First impressions matter - and nowhere is this more true than employee onboarding. Multiple studies show the correlation between employee retention and productivity and the quality of their onboarding experience. Roughly one in ten employees say that their company is doing a good job with onboarding. Further, employees that are adequately onboarded work 57% harder and are nine times less likely to leave.
Employee productivity and retention are critical, as hiring new employees is a time-demanding and costly process. Staying on top of your game with employee onboarding should be your top priority. To help you with this, we have gathered five biggest mistakes companies make when it comes to onboarding, so make sure you avoid them.
1. Lack of organization
Hiring a new employee is a change both for the company and the employee. Employee data collection, paperwork, orientation, etc.- there is a lot to be done and it can get confusing and stressful for everyone if you do not have a clear outline of the process.
Any internal issues, such as disconnection between the HR Management system and identity provider, need to be resolved and ready for incoming employees. Keep in mind that overloading new hires and IT with too much information at once with no clear structure and timeline can delay the process and incur avoidable costs.
Tip: A comprehensive onboarding checklist is a great way to organize your onboarding process. It will also show your new employee you care about them, and improve their work experience significantly.
2. Relying on manual onboarding
Manual onboarding is a nuanced and tedious process, with many repetitive tasks, like sharing relevant calendars, giving access to specific files and applications, etc. The time IT and HR spend on manual onboarding increases exponentially as more employees are hired.
A simple solution to this? Automation. Automated onboarding has immense benefits: it shortens the onboarding process, removes repetitive tasks,it is easier to implement and creates a stellar employee experience.
Tip: Need help with workflow automation? Visit https://zenadmin.de/.
3. Confusing orientation with onboarding
Making the new employee feel comfortable is important- but not as important as paperwork and IT onboarding. Around 62% of employers say their primary goal with onboarding is integrating employees with the workplace culture. This statistic shows just how many employers fail to make a distinction and prioritize between onboarding and orientation.
Proper onboarding includes completing necessary paperwork, device selection, provisioning of login credentials, pre-start training, making sure your employees will get paid- thus building trust between the company and the employee.
You will need to have IT onboarding components ready: device setup, login credentials and SaaS accounts should be ready before your employee’s first day. Making sure your employees are comfortable is important- but only if they have everything they need to do their job.
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4. Not improving the onboarding process
One of the main reasons onboarding is often neglected, as 55% of employers claim, is the absence of tools to measure its effectiveness. Regularly reflecting on how coherent and effective your onboarding process is should be one of your main priorities. Identifying mistakes, learning from them and rectifying them as well as actively researching best practices on the market can save a lot of time and stress in the long run. Constant improvement and staying up-to-date should be your goal- in all aspects of your business.
Tip: Employee feedback on their onboarding experience is a good idea (perhaps a survey or a simple conversation with the employee).
5. Not taking security training seriously
No business is secure enough when it comes to hackers. According to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigation Report, there has been a 13% increase in Ransomware breaches- more than in the last 5 years combined, with 82% of total breaches involving human element. Implementing appropriate security technology is imperative, but so is educating your employees in important cybersecurity practices. Security awareness training can help deter attacks, and prevent data breaches- keeping your organization safe and healthy.
Conclusion
Onboarding is an employee’s first opportunity to get acquainted with their workplace. Making sure this process goes with no major bumps on the road can save your organization a lot of time and money, and can boost your employee retention and productivity immensely. Most importantly, it builds a relationship of trust between the employee and the organization.
