By investing in human capital, companies can achieve long-term success. This is why the hiring process for any business is important and can define a company’s future. Employees need to get along and feel adapted to the company’s goals and culture. So, it is common and essential for HR departments to have an onboarding plan in place. This helps make sure the future of a company remains on track.
If you are a business owner or employee keep on reading to learn more about why onboarding is crucial.
What is onboarding?
Employee onboarding is the process of welcoming new employees into a company. This includes helping new employees learn about their position within the company and teaches them about their duties. It also helps new employees adopt into the current team. Thus, the goal is to make sure all employees feel confident in their new job.
While this process can be difficult, it is not set in stone. So, if you are trying to improve your onboarding process, you need to test methods to make sure they work well. Thus, this means that companies can plan their process and change it based on how well it performs.
What Are Some Examples of Onboarding Methods?
Employee onboarding goes beyond hiring new people for a business. In fact, there are many methods that companies use, including:
- Job offers and postings
- Welcoming new employees
- Team building games
- Speaking about salaries and benefit packages
- Job training days
- Contracts and other paperwork for new employees
- Touring of offices and facilities
- Employee handbooks for training and protocols
- Policies and company culture training
- Checking in with employees to see how they are doing
- Employee introductions with teams and executives
Onboarding generally occurs when an employee first starts with a company. Yet, it can also occur long after they begin. Whether recently hired or not, ongoing check-ins can make a big difference. This difference goes beyond employee happiness. This is why companies must care about their employees and focus on onboarding.
What Does Onboarding Look Like for Employees?
Onboarding begins as soon as an employee accepts a job at a new company. It ends when the employee has adapted into the company. It is also completed when the employee is fulfilling their obligations. Yet, there are steps throughout the process for employees that should include:
- Learning what they need to do in their job role
- Creating relationships with other members of the company
- Creating confidence in their abilities to do their job obligations
- Understanding the job position
What Are the Benefits?
(source: https://www.highflyerhr.com/project/top-4-benefits-better-onboarding-process/)
Now that we have a better understanding of onboarding let’s look at some of its benefits on a business.
- Decrease in employee turnover. Employees who feel confident in their position are likely to stay at a company longer.
- Increase in the level of engagement. Employees who feel adopted to company culture will be more motivated. This also increase the chance they will engage in their responsibilities happily.
- Employees have a clear understanding of expectations. Strategic onboarding makes sure employees know what they need to do to do a good job.
- Continued positive experiences. Employees will continue to have a positive time at work for longer.
- Increase in customer satisfaction. Customer happiness is a direct result of happy employees. Those who are satisfied in their job role desire to go above and beyond. This then yields an increase in customer satisfaction.
- Decrease in stress. Good onboarding also makes sure employees are less stressed in their day-to-day tasks.
- Increase in gaining other talents. Companies with happy employees have an easier time getting new employees when a job is posted.
- Increase in productivity. Planned onboarding can also help ensure new employees become productive more efficiently. This happens when they build relationships and know-how your company works. Thus, they are able to adapt quicker as part of the team.
How Long Should it Take?
There is no rule about how long onboarding new employees should take. So, it can depend on and change based on the company. But HR professionals generally agree that onboarding should take up to three months.
By having a great process, businesses can become successful. This success can happen in the present and the future. Thus, companies must spend time creating a resourceful approach.
Beginning a new job can be scary and stressful. This is why onboarding should span over weeks to ensure seamless integration. It also helps new employees understand new information and expectations more effectively. While making a strategic onboarding takes time, it is worth investing in. It also shows companies care about their employees, which is very important.
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