Importance of Onboarding Programme in HRM
When it comes to recruiting new employees, many organisations downplay the importance of onboarding. According to a report by Harvard Business Review, 22% of businesses have no formal onboarding programme in place.
Working in a new organisation, with new peers and superiors, and in a different work culture can create anxiety and result in ineffectiveness at work. A good onboarding programme can ease out this discomfort by integrating and engaging the new employee immediately after hiring, even before the employee physically starts coming to the workplace. It allows new recruits to catch up to seasoned employees much faster. New employees, experienced professionals, and corporate executives all gain from the process. Companies squander a lot of money on employee turnover and productivity loss if they don’t have good onboarding programmes.
‘22% of businesses have no formal onboarding programme in place’
What is Onboarding?
Onboarding, also known as organisational socialisation, is the process through which new employees attain essential knowledge, skills, and practices to become productive members and insiders of the organisation.
The finest organisations begin the onboarding process for their recruits even before the first day of their employment. This gives new employees time to get to know the company before they’re required to do any work. Employers may focus on making employees feel at ease in the workplace by completing administrative duties first. The onboarding process continues after that, as new employees are groomed into highly productive, experienced professionals. One of the greatest examples of onboarding can be experienced at Ogilvy & Mather.
In 1948, David Ogilvy established Ogilvy & Mather. It is one of the world’s most prestigious marketing and advertising firms. Currently, there are 10,000 people spread throughout 83 countries and 132 locations.
Take a look at their sleek and modern welcome kit. There’s a lot of paper in there – brochures, cards, an office layout, and a welcome letter, to name a few things.
A crimson book authored by David Ogilvy is the most useful item in this package. This book isn’t for sale anywhere. You can only obtain it if you work for this firm. This book becomes each employee’s handbook from the first day on the job. They learn all they need to know about the agency, including its history, purpose, vision, and values. Starting with an employee’s earliest steps in the firm, Ogilvy performs an excellent job of developing loyalty towards the organization.
Image source: Behance
Why is Onboarding Important?
Onboarding is a critical aspect of human resource management and should not be overlooked. As a leader, you must properly onboard new workers to ensure their immediate success as well as the long-term success of your entire organisation. Onboarding can also influence whether new workers choose to stay or leave your firm. Following best practices for onboarding can provide your new workers with a positive first impression as well as all of the resources they need to succeed. It’s also a tried-and-true method of increasing staff retention.
1. Enhances Employee Engagement
Employees who are engaged in their job go above and beyond, resulting in increased production and profitability, as well as decreased absenteeism and attrition. The issue is that just 15% of employees are truly engaged in their workplace.
When employees are onboarded properly, they feel more linked to your company’s purpose, vision, and values. Here are a few points to keep in mind to enhance your employee engagement:
- Give early praise for a job well done
- Compile and use employee feedback
Include these activities in your employee onboarding programme to boost employee engagement right away.
2. Attract Better Talent
After a poor onboarding experience, 20% of hires are reluctant to advocate an employer to a friend or family member. This is troublesome because disgruntled employees may air their grievances publicly on review sites like Glassdoor, tarnishing your company’s reputation.
An engaging onboarding programme that delivers a positive employee experience may assist you in not just retaining talent but also attracting top applicants. Here are a few steps you can take to attract better talent through onboarding:
- Request a preliminary review on Glassdoor from your recruits after you’ve delivered a world-class onboarding experience.
- Make sure to include new employees in your employee recommendation programme so that they can readily suggest outstanding people from their networks.
Employee recommendations are renowned for being easier to recruit, onboard faster, and stay longer, making this a valuable avenue for sourcing prospects.
3. Reflects Organisational Culture
Employees learn the most about your company during onboarding. They find out how you got started, what your company’s purpose is, and what your work ethics are.
Companies that take measures to make the transition to a new culture easier earn greater levels of commitment early on, laying the groundwork for more open and honest communication and stronger employee connections.
For example, a shift from Amazon’s professional culture to Netflix’s whimsical culture can get challenging for an individual. Creating a strong, deliberate corporate culture and communicating it throughout the recruitment and onboarding processes may help you attract and retain the best employees.
69% of firms that engage in employee onboarding indicate that new employees have an easier time assimilating into the company culture. Early in the employment lifecycle, share information about your company’s purpose, vision, and values. Highlight employee anecdotes and corporate achievements in onboarding materials and all-hands meetings to reinforce your beliefs and guarantee cultural congruence.
4. Boosted Productivity
In most cases, it takes a year for new staff to reach their maximum potential. It takes time to settle into a new job because of factors like getting to know your organisation and developing relationships in order to form cross-functional teams.
This may be sped up by properly onboarding staff. A good onboarding programme assists new hires in acclimating to the organisation and fosters employee relationship building. Goal-setting, frequent management check-ins, and employee development are all part of it, so employees know what’s expected of them, where they are, and how they may improve.
5. Reduces Employee Turnover
Many companies are focused on employee retention, and for good reason. When you consider factors like the expense of re-recruiting for the position and the cost of vacancy, employee turnover can get expensive. While retaining every employee is impossible, you still want to optimize the lifetime value of your employees.
Employee turnover rate can reduce by 82 percent in companies with good onboarding programmes. Extend a warm welcome to capitalise on the excitement around your recruiting process and offer, and make the transition from being a new recruit to a vital part of the organisation as seamless as possible. Allow your employee’s first day to be filled with celebrations, introductions, and early learning by getting the paperwork out of the way.
Conclusion
A smart employee onboarding programme entails more than just printing papers and putting together a PowerPoint slide with business procedures. There are several advantages to strategically onboarding employees. Consider your onboarding programme a work in progress, with new ideas being implemented as you have time and feedback is gathered to help you improve.
Today’s top companies use robust onboarding software to create and adapt their onboarding processes, ensuring that no steps are skipped while integrating new hires into the company and ensuring their success.
SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding covers all aspects of the employee lifecycle. When employees move within the company they know they have efficient knowledge transfer and are able to get up to speed in their new role quickly. And when an employee’s time at your company comes to an end, be that retirement, restructuring, seasonality, SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding has got you covered!
Book a demo and get a real-time overview of the SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding module today.