Many companies all over the world underestimate the power of implementing onboarding procedures into their policies. Organizations need to become more people-centric and start introducing onboarding procedures to help fresh hires feel at home. There are multiple benefits to it—to establish a reliable employee cycle, companies must put more thought into converting new employees to long-term ones.
A lot of companies take the recruitment process very seriously at first, but then ignore the recruit's first experiences at work after being hired. It’s time for us to realize that it is a waste of time to only focus on selection, as new hires can begin to doubt their choice of employment by observing gaps in the system.
Having an adequate onboarding program says a lot about the company’s culture—which is why we want to walk you through how it can positively impact the overall well-being of the company. There is a lot of power in employee onboarding for successful retention rates.
What is Onboarding?
Usually, recruits feel some sort of disconnect as they are unfamiliar with the company’s work culture and nervous about what is expected of them. They feel out of place when they see their colleagues bonding. This is why companies need to have a program in place to welcome new hires, making them feel more engaged and positive about being a part of the organization.
Simply put, having an onboarding program means the business has the policy to provide training and relevant information to new employees, giving them a slight push to boost up their performance as newcomers. This has its benefits in terms of understanding their responsibilities, expectations, and overall performance.
Furthermore, the upside to having onboarding programs is that it sets a tone for the company’s work culture. In this article, we will look at the importance of the new hire onboarding process and what it entails, so keep scrolling.
The Importance Of Having An Effective Onboarding Program
Some companies live by the following rule: To retain new hires, spend more time onboarding them. It is as simple as that. Without having effective onboarding plans in place, a company is more likely to face issues with productivity leading to losses.
In fact, the time and money spent on recruitment can also go to waste. Therefore, it is essential to have a proper set of onboarding techniques. It has a proven record of successful employee engagement and retention leading to increased performance.
A great onboarding approach includes having a month-long (maybe more) training program to integrate new employees into the company. It is a professional way of providing them with the knowledge, support and information they need to do their job.
The simple process of welcoming new hires has become the key to factors like employee acclimation, engagement retention, and better safety measures (for construction and labor-centric businesses). Let’s look at the factors in detail.
Acclimation
This is known to be the prime stage of onboarding processes. It helps new hires to familiarize them with the company culture, policies, guidelines, and resources. Acclimation is basically like a manual of the entire office. This is when they get a tour of the office and find out where the bathrooms, lunchrooms, kitchenette, etc. are located.
They familiarize themselves with the go-to person for stationery or IT-related issues. Other than merely pointing out all the physical spaces of the room, they also do a run-down on the company's vision and mission. The objective is to give the new employee an overview of the business. This gives new hires a chance to take a moment to understand what is expected from them in terms of morals and behavior.
The best part of having an onboarding program is that the new employee gets a chance to discuss their role, job specifications, and how it all relates to the company’s goals. Yes, we know what you are thinking.
It is usually discussed during interview sessions, but revisiting it together as part of the team, not as a potential employee makes all the difference. Not just the new employee—the entire team gains more perspective, and hence focuses on working together and better.
Engagement
Acclimation is like a stepping stone when it comes to making your new hires more engaged. It is crucial because engaged employees have a higher level of productivity, contributing to the company’s success. They are also more likely to stay longer since they grow a sense of accountability for the company’s growth and success. Usually, engaged employees are more committed to the company’s well-being. They are always more drawn toward growing the business and doing their bit to make a difference.
They are gold for the company, as they are always ready to give 100 percent effort to meet goals, and their genuineness shows in their work as well. The whole process of onboarding is really important as it demonstrates that the company is devoted to treating all employees equally. New hires often feel special and therefore return the favor by staying committed to their jobs.
Retention
Once you have secured employee engagement, you are not too far from having a low turnover in terms of employee retention. Engagement is directly proportional to employee retention. Higher turnover can mean more expense leading to decreased profits.
To be more precise, the cost of hiring someone new depends on the position, but to replace low-wage workers ($10 an hour), it will take about 16 percent of their annual salary to hire someone new—which is $3,328.
For mid-level employees, it takes 20 percent to replace them with someone new. For example, if the manager makes $40,000 annually, it will cost $8,000 to find a replacement.
Let’s get to higher positions. For upper-level positions, if a CEO’s annual salary is $100,000, then it would take up to $213,000 to replace him—now that is a big expense for the company to bear.
Increased Safety Adherence Through Onboarding Programs
This is more relevant for construction, production line business, or labor-oriented manufacturing companies.
Including basic safety measures in the onboarding program is a great way to introduce workplace hazards to have a safe working environment. Incorporating safety checklists in the onboarding process also gives the employer a chance to ensure that the new hire is physically and mentally suitable to work for the company. To give you a better understanding of how you can add safety checklists to your onboarding programs, take a look at the following points.
1. Employers Records
-
Drug and alcohol screening
-
Health insurance and medical statements
-
Prior training certificates and credentials for the labor-centric jobs in construction, factories, forklifting, etc.
-
Driver’s license
-
Driver qualification file
-
Employment permit (for non-citizens)
-
Previous employer’s references
2. Safety onboarding process
-
Safety Orientation Manual
-
Safety measures for certain physical tasks
-
Accident-prevention procedures
-
Policies to ensure safety—gears, etc.
-
Formal training sessions from team leaders reinforcing safety measures while performing day-to-day jobs
-
Practical test or safety awareness assessment to ensure the new hire is confident and ready to start
Importance of Safety Measures
The organization needs to ensure that all its employees are physically and mentally sound. It should be a part of the company’s culture to establish professionalism. There are objectives for assessing health before your new employee is ready to be onboard.
All the points mentioned above should be followed religiously to avoid any mishaps. For example, any negligence during the training period can lead to a severe injury—and the company is most likely to be held liable for the employee's injury. Therefore, having an intensive safety training session as a part of the onboarding program is important for companies to steer clear of trouble.
Benefits Of Onboarding Programs
The employee-to-employer relationship improves drastically during the training period of onboarding them. We will be looking at some of the positive results of onboarding programs and new hire performances.
-
Better commitment
-
Higher employee productivity
-
Higher company profits
-
Lower turnover rates
-
Higher product quality
-
Satisfied customers
-
Lower rate of employee absenteeism
-
Improved safety records
Having a solid onboarding program is beneficial to both new hires as well as current employees. It opens up great ways for employees to tune into their roles focusing on their responsibility. Without a successful onboarding plan, your new hires can often struggle with their new position.
They will feel disconnected and have a hard time settling in. The initial days at a new job is crucial for new hires as they quickly grasp what’s expected of them in terms of work hours, ethics, productivity, meeting deadlines, and the entire system of the organization. If they get a wrong idea of the company, they will be more likely to make a shift, costing the company more money.
To Conclude
A great organization facilitates a culture that enables its employees to feel valued and safe. Feeling secure and safe mean different things for employees. Setting impressive onboarding strategies by prioritizing safety measures demonstrates great ethics - and this is exactly what businesses should opt for.
The message we are trying to convey through this article is that all organizations, small, medium or big, should onboard new hires with well-defined onboarding programs to ensure the best of both worlds.
Leave a Comment