Key Business Value Findings
First impressions last. Future-looking companies recognize that the first impression a new hire makes of their work environment is critical to improving retention rates and improving the company brand. A new employee that feels engaged in the company on their first day of work will have a greater incentive to stay at that company. In today’s environment, support for new hires is not only executed in the recruitment efforts but more importantly, in a well defined, formalized onboarding process.
Onboarding encompasses the variety of tasks and requirements involved with acclimating and engaging a new employee in the company. Onboarding is no longer the new hire “orientation” of the past. The checklists associated with onboarding have evolved into an integrated experience. This report defines onboarding as a process involving: forms management, tasks management, and socialization in the company culture. Companies that incorporate these three components are those companies that will achieve optimal ROI from their onboarding process. The data included in this report is derived from a survey conducted in partnership with the Human Capital Institute and interviews with senior executives in the human capital management community.First impressions last. Future-looking companies recognize that the first impression a new hire makes of their work environment is critical to improving retention rates and improving the company brand. A new employee that feels engaged in the company on their first day of work will have a greater incentive to stay at that company. In today’s environment, support for new hires is not only executed in the recruitment efforts but more importantly, in a well defined, formalized onboarding process.
Implications & Analysis
Onboarding has gained momentum over the past year. Seventy-six percent of companies are implementing or plan to implement a formalized process compared to only 40% in 2005. Despite this increase, many companies still do not grasp the fundamentals of onboarding. These companies face challenges defining the onboarding process and creating an onboarding roadmap. Although 90% of companies believe that their employees make their decision to stay at the company within the first six months, many of these companies do not recognize or acknowledge how onboarding impacts retention rates and time to productivity. Instead, they rely on paper-based solutions that create added costs and often leave a bad first impression that negatively affects the company brand. Thirty-six percent of companies still do not use any technology for their onboarding solution.
Best performing, future-looking companies distinguish themselves by extending onboarding to the first six months and leveraging technology to assist with forms management, tasks management, socialization, building a network, measuring performance and compliance. Technology, however, is not the panacea for onboarding. Companies need to look to the future by defining the onboarding process, creating an onboarding roadmap, and investing in strategic long-term workforce planning that integrates their onboarding with the pre-hire stages and the post-hire stages.
Recommendations for Action
In addition to the Best in Class actions, companies should also evaluate their processes to ensure they effectively accomplish the following:
• Define the onboarding process and create an onboarding roadmap
• Integrate onboarding with the overall hiring management process
• Extend onboarding to the first six months, the amount of time that an employee makes his or her decision to stay at a company
• Replace paper and spreadsheet based processes and use an automated system that includes forms management, tasks management, and socialization in the company culture
• Create an onboarding roadmap in order to establish a long-term strategic plan for the onboarding process
• Measure short-term retention rates and time to productivity
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