Onboarding employees to an organization can be as tough as retaining them. In fact, employee retention is of tremendous importance because the average cost of onboarding a replacement is fairly high. Studies reveal a strong connection between the two – employee onboarding and retention – with Glassdoor identifying that a strong onboarding process can reduce retention rates by 82%. while improving employee experience.

Why is Employee Onboarding Important?

The most efficient recruiters realize the crucial nature of employee experience in the workplace. But first, why do employees leave an organization? There are a host of reasons behind such occurrences. The following list contains some of the principal reasons why employees leave a particular company:

● Dissatisfaction with the work profile or management

● Little or zero career advancement options

● Low salaries and benefits

● Lack of incentives, rewards, benefits, or an effective feedback capture system

● The overwhelming workload with no scope for work-life balance

These problems may cause even the most motivated employees to quit their jobs. To prevent high rates of attrition, besides adopting obvious measures to upgrade the organizational culture and employee benefits, employers must step up their onboarding practices. Following best practices for onboarding will ensure that employees feel welcomed and that they stay longer.

How Employee Onboarding Works

Under ordinary circumstances, onboarding may ensue immediately after a potential employee accepts their job offer. In course of the onboarding process, employees should be able to understand the position at which they have been hired and possibly master new skills in connection to it. Recruiters should be able to earn the trust of the employees during the process of onboarding and make them feel welcome. Trust is the foundation for all lasting relationships. Therefore, a relationship built on trust between employers and employees will only pave way for higher employee retention rates.

Best Practices For Onboarding Employees

Every employer should adopt a mix of proven and innovative best practices for onboarding employees. To achieve the same, they may try to adopt the following measures:

1. Reach out to your employees even before they start working for you.

Recruiters need to reach out to their employees before they have begun working at the company. An employee must be aware of the work they need to do and what the employer expects of them, along with a sense of the workplace environment. Otherwise, they might feel overwhelmed going in completely unaware of their responsibilities. An introductory call or a warm and welcoming e-mail after an employee has accepted the job offer would be useful in this regard. It is important to reach out to remote workers as well, especially in light of the post-COVID-19 pandemic scenario.

2. Employees’ first day at work should be memorable and worth cherishing.

First impressions matter a lot. So, employers should try making the first day of their new hires worth remembering. Some organizations provide welcome kits, gifts, or packages to their new hires. If recruiters enquire after their employees and ask them about their first day of work, it is bound to leave a positive impression in their minds. Employers should also check up on them even after their first week at the company.

3. Pair them up with peers.

New employees can be paired up with a peer at the workplace. The buddy system works wonders when employees are paired with peers or mentors, so new employees can approach them with their questions regarding their roles and responsibilities. According to Gartner, as many as 74% of new employees look up to their mentors as their primary source of support.

4. Paperwork should be less tedious

Even though the paperwork is a crucial element of employee onboarding, it involves a lot of hassles. New employees might find themselves overwhelmed if they are burdened with too much paperwork. So, it is important to speed up the process. Employers should therefore avail tools and strategies, like using onboarding software to simplify and expedite things. Spacing out paperwork is also a feasible alternative.

5. Involve the whole team in the onboarding process.

One of the best practices for employee onboarding is to ensure the involvement of the entire team including HR and management professionals. Every internal stakeholder at an organization should be aware of the onboarding process. In doing so, new employees can understand their role in the organization in a better way. Beyond this, it will help them establish rapport with the key members of the organization and encourage interdepartmental collaboration.

6. Set realistic expectations and explain your company culture.

Often, the personality of an employee might be dissonant to the culture of their workplace. Consequently, they might fail to live up to the high expectations set for them. Hence, employers should aim to set realistic expectations for their new hires. They must also convey the same to them very clearly. This can help new employees evaluate their progress and prepare for what might be expected of them in the future.

7. Ask for feedback and constantly improve your onboarding process.

It is always prudent to ask new employees for their feedback and to consider their suggestions for improvement. If implemented carefully, this feedback would go a long way in curbing attrition. One of the best ways to ask for feedback is to make use of instant feedback capture platforms, like Dropthought.

To know more about Dropthought and to learn how to use it to upgrade your employee onboarding process, click here.