Why your Onboarding Process is Setting you up for Failure

Only 12% of employees say their organisation does a great job of onboarding.

Yet a negative onboarding experience can double the likelihood of an employee seeking a new opportunity.

Hiring and retaining quality talent has only become more difficult since the Covid19 pandemic, where we have seen trends such as The Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting, and the UK’s ‘Missing Workers’.

Not only is it more difficult, but it’s expensive to get wrong – with research estimating it costs a business approximately 20% of the original employees salary to replace them.

Onboarding is the process in which employees are integrated into a business, acquiring the skills and knowledge to align with their  working environment.

Bad onboarding can significantly impact an employee’s experience, with lower engagement and increased risk of leaving for a new opportunity – and with 36% of employers lacking a structured onboarding process, businesses are not helping their retention levels, or their costs.

The good news is, a great onboarding experience can increase the likelihood of an employee staying with a company for 3 years by 69%!

Companies who have engaged employees, are more likely to have higher customer retention and satisfaction according to research.

So, ensuring you have a great onboarding experience is really important to your business!

With 36% of employers lacking a structured onboarding process, we’ve put together some top tips for creating an effective onboarding programme!

Things to consider for successful onboarding:

Implement a mentoring system:

Assigning employees to a mentor will offer a support system and immerse starters into the team!

56% of new hires reported that meeting an ‘onboarding buddy’, just once within their first 90 days helped them to become productive faster.

Check in on your employees:

Ensure you set up meetings regularly, even after the starting period.

This allows employees to communicate and immerse themselves into the team!

Not only were employees are 3.4 times more likely to agree their onboarding experience was “exceptional” if their managers took an active role in the process, but 23% of employees were more likely to stay with a business if their manager clearly communicated their responsibilities and roles.

Create understanding for your employee’s success:

Employees need to understand how to be successful in their role and how success is measured! Providing starters with clear and fast feedback can also be beneficial for their confidence and performance.

Ensure new hires feel a part of the company culture:

Immersing employees into the culture will create continuity between your vision and your employee’s vision. Furthermore, aligning personal values with work values, is more likely to increase retention as it aligns personal achievement.

For employees, an effective onboarding programme creates confidence, comfortability, and shows companies willingness to care for their employees.

For businesses, an effective onboarding program increases business stability, reduces employee turnover, and reinforces company culture.

So, it’s a win-win!

If you’d like to hear more about important strategies to integrate into your business, check out our Sustainable Strategies article.