Why Is Employee On-boarding Important
Employee on-boarding should be a priority in your business because it can spell the difference between a successful company and one that is struggling. Because your employees are the backbone of your company, on-boarding them creates a strong spine that will hold your company upright as it improves retention, engagement, satisfaction, and the productivity of your employees. In a nutshell, employee on-boarding is the process by which a company integrates new employees into its culture and how it works. Alongside this, new hires are also being equipped with the right tools and information they need to function as an integral part of their team.
An on-boarding program—or the lack thereof—helps your new hires decide whether or not they want to stay engaged or become disengaged. To quote Amy Hirsh Robinson, principal of the consulting firm The Interchange Group in Los Angeles, “It offers an imprinting window when you can make an impression that stays with new employees for the duration of their careers.”
As more and more millennials come into the workforce, it is important to understand that unlike the generations before them, they are more likely to jump ship quite quickly if they are not on-boarded properly. Poor on-boarding can lead new hires to believe that the company is poorly managed, and for good reason: If the company barely cares for its new hires who help run the company, how can it be expected to take care of the rest of the company?
Even worse, unsatisfied hires and their venting over social media can make a deadly mix that can ruin the recruitment reputation of your company. This could lead to less qualified and less number of potential hires for your HR to choose from.
Why you need a good on-boarding process
As the saying goes, “First impressions last.”
Your company needs to make a good first impression or suffer in the long run. Here are a few reasons why your company needs a good on-boarding program for your new hires.
- High retention rate – High employee turnover is the nightmare of any HR practitioner. Not only does the process take time, it also creates more work for HR personnel. Good on-boarding programs are responsible for keeping about 69% of all employees engaged and productive for the first three years after they are first hired.
- Employee ramp-up time reduction – Any company would love to have its new hires be productive—and be productive now. But as with any new hire, it takes time, and the question then becomes, how much time would they need? Employee on-boarding helps reduce the adjustment period by as much as 50%.
- Increased likelihood of engagement – any company will tell you that engaged workers are the best workers. Making people feel welcome, and part of the team can help increase the engagement of new hires by as much as 20%, which leads to improved performance within the workplace and increased productivity and self-direction.
The danger of the lack of on-boarding
The lack of effective on-boarding can be highlighted in employee experiences with companies. A company without an on-boarding process can quickly confuse and discourage employees. Small things such as where you can park your car, outdated information, confusing procedural manuals, and other things can make new hires believe that the company is chaotic, disorganized, and don’t care about their employees.
On the other hand, with a good on-boarding process, new hires would know exactly where to go and who to turn to from the first day of work. After approaching the right people, new hires can more easily transition into their work when they are given the proper tools and information they need to start in their job. Proper on-boarding signals an eagerness for the company to have new hires work and become part of a productive, well-oiled machine.
Conclusion
As with any endeavor, getting things right from the very beginning can help companies avoid costly mistakes that could put company profits and reputation at risk. All companies need their people to work at their best. The least their leaders can do is make their employees feel like they were meant to be in the company and that they are valued as individuals.
