core competencies early on.
Prepare your new hires for their responsibilities by helping them establish certain core competencies during their first 30 days. This can encompass anything they should learn to flourish in their roles, such as product knowledge and messaging, tools, soft skills, and cross-functional team interactions.
#2. Highlight the strengths of your team members.
The majority of the time, training focuses on identifying an employee’s areas for growth and enhancing their weaker skills. Yet it’s crucial to cultivate your team members’ strengths too. Strengths-based learning can increase employee engagement by up to 23% and reduce attrition by 73%.
#3. Increase the duration of on boarding from 90 to 365 days.
On average, new recruits achieve a 25% productivity rate in their first month, a 50% productivity rate in their second month, and a 75% productivity rate in their third month. Yet it may take a new recruit up to a year to reach their top performance potential.
#4. Onboard in small groups
Onboarding new employees in groups can stimulate collaborative learning while establishing an immediate sense of camaraderie and fostering a strong culture. According to research, when employees feel connected to the firm and its culture, their performance improves by up to 22 percent.
#5. Acknowledge your team members’ early achievements
Acknowledging team members for their accomplishments during on boarding shows how much your firm values new employee training and learning and development. It also encourages team members to participate in future learning activities, as recognition inspires 85 percent of employees to perform more.
#6. Develop long-term employee development strategies.
During the onboarding process, discuss long-term career goals with your new team members and create matching growth plans so they may participate in ongoing learning. This will provide new workers a sense of their future at your organization, leading to early employee engagement and satisfaction.
What Are the 4 Phases of Onboarding?
4 Phases of Employee Onboarding:
- Preboarding.
- Onboarding and welcoming new employees.
- Training.
- Transition to the new role.
What Is the Purpose of Onboarding?
Onboarding assists new hires in adjusting to the social and performance aspects of their work, allowing them to quickly become effective, contributing members of the organization. This report, Onboarding New Employees: Optimizing Success, will provide the resources you need to develop an efficient onboarding process in your firm.
What Is the Difference Between Joining and Onboarding?
Orientation is the process that takes place shortly after an employee starts to make them aware of the corporate culture and the work that has to be done. It can endure for a week or a month. Onboarding, on the other hand, is a lengthy process that can take up to three months or a year to complete.
What Is an Example of Onboarding?
Taking the new hire on a tour of the office and introducing him or her to other employees. Taking the new hire out to lunch on their first day. Checking in with the new hire regularly.
What Are the 5 C’s of Onboarding?
The 5c’s stand for compliance, clarification, culture, connections, and check back.
Does Onboarding Means Hired?
Yes. The process of integrating new employees into the organization is referred to as “onboarding.”
Who Benefits From Onboarding?
On boarding is important since it acclimates employees to their roles, the company’s values, and the company’s offerings. It also engages employees, producing workers who are dedicated to the company’s success and aids in the retention of new hires by making them feel like a part of the team.
What Skills Do You Need for Onboarding?
Let’s have a look at the skills listed in a typical on boarding expert job description:
- Communication abilities.
- Capacity for effective teamwork.
- Experience with Microsoft Office and HRIS systems.
- Knowledge of employment laws.
- Good time management abilities.
Conclusion
A strong onboarding tool should motivate new employees to explore the new corporate terrain without hesitation. With an automated onboarding process, new recruits can spend less time filling out paperwork and more time learning about the company’s principles, exploring the workplace, and making new friends.
Related Articles
New Hire Onboarding Best Practices In 2023
EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING: What You Should Know About The Entire Onboarding Process
ONBOARDING BEST PRACTICES: For Employees & Customers.
How to Hire Employees for Small Businesses & Startups: A Detailed Guide
15 Best Customer Retention Strategies That Increase Profits (guide)
References
