Great Onboarding: a Secret Weapon Against Attrition?

Everything You Need to Know About Onboarding New Employees

More than 1/4 of new hires leave a company within 6 weeks. More than 1/3 leave in the first 6 months. And of those who leave in the first year, half were thinking of leaving for 6 months or more. When asked what the reasons for leaving were a lot of leavers will cite poor onboarding and training

The onboarding process bridges the gap between the candidate and employee experience, creating a transitional phase that is vital to creating great work environments. First impressions have a lasting impact so it’s critical to ensure that from the day a candidate is offer the job your company’s employee onboarding process is impressive, engaging and informative. This is your time to bring new employees into your business, explain your company culture and offer support.

What is Onboarding?

An employee onboarding process is the standardised introduction of a newly hired employee to their role within a company. This introductory process could include team introductions, workstation setups and familiarisation with operational processes alongside other elements.

Effective onboarding is not a day, week or month of learning, but a 6-month process designed to give new hires everything they need in order to reach maximum performance in their job as quickly as possible.

Consider your organisation’s mission statement when setting goals for a new starter, addressing how you’ll go about assessing their performance and how your HR team and line managers can help them – allowing them to feel confident and comfortable in their new role.

Getting Started with the Onboarding Process

Onboarding doesn’t begin and end on your new employee’s first day with you. Instead, it starts from the day they’re offered the job until they are entirely acclimatised to their new working environment.

The best onboarding would give new staff the opportunity to be welcomed into the team, meeting co-workers and lunching with their line manager prior to starting. This way, your new employee feels embraced and celebrated within their new role in the company.

Why Is Efficient Employee Onboarding Important?

Employee onboarding is the first interaction an employee has with an organisation following the interview process. If their first impressions fail to live up to expectations, your employee could begin to regret their decision to accept the job offer.

Companies have a moral obligation to ensure employees have a solid onboarding process to help them settle down in their jobs, get to know the organisation, obtain clarity on their job objectives and forge great relationships with their co-workers.

A recent study found that 75% of employee turnover was preventable with avoidable causes such as work environment, manager competency and opportunities for growth, staff retention, making staff retention more crucial than ever.

Efficient employee onboarding helps to maintain high staff retention, showing employees that they are a valued part of the company they work for.

Implementing Onboarding Processes

So, a good HR onboarding process should integrate new employees into their daily routine, making sure they understand your business’ policies and procedures. To begin with, you can introduce them to the:

• Terms and conditions of their employment.
• Company policies (sick leave process, annual leave and clocking-in system).
• Daily duties and responsibilities.
• Office environment.

From here, make them feel welcome and remind them of your company culture, giving them the chance settle into their role.

Need Help with Your Onboarding Plan?

Successful onboarding programmes ensure employees can hit the ground running and take ownership of their roles. If you need assistance setting up an onboarding journey that speaks to your organisation, contact the dedicated recruitment team at Marmion and we’ll help you establish your process for new hires.