New hire onboarding is the underdog of the HR world — everyone knows it’s important, but it’s often neglected and overlooked like the middle child of company priorities.
Roughly 1 in 10 employees strongly agree that their organization does a good job of onboarding. Your company’s onboarding game starts the second potential hires go on your website or speak to a recruiter. True Story!
Finding the perfect onboarding timeline is like choosing the ideal haircut — it all depends on the individual’s unique characteristics!
Some roles and industries prefer a quick buzz cut onboarding of 30 days, while others go for a luxurious and unrushed Rapunzel-esque onboarding journey that lasts beyond a year.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid in the New-Hire Experience You don’t create a sense of belonging.
New hires aren’t just looking for a paycheck, they want to feel like they’re part of something meaningful! Onboarding programs that only talk about company culture and vision without showing how each role can contribute to the big picture, are like trying to teach calculus to a goldfish.
Information overload Cramming a ton of information into a new hire’s brain in a short amount of time is like trying to fit an elephant into a mini cooper. It’s not pretty. We need to give employees the time and space to digest and absorb the information we’re feeding them.
Technology overload New onboarding tech look sleek and fancy, but if they don’t jive with your company’s core system or intranet, you’re in for a rocky ride. The last thing you want is for your new hires to spend more time deciphering tech lingo than getting a handle on their job and the company culture. Keep it simple!
Key considerations:
Keep a close eye on new-hire demographics, turnover rates, and give those fresh faces a voice through experience surveys.
It’s like checking the pulse of your company’s health.
From there, you can pinpoint which aspects of onboarding need some TLC.
Metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of an onboarding program: Engagement Feedback from hiring managers on time taken by new hires to achieve expected performance. Targeted feedback from new hires on the new-hire experience to what degree new hires are advocates of the workplace. Performance of new hires First- and second-year retention rates
Involve the supervisor
Before their first day on the job, make sure to schedule some quality time with the employee to hash out expectations, define what success looks like in the role, and even talk about career growth opportunities.
When the manager takes charge, employees are 3.4 times more likely to feel like they’ve nailed the onboarding process.
Don’t forget to close! Starting off on the right foot is key, but don’t forget to wrap up that onboarding process with a big, shiny bow. New hires want to feel like they’ve accomplished something and earned their stripes in the organization.
Comments