With rising inflation, the risk of recession, and a highly competitive labor market fresh in mind, many employers are focused on implementing creative strategies to improve their hiring and retention processes. To attract and retain top talent, organizations not only need to offer a compelling total compensation package and showcase a positive, accommodating company culture; they also need to ensure that their new hires feel informed, supported, and integrated into their new role and workplace.
One frequently overlooked aspect of hiring and retention is the onboarding process, which, when successfully managed, can mean the difference between sustaining (or losing) a talented, career employee. With recent research demonstrating that streamlined onboarding processes can improve the retention of new hires by 82% and raise productivity by more than 70%, it’s clear that developing an effective onboarding program is necessary for any organization committed to securing a sustainable workforce. Onboarding should be viewed as a long-term investment rather than a short-term fix, particularly as data from McKinsey highlights how new hire productivity increases with each year that they remain at the job, while turnover and productivity decline deliver significant financial burdens to organizations of all sizes.
In this article, we’ll explore the 5 most common onboarding challenges employers face and provide you with actionable recommendations to revamp your program and ensure improved hiring and retention.
A conventional, paper-based onboarding process can easily overwhelm your organization’s HR staff. Consider that they must manually process and manage I-9 compliance; federal W-4 and state tax withholding Forms; benefits enrollment; direct deposit; forced compliance on hiring practices; and a host of other documents and processes for each new employee. This approach often leads to human error and compliance issues, while preventing your HR staff from playing a more strategic or interpersonal role in the onboarding process: answering a new hire’s questions, reiterating workplace expectations, introducing the new hire to staff, and other actions that support employee wellness and socialization in the first year of employment.
With the use of comprehensive HR software, these processes are streamlined and automated, allowing your organization to store and monitor all employee information in a single paperless system. By removing the tedium and frustration of paper-based processing, you grant your HR staff the opportunity to do their best work while showcasing to new hires that processes within your organization will be seamless and low-stress: making a reassuring and encouraging first impression.
If an organization de-prioritizes onboarding, this can lead to disorganization, stalled processing of key information, and new hire alienation early in the employment process. Since research demonstrates that up to 20% of employee turnover occurs within the first 45 days of employment, these seemingly minor technical and organizational processes can, in fact, make a massive difference for your organization.
To “install” and improve your onboarding processes, consider a few simple steps:
Start onboarding before day one of employment with a preboarding process that grants your new hire increased time to complete forms or review your employee handbook. You could also send a company welcome email, a welcome package, educational materials specific to their role, or simply offer to schedule a more informal coffee meeting with some of the staff they’ll meet once “day one” officially arrives. These small gestures can significantly improve a new hire’s sense of focus and coherence when they begin their first day.
Once employment begins, schedule regular check-ins at planned intervals (monthly or otherwise). Even if you’ve implemented a preboarding process to give an employee early access to your software and any training tools they need, understand that starting a new job can be an overwhelming process. Checking in on how the employee is faring both productively and socially can help you address technical or knowledge gaps early on, answer questions, reestablish expectations, or clarify important aspects of the employee’s role within your organization.
Use software and technology that simplifies the onboarding process. Whether it’s the input of key employee information, or modules for assessments, surveys, or training, be sure to leverage digital tools that make the onboarding process headache-free for HR staff and new hires alike. To emphasize the benefits of this approach, recognize that according to a recentCareerBuilder survey, 41% of employers identify an unstructured onboarding process as the root cause of lower productivity, higher employee turnover, and lower employee morale, among other effects.
Compiling all of the information you need to start, manage and sustain onboarding for a new employee “takes a village” using a paper-based approach. From ensuring the accurate completion of forms to sending follow-up emails to different departments (IT, payroll, etc.), without a centralized software-based approach, onboarding can needlessly frustrate staff and leave new hires confused about delays, lack of confirmation/receipt of documents, or other issues.
HR software automates many of these tasks and radically improves cross-departmental communication and collaboration. Through the use of one familiar online portal, multiple stakeholders can monitor and contribute to onboarding tasks and complete these tasks in real-time.
According to new research, when employers ask new hires for feedback about their hiring and onboarding process (and concerns) before their official start date, they are 91% more likely to feel engaged with their new employer and 79% more likely to refer others to the company. In addition to improving a new hire’s sense of connection with their employer and colleagues, these qualitative (and relatively objective) assessments of the onboarding process can help an organization refine its onboarding practices, assess company culture, and take a deeper look at the way the organization provides a sense of security, reliability, and inclusion to new employees.
Failing to regularly engage with new hires about their experience regarding the onboarding process can lead to increased turnover, which in quantitative terms costs the average organization between 100% to 300% of the replaced employee’s salary per employee lost.
Fortunately, HR software makes the technical and organizational dimensions of onboarding infinitely more efficient, leaving more room for HR staff and existing team members to participate in the welcome and support of a new hire.
Because of the wide range of tasks required of HR staff and other departments in processing a new hire’s information, a paper-based approach (or the use of subpar HR software) can lead to missed signatures, inaccurate tax information, benefits inaccuracies, incomplete trainings, and other issues that could lead to major problems with legal compliance.
A comprehensive HR software solution ensures that all of this data is complete, accurate, and securely submitted to the proper agencies and authorities on time.
If your company is invested in improving its onboarding processes, let our experienced and knowledgeable staff offer innovative solutions to address your HR needs. Cello's HR & onboarding services and software can help you cut labor costs, improve employee retention, ensure legal compliance, and grant your HR staff the opportunity to help new hires become productive, engaged, and career-long members of your workforce. Ready to take your hiring and onboarding to the next level? Contact us today to start our collaboration.