How important is your employee induction, orienteering or onboarding process in your organisation? Most employees make the decision to stay or leave an organisation within the first few weeks of a new job[mfn]Hacker, C. (2004). New Employee Orientation: Make it pay dividends for years to come. Information Systems Management.[/mfn]. 90% of managers feel that employees make the decision to stay or leave within their first year in post[mfn]Laurano, M. (2013). Onboarding 2013: A New Look at New Hires. Aberdeen Group.[/mfn].
What is the impact?
Or perhaps more appropriately entitled: ’What is at stake for your organisation?’
Well, your staff for one thing…
Time & Money
Recruitment is a time consuming and expensive process. Anyone who has been through a recruitment drive knows how hard talent is to find and that it is increasingly hard to keep.
Research has shown that introducing a standardised onboarding process, that is tailored to support the needs of new employees, dramatically reduces staff turnover.[mfn]Kurnat-Thoma, E., et al. (2017) Reducing Annual Hospital and Registered Nurse Staff Turnover—A 10-Element Onboarding Program Intervention. SAGE Publishing[/mfn]
Engagement & Retention
A study by management consultancy Gillespie Associates found that an effective onboarding or induction process can increase employee engagement by over 20%[mfn]Barrow, K. (2016). Why Onboarding That New Hire Will Increase Your Bottom Line. Gillespie Associates.[/mfn]. The same study found that engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave an organisation within their first year of employment[mfn]Barrow, K. (2016). Why Onboarding That New Hire Will Increase Your Bottom Line. Gillespie Associates.[/mfn].
Efficiency
A good onboarding program covers all aspects of the organisation and prepares them for their role. From vision, mission and culture, through to key skills like using the company IT.
It helps new employees become familiar with the organisation’s work culture, vision, mission, and goals. At the same time, it helps the employee to understand the fundamentals of how to do their role well. All of which ensures they hit the ground running which vastly improves their efficiency in post.
"To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace."
But what about the employee?
It’s not just about the impact that a well on-boarded employee has on the organisation, it also makes the individual feel a number of positive things. For example, they are more likely to feel:
- Respected and valued
- Comfortable
- Invested in the organisation
There is no escaping that the onboarding experience an employee has is crucial for a number of important reasons.
Does your organisation’s employee onboarding process work well? Is it all singing and all dancing, or is it in need of some love? We’d love to know your experiences.
