WHY EFFECTIVE ONBOARDING IS CRUCIAL FOR EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION

Most HR departments view onboarding as a process more than an experience. It’s viewed as a checklist of administrative tasks designed to ensure safety and compliance with new employees. Of course, these basic things need to be done but shouldn’t stop there.

Great onboarding can improve employee retention by 82% (Brandon Hall Group) yet only 12% of employees think their company has a good onboarding process (Gallup).

So here’s the deal – new employees will remember their onboarding… or their lack of onboarding. How their first day, week and month went, whether it was an engaging experience or if it was a robotic, impersonal process. And how successful it was can determine how well they fit into the culture, how they approach progression, and how valued they feel - determining whether they stay at the company or move on.

NEW EMPLOYEES NEED TO FEEL PART OF THE CULTURE

First things first, starting a new job with all new people is nerve-wracking and how you as a HR leader approach onboarding will either ease or exacerbate those nerves. 

A mistake many HR leaders make is nailing the interview process and providing top training but not making an effort to properly introduce the new employee to the people whom they’re going to be working with every day. And by introduce I don’t mean, “This is Sam, Sam this is Ellie.” I mean making it a priority to make each person feel welcome. This could be something specific like setting up a team lunch or just simply letting the employee sit amongst their new colleagues and create room for casual conversation. 

Onboarding can be so rigid that employees are thrown into meeting after meeting and they blink and they’ve not even had 10 minutes to get a feel of the culture.

And as a HR leader, you’ll know the culture better than anyone, as well as what your goals are for it. Make that a focus. Effective onboarding introduces employees to the company’s mission and values, something that fosters a sense of belonging. When new employees feel they are a significant piece of the bigger picture, they're more likely to stick around.

NEW EMPLOYEES NEED TO KNOW WHAT'S EXPECTED OF THEM

A Gallup study found only around 50% of all workers know what is expected of them at work. This is something so simple but it’s also something that most onboarding processes miss out on.

Ever been handed a task at work without clear instructions? It's like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle in the dark – frustrating and nearly impossible. This is what new employees feel when they aren’t guided through their role.

And this doesn’t just apply to their responsibilities. Whilst you should work with managers to come up with a framework, training, and on-the-job mentoring for each employee to know what their job entails, this also applies to goals and targets to work towards

There’s no point in managers getting frustrated at employees who aren’t working towards promotions if they’ve not properly lined out what’s expected of the employee to get that promotion. When expectations are well-defined, new employees can confidently stride ahead in their roles and enjoy doing it.

NEW EMPLOYEES NEED TO FEEL SUPPORTED

Onboarding is not a one-day affair. The first day is usually nothing like a typical work day since you’re so busy getting the administrative tasks out of the way, so day two is where reality hits. So as a HR leader, it’s your job to make sure they are supported.

Someone could be a great worker, someone who takes initiative and can easily work independently, but that still doesn’t mean you leave them alone. But this isn’t also saying you should be sat with them from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm every day, it means:

• Speaking with their line manager to ensure appropriate training is being done

• Catching up with them every so often about how things are going

Simple things can go a long way. An employee who feels supported is an employee who feels valued and a valued employee is an employee who stays. 

What you do at the beginning of an employee’s experience at the company, will define how they feel about it long-term. How well they get on with people and how motivated they are to get things done.

- Written by Oliver Howson

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