Don’t Hire Another Employee Until You Read This: Employee Onboarding
As a CEO, executive leader, or manager, you know that the success or failure of your company is largely dependent on the productivity, efficiency, and overall engagement of your employees. Hiring and retaining top talent is a challenge, as is the cost involved with a revolving door caused by disgruntled departures or poaching by swankier, more culturally forward thinking outfits. But have you ever considered the positive impact that a strategic onboarding program can have on your organization?
Shocking Truth About Traditional Onboarding
The traditional approach to employee onboarding involves integrating new hires into the company and its culture, with a focus on company policies, technology setup, and technical training. This often includes a brief orientation with human resources (and I emphasize brief), the tech guru and a series of “get to know the team” meetings. The expectation that an employee will learn what is necessary on the job armed with nothing more than a policy handbook is quite often the norm.
Despite the importance of onboarding, 88% of organizations admit they don't onboard well or have a structured new hire program. Moreover, 58% say that their onboarding is focused on process and paperwork, leading to an average new hire onboarding experience that consists of 54 disconnected activities. What?
Addressing development plans during onboarding can increase employee satisfaction and retention by 3.5X. With an average ramp-up time of between 8-12 months for an organization to reap the rewards of a new hire, does it make sense to leave an employee's expected impact to fate? Executed correctly with an employee-centric approach, strategic employee onboarding programs can contribute to the long-term success of your company. For some, it can be the difference between success or failure.
Sets the Tone for Success
The employee onboarding process is the first step that new employees take when joining your organization, and it should be used as an opportunity to set the tone for their success. Strategic onboarding programs ensure that employees receive clear and concise information about company culture, expectations, policies, and values. This helps new hires better understand their role in the organization and feel more connected to the company mission. When employees embrace the vision of the organization and its future, they are better able to map out their contributions to align with their managers’ and company goals.
Now imagine a structured program where employees have the opportunity to immerse themselves in learning, while testing and improving their skills during their ramp up period for real-time, actionable feedback. These programs, like the Onboarding Accelerator offered by True North Collaboration, transform the onboarding experience into a positive and productive event for all involved. The program is designed to compress the average downtime of new assignments by 40%, boosting team productivity and morale, enhancing managers’ leadership profile, and cultivating a more efficient and engaged work environment.
Increases Retention Rates
Employee turnover can be a significant cost for companies, both in time and money. According to Gallup, the cost of replacing an individual employee can range from 0.5 to 2 times the employee's annual salary. However, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, new employees who undergo a structured onboarding process are 69% more likely to stay with the company for three years or more and organizations with strong onboarding processes increase new hire retention by 82% and improve productivity by 70%.
Strategic onboarding helps employees feel valued, engaged, and prepared for their role, leading to increased job satisfaction and retention rates. When employees are engaged with their employers earlier, being allowed the runway to learn and prove themselves capable, they become effective sooner, thus improving the bottom line and probable retention. Strategic onboarding transforms the onboarding experience into a positive and productive event for all involved.
Improves Productivity and Efficiency
Effective onboarding programs play a pivotal role in enhancing a company's productivity and efficiency. For an employee, onboarding serves as an initial stepping stone in integrating new hires into the organizational structure, culture, and workflow. A comprehensive onboarding program can significantly reduce the learning curve, enabling new employees to perform at their full potential in a shorter time frame, boosting morale and motivation.
By setting clear expectations, providing necessary training, and establishing relationships with coworkers and supervisors, new hires are better equipped to perform their role effectively. This helps prevent issues like confusion, mistakes, and uncertainty that can lead to wasted time, errors, and decreased productivity. Thus, onboarding is not merely an introduction, but a crucial process that sets the pace for an employee's journey within the organization.
Creates Strong Employee Connections
Joining a new company, or a new position within an existing company, is scary. We’ve all been there, searching for the first glimmer of a connection to a colleague or manager that’s “like me’. With a strategic onboarding program, the playing field is leveled where new hires are more likely to take risks, make mistakes and ask questions, arming themselves to prove their potential in a safe space. This empowers employees to build strong connections with their coworkers and supervisors early on, mitigating the possibility of disengagement that might drive an employee to a premature departure.
Creating early connections is especially important in today’s remote or hybrid work environments. By organizing virtual meet and greets, team-building activities, and opportunities for mentorship, you can help new hires feel more connected to the company and better integrated into the organizational culture. With strategic onboarding, new hires become more engaged, confident, and energized, leading to happier employees, reduced stress levels for managers and a more productive workplace culture.
Builds a Positive Employer Brand
Imagine if you were a new hire, regardless of the level, and you were provided with real-time job immersion to boost your impact right out of the gate. Recognizing the resources invested in your success, you’d likely have a strong affiliation to your new company, and brand, and talk about it positively out in the world. This is what engaged employees will be doing. Strategic onboarding programs can contribute to building a positive employer brand. By providing a memorable and engaging onboarding experience, new hires are more likely to share their positive experiences with others. This positive word-of-mouth can help attract top talent and contribute to the overall public perception of your organization.
As a CEO, or executive leader, there’s nothing more satisfying than knowing you run the company that everyone loves – from employees, to customers, to your industry. This starts with engagement at the employee level. If you can capture the excitement and energy of new hires through an effective onboarding program, you’re setting the company brand up for notability as a company that cares, attracting employees that want to join and invest with the company’s vision and long-term success.
How to Get Started
In today’s competitive job market, it’s more important than ever to ensure that new employees feel valued, connected, and prepared for their role. By implementing a strategic onboarding program like True North’s Onboarding Accelerator you can set the tone for success, increase retention rates, improve productivity and efficiency, create strong employee connections, and build a positive employer brand.
A successful and thriving organization can not stand on exciting products, or new technologies or services on their own. Your teams are the key to maximize growth. Doesn’t it make sense to invest in your assets early on to ensure a future of success?
The Onboarding Accelerator
The Onboarding Accelerator is not about abstract theories but practical, real-time job immersion to boost new joiner impact while reducing ramp period. The program is designed for new joiners or recently promoted employees who might need additional support adjusting to the new role. The program includes discovery interviews, defining goals, developing strategies, and execution for long-term success.
Read more here…
The Onboarding Accelerator starts with understanding what makes the new hire tick and using their time effectively. As the program progresses, it aligns the role, strengths, and individual purpose, teaches basic rules for great communication, and helps establish new areas of influence within the new firm.
For employers, the program saves time and effort required to onboard new joiners, reduces the time needed for new employees to become productive by 40%, and increases employee engagement.
For new hires, it provides personalized guidance and support needed to quickly build confidence in their new role, encourages rapid cultural integration, and establishes clear expectations for success.
You can read more about our Onboarding Accelerator program here or reach out to me directly at: karengilhooly@truenorthcollab.com.
