Transforming Employee Onboarding: A Fresh Approach

On a global scale, companies tend to face a comparable level of employee turnover. Roughly 40% of employees depart within the initial 6 months, with an additional 16% leaving in the subsequent half-year. Collectively, a total of 56% of newly hired employees exit the organization within their first year of employment.

Now, let's delve into estimating the financial investment expended on selecting and training the 56% of employees who won't remain with the company beyond the first year. Employee turnover can stem from various factors, ranging from inadequate hiring practices to an unsupportive corporate culture. However, if a notable portion of employees tend to depart within the early months of joining, a closer examination of their onboarding process becomes imperative.

This is precisely the avenue we pursued within our own company. The initial results are promising – in 2021, the turnover rate for employees within the first 6 months stood at 54%, which saw a decline to 32% in 2022. This positive shift was attributed to the implementation of a mentorship program during that period, wherein each employee was paired with a mentor who assumed the responsibility of facilitating their assimilation into the work environment.

Despite this progress, we are yet to achieve a comprehensive and structured employee onboarding program that can be uniformly implemented across all our branches nationwide. Consequently, we've chosen to take an additional stride forward, focusing on creating a program exclusively tailored to our workforce. This program will align with our organizational culture and ultimately strive to realize our overarching objective – fostering an environment where employees not only choose to remain but genuinely desire to do so.

Keeping these goals in focus, here are some crucial aspects to contemplate when designing a comprehensive onboarding program:

1.??????Engage Key Staff in Vital Roles: Did you know that the majority of company policies and procedures are created in the office rather than at the site of actual business operations? That's correct, but it's not ideal. It's important to involve a diverse range of employees who manage vital aspects of our business and day-to-day processes. After all, this process is tailored to their needs.

2.??????Customized Content: Tailor your onboarding program to your company's unique values and culture. Incorporate stories, examples, and scenarios that reflect your organization's identity. Be aware that this program can also take on an informal nature. Think of it as a guide for newcomers who are navigating their surroundings during their initial days and weeks. Moreover, keep in mind that newcomers might not be familiar with the "slang," abbreviations, and specialized jargon of your organization. Assisting them in understanding these aspects can lead to a rapid transformation from a newcomer to an integral part of the team.

3.??????Buddy System: Assign a buddy or mentor to each new hire. This relationship can help bridge the gap between formal training and the everyday realities of the workplace. Buddies provide insights, answer questions, and offer a friendly face in a new environment.

4.??????An Informative Onboarding Roadmap: To achieve this, it's crucial to provide a plan that outlines their responsible point of contact, assigned tasks, and essential learning goals for the first few months. This comprises the entirety of our employee onboarding program. Crafting a concise yet informative plan is no simple task. In our instance, it took a year of negotiations among diverse employee groups to arrive at a unified solution that caters to the unique requirements of each group.

5.??????Technology Integration: Sustaining an employee onboarding program requires ongoing upkeep for seamless operations. For instance, when your company hires 15 new team members, how can you ensure that they all follow the same agreed-upon onboarding process? This is where technology comes to the rescue. Consider digitizing the entire employee onboarding plan. It worked for us 100%. Now, every employee connected to a new recruit, along with the central HR team, can monitor each recruit's progress using a computer program. And the best part? We didn't spend any additional money for this. All you need is within the Microsoft 365 package!

6.??????Reward: Your team will feel motivated as they witness a decrease in turnover during the initial 6 months. It's a testament to their dedication and a noteworthy achievement. Yet, long-term contentment alone might fall short. Consider integrating your current employee incentives with onboarding, providing rewards for each successful onboarding. It's a more economical choice compared to recruiting and training new staff.

7.??????Select an ideal external project partner. While your expertise is valuable, dedicating all your time to this vital process might not be feasible. This undertaking demands substantial effort: selecting and training mentors, organizing periodic exercises, overseeing project content, setting performance expectations, outlining the introduction process, developing technological solutions, and more.