Onboarding And Employer Branding: Better Together

Nowadays an organization’s brand image speaks about it more than anything else.?

An organization’s employer brand is made up of a mix of its employee's words, customer reviews, and also, thousands of candidates who apply to be a part of the organization. The candidates are wooed to apply for organizations similar to how consumers are attracted through marketing and branding of the products.?

In this world of a talent demand-supply gap, it takes a great deal of time, effort and money to attract great talent. Once the offer letter is signed, both candidates and the hiring managers breathe a sigh of relief. But this is exactly where things start to go downhill for both. While one would expect to keep the level of engagement high, organizations have a phase of radio silence with little or no engagement to keep the candidate excited to join the organization. This allows candidates to second-guess their decision to join the organization.

“Only 12% of employees strongly agree their company does a good job of onboarding new employees after the recruitment phase is over.”

Gallup

Employer branding doesn’t start from day 1, but the day a candidate starts engaging with you. It starts when they apply for a job, during the recruitment process, offer acceptance, and pre-onboarding phase, and continues from Day 1 to their continuous employment. But the phase during pre-onboarding days and the first few weeks on the job are the most vulnerable. While they are still trying to adjust themselves to the new culture, the organization's brand is the glue that stops second-guessing their decision.

You offered a job to a candidate 15 days back, and before joining there was no engagement from your end. During this period of time, another organization offered the candidate a job too and the candidate did his research about the work culture and reached out to the current employees asking about the work culture, learning & growth, he/she heard good feedback and saw good reviews on employer review sites.

Now, who would he/she choose? Obviously, the 2nd one with good reviews and feedback. And he/she won’t even feel bad for declining your offer because in the pre-onboarding phase you haven’t engaged properly and haven’t made any connection.

In the 2nd company during the pre-onboarding phase, he/she received his/her onboarding paperwork and a proper welcome. Here, engagement is good which will help the organization in retaining him/her for a long period of time.

Just after his/her joining, the company asked for feedback on the onboarding process and review it on employer review sites, which made him/her feel that his opinion matters too. He/she was impressed with the level of organization and communication throughout the onboarding process.

A smooth Onboarding process and the right set of tools can bring out an amazing onboarding experience for your new hires. If your employees attain a sense of belonging, it will make them stay more.

This will consequently build your company’s employer branding and, by default, enable it to retain the best people. The employee onboarding process is a powerful start in improving your employee onboarding. The onboarding process is the first experience of the employee in the company and it is like the first impression and initiation of the employee into the company culture.

That’s the reason why organizations aiming to create an impeccable employer brand should proactively provide an onboarding experience that aligns with the brand promises that they have made. The onboarding experience must provide them with a view into the culture, values, and policies of the organization.

69% of newly hired employees decide to stay in the organization for 3 years if they experience great onboarding.

SHRM

Employee experiences with your company, joining experience, and learning and growth journey can spread like wildfire on social media and employer review sites.

Before Joining or applying to a new organization candidates do their proper research through personal connections, review sites, and ratings. Popular review sites like Glassdoor, where employees rate their employers, are commonly used by employees to decide if they want to apply for or accept a job.

Providing a smooth onboarding experience is not just a critical strategy to engage new hires. Developing employees into brand advocates is one of the most effective employer branding strategies an organization can use because 71% of job seekers say they use referrals from current employees to find a job.