THE NEW YEAR'S GUIDE TO EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING Tips for Creating a Dynamic SIX Onboarding Program
If you re like most people, you ve had your fair share of New Year s resolutions slip through the cracks. If you re like most HR professionals, improving your company s onboarding program may be one of those business resolutions that hasn t quite come to fruition. But you know what? This is the year that all changes! This guide will cover six tips you can apply to your onboarding program that will have an immediate positive impact on your new employees level of engagement and productivity. A dynamic onboarding process means your new hires will start day one more enthusiastic, educated, and ready to contribute to your company s success - which means you ll have more time to focus on those forgotten New Year s resolutions, like going to the gym on your lunch break or not. LET'S GET STARTED!
WHY IS ONBOARDING SO IMPORTANT? You only get one chance to make a first impression. We ve all heard that saying before. Well, the same thing is true in business. According to research from the Aberdeen Group, 90 percent of employees decide whether to stay at a company within the first six months. Given the amount of time and resources most companies dedicate to recruiting talented employees, the significance of making a great first impression seems obvious. 90% OF EMPLOYEES DECIDE WHETHER TO STAY AT A COMPANY WITHIN THE Unfortunately, when it comes to effective onboarding programs, many companies are missing the boat. According to a recent Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Onboarding Study, half of all hourly workers leave new jobs within the first 120 days. Even more staggering, half of all senior outside hires fail within 18 months in a new position. On the other hand, the SHRM study found that new employees who participated in a structured onboarding program were 69 percent more likely to remain at a company up to three years. Effective onboarding programs have also been proven to improve employee retention by 25 percent and increase employee performance by more than 10 percent. Still not convinced? Additional benefits of an effective onboarding program include: FIRST 6 MONTHS IN A STRUCTURED ONBOARDING PROGRAM, EMPLOYEES WERE 69% MORE LIKELY Higher job satisfaction & engagement Increased organizational commitment & advocacy Improved long-term career effectiveness Lower stress levels TO STAY AT A COMPANY UP TO 3 YEARS Now that we ve established the importance of having a dynamic onboarding program, let s take a look at six tips for creating one at your company!
Tip #1 USE A STRUCTURED PLAN
While onboarding strategies vary by company, the most successful organizations use a formal process that s consistent from start to finish. In addition to improved employee retention, research from the Aberdeen Group shows that organizations with a standard onboarding process experience 54 percent greater new hire productivity. When developing your onboarding plan, consider the following: COMPANY CULTURE Your onboarding plan should reflect your company s mission and values. When employees believe in what they do and what their company represents, they re more engaged and productive. ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS Identify each administrative task that must be completed and where each task fits into the schedule New-hire paperwork, benefits enrollment, employee handbook delivery, equipment/workstation setup, etc. SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Break it down into multiple time frames: Pre- Employment, First Day, First Week, First Month, 90 Days, etc. EDUCATION & TRAINING Without the necessary training and education, employees can quickly become frustrated and overwhelmed. Be sure to establish clear and effective procedures for getting your new hires up to speed. PAYLOCITY Create and customize your onboarding checklist with our onboarding feature and ensure no steps are missed along the way. New hires are able to view all of their required onboarding tasks and see their progress as they check things off the list. Company administrators can receive notifications when new hires complete tasks or check if any employees have missed any key steps. NON-HR INVOLVEMENT Who else will be involved with onboarding the new hire? Hiring managers, co-workers, even company executives should be involved in the process. FOLLOW-UP & REVIEW After the new hire has been on board for a certain amount of time, there should be formal check-ins to the see how the employee is feeling about the company, their role, etc.
Tip #2 DON'T WAIT UNTIL DAY ONE
It's important to not confuse day one orientation with onboarding. ORIENTATION A one-time event that familiarizes employees with their new surroundings, colleagues, and procedures. ONBOARDING Should be an ongoing process designed to engage your new employee and help them become productive as soon as possible. So when should your onboarding process begin? The sooner the better! Good thing you have that shiny, new onboarding plan to refer to! According to a study by the Academy of Management Journal, employees begin evaluating a potential employer the moment they submit their resume - which means your opportunity to start developing a positive relationship starts now let s call it, preonboarding. Throughout the recruiting process, communication is important to keeping the recruit engaged and enthusiastic about joining your company. As soon as the hire is made, your formalized onboarding program should begin. When the employee arrives at the office on day one, he or she should already have a good understanding of what to expect. As far as actual day one stuff goes, be sure to have the new hire s workstation set up and clean. Nothing is more discouraging for a new employee than showing up to a dirty or disorganized workspace. PAYLOCITY Using our onboarding feature, employees can complete all new hire paperwork electronically before they even start. Important employee data like date of birth and social security is then instantly available for payroll and benefit purposes saving your Payroll and HR staff from manually re-entering the data.
Tip #3 COMMUNICATE. COMMUNICATE. COMMUNICATE!
This one seems obvious, but unfortunately, many companies seriously drop the ball when it comes to effectively communicating with new employees. According to an ALEX Asks Study, not all new hires hear from their new companies before their official first day on the job, but those who do, feel that those communications helped prepare them for their new positions. Surprisingly, nearly half of all new hires say their manager never bothered to send a welcome message. On the other hand, the survey found that new hires are nearly three times more likely to be somewhat satisfied or very satisfied with the new job experience when their employers have an onboarding program in place and effectively communicate throughout the process. Clearly, communication is important. But beyond the typical communication of things like HR policies, health benefits, or where the lunchroom is located, there are several key areas that must be addressed in an effective onboarding process. PAYLOCITY Company administrators can post company news, employee handbooks, training documents, and more right to the self-service portal. Make it easy for new employees to find all important company information in one convenient location even from their mobile devices. OVERALL BUSINESS STRATEGY & GOALS Clearly explaining the strategy and goals of the company is paramount. This allows the employee to see the connection between their role and the overall goals of the company. This connection helps engage the employee by giving them a sense of purpose and pride of ownership. JOB & PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS Setting clear expectations and goals for a new employee helps both the employee and managers. Employees want to know what will be expected of them. Setting the bar early on, helps boost productivity and makes future performance evaluations and feedback more transparent. COMPANY CULTURE Equally important to the company s goals are the company s values. Helping a new employee assimilate into a positive company culture is a sure-fire way to boost employee engagement and productivity.
Tip #4 EMPHASIZE LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
The ultimate goal of an onboarding program is to engage new hires and get them up to speed as quickly as possible. It should come as no surprise that the typical one-week (or less) employee training program is failing to meet this goal. Even worse, according to the 2012 Allied Workforce Mobility Survey, 25 percent of companies admit their onboarding program doesn t involve training of any kind. Houston we have a problem. According to SHRM, most employees get about 90 days to prove themselves in a new job. To help your new employees become the productive workers you hired them to be, make sure your training program includes the following: CLEAR PERFORMANCE METRICS & GOALS INTERACTIVE TRAINING Every employee, but especially new ones, should have a crystal clear understanding of what is expected of them and how they are being measured. This makes tracking progress and reviewing performance much easier and transparent. TRAINING RESOURCES Online videos, training seminars, and how-to guides are all great ways to help new employees get up to speed. You may also consider giving new employees an incentive to complete training courses or attend workshops or conferences. Make sure these resources are readily available and easy to find! PAYLOCITY With our performance management feature, managers and new hires can mutually develop goals and track progress. In addition to tangible training resources, new employees can significantly benefit from on-the-job training from colleagues or managers. In fact, according to Bersin by Deloitte, people retain 75 percent or more of what they learn from on-the-job experiences, as opposed to only 10 percent of what they read and 50 percent of what they learn through discussion. SCHEDULED REVIEWS & EVALUATIONS To keep both employees and managers accountable, it s important to make sure that performance reviews and check-ins are clearly scheduled. These touch points help measure how new employees are progressing in terms of productivity, and also help gauge the employee s satisfaction and engagement levels. Managers can upload all necessary training videos, documents, and more to the employee self-service portal making ongoing job training readily available.
Tip #5 FOCUS ON CULTURE
Arguably the hottest word in the HR world right now is culture. But what exactly does it mean? Josh Bersin defines it as the set of behaviors, values, artifacts, reward systems, and rituals that make up your organization. You can feel culture when you visit a company, because it is often evident in people s behavior, enthusiasm, and the space itself. So how does culture fit into onboarding? Well, if the goal of onboarding is to engage new hires and help them become productive, successful employees, then culture is big part of that. Employees want to know that their new employer values them and recognizes they are important to the future success of the company. To make sure new employees feel welcome and engaged, onboarding can t just be about paperwork and training. To help your new employees assimilate into the company culture: USE THE "BUDDY SYSTEM" As part of the pre-hire paperwork you can ask your new hires to include their interests, skills, and hobbies. You can then use these to match them up with current employees that share the same interests. Fostering employee relationships is a great way to help new employees get comfortable with their new environment and be excited to go to work each day. ENCOURAGE PEER-TO-PEER FEEDBACK & RECOGNITION One of the most important factors driving employee engagement is feedback either from a manager or colleague. According to research from Towers Watson, 43 percent of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week as opposed to only 18 percent of disengaged employees. 18% OF DISENGAGED EMPLOYEES 43% OF HIGHLY ENGAGED EMPLOYEES RECEIVE FEEDBACK AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK PAYLOCITY Our social recognition feature, Impressions, allows employees to send recognition badges to new hires before they even begin. These badges can be published so they are visible to the entire organization. Employees can also build profiles similar to their favorite social networks to connect with colleagues that share similar interests.
Tip #6 REVIEW & REFINE
If you follow steps 1-5, you re well on your way to a dynamic onboarding program. But it doesn t stop there. Just like how the business world is constantly evolving, so too should your onboarding plan. According to a study published by the Impact Instruction Group, 30 percent of businesses that continually update their onboarding programs, are more likely to be positioned to respond to industry indicators and employee trends. As previously mentioned, one major benefit of using a structured onboarding plan is that you know each step was implemented consistently. This will help you evaluate what is working and what is lacking. There are several key points that offer the best opportunity to review your onboarding process: 30/60/90-DAY REVIEWS Performing ongoing employee reviews at 30, 60, and 90 days will help you understand what areas of the onboarding process were helpful and which could be more valuable. At these check-ins, the employee is still relatively new and the onboarding experience will be fresh. Remember onboarding is an ongoing process, not a one-time event! ONE-YEAR CHECK IN The one-year mark is when companies typically shift their employee focus from early-stage training to career development. This provides a great opportunity to hear directly from the employee about how their first year prepared them to be successful in their role. EXIT INTERVIEWS While there are many reasons employees decide to leave, statistics indicate that a negative onboarding process may a deciding factor. According to SHRM, 1 in 25 employees leave their new jobs because of bad onboarding programs. To make sure your onboarding isn t driving employees away, ask them.
The war for talent is at an all-time high. Employee turnover is expensive. Smart, successful organizations recognize that the best way to attract and retain talented employees is to position them for success. An effective onboarding process is the foundation of engaging new employees and helping them get up to speed and productive as quickly as possible. Every organization has its own unique attributes and circumstances. But by taking advantage of these six tips, you can develop a dynamic onboarding program that will help separate you from your competition and win the war for talent. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW PAYLOCITY'S ONBOARDING FEATURE CAN BENEFIT YOUR ORGANIZATION, CLICK HERE.