Everything Your Onboarding Process Needs

If we were to tell you there was one way to improve employee retention by over 80% and productivity levels by 70%— would you be interested? (Who would say no to that?) You might be worried it will require bribing employees with constant rewards or massive bonuses—but no! The secret is more effective onboarding. If you are overwhelmed by the mention of onboarding, that’s okay. Read on, and we will break it down to show you everything your onboarding process needs.

What is onboarding?

Every company wants its staff to feel confident and at home in their new roles. All employees must have the tools, information, and support for this to happen. Onboarding is the process of bringing in new hires and helping them integrate into the organization. This stage within the employee lifecycle is a strategic process for helping new employees acclimate to their roles and feel a sense of belonging right from the get-go.

Each employee goes through a 6-phase journey at a company called the Employee Lifecycle. The 6 phases are attract, recruit, onboard, develop, engage, and exit. Onboarding is the third phase of the cycle and critical to the company’s and its employees’ success. The onboarding process is more than just administrative tasks like signatures and tax documents—it is a holistic approach to welcoming and supporting new team members that should extend far beyond the first few days or weeks. Onboarding often includes steps such as:

• Pre-boarding: Everything that takes place before the employees’ first day, including paperwork, documents, welcome emails, and pertinent information such as dress code or parking locations.
• Welcoming & introductions: Formal welcomes into the company and introductions to managers, department heads, or team members. This may include information about their specific role and how it will coincide with other positions in the company. 
• Orientation: Introduction to company culture, values, goals, etc., and a basic overview of the company’s history or background. This step can include a building tour and company perks offered. The goal of orientation is to help new hires familiarize themselves with the values and vision of their new company.
• Training: Time spent learning the skills and information needed for a specific role. This training (compliance training, job-specific training, etc.) is offered to give new employees what they need to start off feeling confident and prepared.
• Company culture, policies, & procedures: Communication with or about HR, guidelines, ethics, policies, etc. This will also include enrollment processes, channels of communication, and remote work procedures, if applicable.
• IT setup: Distribution of equipment and technology such as phones, laptops, software, and essential login information. If employees work remotely, they will receive the remote support required for their roles.
• Goal setting: Clear communication between managers and new hires over expectations and goals for their specific roles. This will provide employees with a framework for feedback and interactions, as well as what is expected for performance evaluations. 

Read More: 5 Principles of a Good Virtual Onboarding Session For New Employees

Why is the onboarding process important?

The employee onboarding process is multi-faceted and crucial for the health and success of an organization. When you zoom out a bit, you can see that the benefits gained from successful onboarding pay off—big time. Effective onboarding is a necessary investment, and here’s why: Onboarding not only affects a new hire but also can have positive and negative effects on a company. A company’s employee retention, culture, productivity, and engagement are all things that can be affected negatively if an onboarding program is lacking or unsuccessful. 

Higher employee retention

Remember that statistic we shared at the beginning? It’s worth stating again here— studies show that a strong onboarding process improves retention rates among new hires by 82%. When employees have what they need to feel successful from the beginning, they are more likely to stick around rather than jumping ship shortly after being hired. Not only will that benefit team morale and engagement, but not having to continually replace employees will save the company a lot of money.

Better team engagement

Engagement describes the emotional commitment and dedication team members have in their roles. A company that invests in a strong and comprehensive onboarding process inadvertently tells its employees that the organization highly values employee success and satisfaction. It sets a positive tone, helps employees feel connected to the team and the organization, encourages a sense of belonging, develops confidence and skills, and reduces stress or uncertainty in their new role. All in all, it helps to shape a positive work experience that will result in more engaged teams who are more committed and motivated to their work. 

Stronger company culture

One facet of the onboarding process is instructing new employees on the culture of the organization, including its values, missions, and goals. New hires need to identify and align themselves with the core values of the company in order to feel a strong sense of connection and purpose. This connection is directly linked to happy and satisfied employees who want to remain at their jobs rather than looking elsewhere. 

Better customer experience

There is a strong correlation between onboarding and an organization’s customer experience. It’s true that onboarding is focused on the newly hired employee, yet the effects of that onboarding process extend far beyond that one individual. Effective onboarding creates employees who are confident and well-trained, uniform teams that provide consistent, quality service, and workers who can empathize and understand customer needs, problem-solving skills, and good first impressions. 

Increased staff productivity 

A crucial piece of the onboarding process is ensuring new employees are trained effectively and have the necessary information and resources to perform their jobs. When workers feel confident in their training, they can quickly become productive in their roles and reduce or minimize a painful learning curve. It is much easier to be more productive and engaged in a role you feel confident in versus a role you feel grossly underprepared for. 

Alright, you know what onboarding is and why it’s important—now what? Understanding what successful onboarding looks like requires also knowing what it doesn’t look like. There are many mistakes employers make that can negatively impact a new employee’s experience and success in their role. The list above is reason enough to take employee onboarding seriously, and yet too many organizations continue to fall short.

“Only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organization does a great job onboarding new employees.”

– Gallup

8 Common onboarding process mistakes—and how to solve them

Mistake #1: Confusing orientation with onboarding

The terms “onboarding” and “orientation” are often used interchangeably since they both give new hires information and resources at the start of their careers. Though they may have some overlap, they are different stages of integration for new employees. 

Orientation is all about introducing employees to the company’s policies, procedures, and facilities. This usually happens in the first few days of being hired and is the initial step in bringing new hires in. 

Onboarding is much more comprehensive and broad. While orientation usually lasts a few days or weeks, onboarding can be several weeks, months, or even up to a year, depending on the complexity of the role. 

Both orientation and onboarding are important in the process of integrating employees, but the mistake lies in reducing onboarding to just orientation. Suppose your onboarding process only consists of introducing the company, filling out forms, signing up for benefits, and reviewing policies and procedures. In that case, your employees will be grossly underprepared for their roles and be more likely to seek better-structured organizations.

How to fix it: Onboarding and orientation go hand-in-hand and are both needed for a well-structured onboarding process. Keep orientation a part of that process, but make sure to extend your onboarding further. Sit down and create a clear step-by-step plan that includes everything you want your new hires to have in order to succeed in your company. Then, divide which aspects can fall under orientation and which pieces need to have more dedicated time and energy spent through onboarding.

Mistake #2: Making a bad first impression

Nothing makes a new employee want to back out more than a bad first impression. If a new employer is already dropping the ball in this important introductory period, it might be a sign of how things will be handled further down the road. First impressions can’t be taken lightly, as 22% of turnovers occur within the first 45 days of employment. Since onboarding is the first full interaction employees have with their roles, teams, and employers—having a substandard onboarding leaves employees with a similar impression of the company as a whole.

How to fix it: To avoid making a bad impression, make sure your boarding process is something to be proud of. Companies like Kudoboard make it quick and easy to warmly welcome new employees onto your team with group welcome cards that make a lasting (good) first impression.  

Mistake #3: Giving too much information

Information overload can be an issue during the onboarding process for new hires. When there is too much information, new hires can feel overwhelmed and overstimulated. This leads to many problems, such as burnout, inattentive behavior, and an overall negative employee experience. 

How to fix it: Companies can do a few things to combat information overload. The first is to set clear goals and expectations for employees. Having a dedicated onboarding liaison might be helpful to ensure that new hires are only getting the information they need. An onboarding liaison can also help set a clear roadmap or timeline for the onboarding journey. Another way that companies can prevent information overload is to break down information into manageable chunks. This would include categorizing the information into separate topics and modules. Using different formats to deliver the information could also be helpful for new hires. Finally, balancing self-paced and social learning is another important aspect of preventing information overload. Allowing new hires to learn some of the information on their own is nice, but it is also helpful to learn as a group. Learning as a group also helps new hires get to know other people in the company and gives them a sense of belonging. 

Mistake #4: Not enough structure

A successful onboarding program is structured so that employees are getting the most out of the program. For example, if onboarding doesn’t have a well-organized orientation, then employees will feel uncertain and unsupported in the initial stages of onboarding. Similarly, if employees are not given structured times to socialize with fellow new hires or their new team, they might not have a sense of belonging at the company. 

How to fix it: An organized orientation is key to providing a well-structured onboarding experience. This would include giving times and procedures for checking in and out, clear expectations and goals for the orientation process, as well as a place for employees to share their concerns or give feedback. Additionally, encouraging socialization during the onboarding process is essential for new hires to feel a sense of belonging; however, it can feel chaotic if that socialization is not organized. Finally, another way that companies can give structure to the onboarding process is to provide onboarding buddies and utilize automation tools for training. 

Mistake #5: Lack of goals and expectations

If your company does not have a clear set of goals for the onboarding process, new hires might feel lost and unsure of their purpose in the company. A lack of goals could look like not giving enough information about what to expect in their first few months at a company. It could also look like not communicating what is needed from the new hires, such as role expectations, what their place is in the new team, and more.  

How to fix it:

Fixing this problem is fairly simple. To avoid making this mistake, ensure that the new hires know what is expected of them at all stages of onboarding. This could include giving them checklists throughout onboarding (this could be given as a virtual checklist through a tool such as Enboarder). Another way to combat this is by having frequent check-ins with management; this helps employees stay on track with their goals and clearly understand what is expected of them.

Mistake #6: Forgetting company culture

Many companies spend time fostering their company culture with current employees but might need an introduction to their company culture in the onboarding process. This oversight leads to many problems, such as new hires not understanding the company’s core values and overall goals. 

How to fix it: 

 The onboarding process should reflect said culture to ensure that new hires are aware of the company culture. To do this, part of the onboarding process would include talking about culture and sharing what makes your company unique. This could involve sharing real-life examples of how your company’s values are used in a daily workplace setting. Another way companies can encourage their culture as part of the onboarding process is to incorporate Kudoboard. Management and teams can send their new team members a welcome card to encourage a sense of belonging.

Mistake #7: Insufficient training and support

A main part of onboarding is training, but if there isn’t enough training or support, many new hires will feel lost in their new role. This could look like not giving enough of an overview of what their new position entails. Another mistake could be not giving the new hire enough support throughout the onboarding process and even a few months after. 

How to fix it:

A simple way to fix insufficient training and support during the onboarding process is more communication. Communicating with new hires about what is expected of them while still giving proper training is vital during onboarding. Another way to ensure effective training is through using multiple training platforms. Utilizing one method of training can be tedious for new hires. However, using multiple forms of training, such as physical, digital, and gamification, can help new hires feel more supported and learn quickly. 

Mistake #8: Not soliciting feedback

Of course, another mistake could be not letting employees give feedback. Encouraging employees to give feedback on their overall onboarding experience helps in multiple ways. First, it helps the new hire feel heard and gives them a chance to decompress, whether their experience was good or bad. Second, it helps the company improve its onboarding experience for the next set of new hires. 

How to fix it:

To fix this mistake, give new hires a way to give feedback. This could be done in a variety of ways, including a digital survey or a meeting with their new manager. There are also a variety of tools that allow companies to get anonymous feedback from employees, such as Google Forms, Office Vibe, and more. 

Putting together a checklist for your onboarding process

Now that you know all about onboarding (you’re basically an expert by now), it’s time to put everything together! To make it easy for new hires, you may want to use this onboarding process guide to create a checklist for your HR team and managers to reference. Follow these steps and watch how your onboarding process changes for the better— and your employees along with it.

With solid investments in onboarding, your organization will see greater employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention, ultimately leading to (hopefully) record numbers as a result. While it may take some time to implement changes and effectively implement an air-tight process, your new hires, team members, and employees will thank you.