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10 Employee Onboarding Tips Proven to Reduce Turnover! Updated 2022

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Did you know that…?

  • 90 % of employees decide whether to stay or go within that first six months. (SHRM)
  • 82% increase in employee retention after a successful onboarding process. (Sapling)
  • 69% of employees who have a positive onboarding experience are more likely to remain with the employer for three years. (Business News Daily)

When a company has an effective onboarding program, it can reduce staff turnover rates, increase employee engagement, and allow new hires to reach their full productivity faster. For these reasons, employee retention practices must begin on the first day of employment and be consistently applied throughout an employee’s tenure. In this blog, we offer the following 10 tips to improve your onboarding program and reduce employee turnover:

Employee Onboarding versus Employee Orientation

Onboarding is when a new employee gets introduced to all the expected behaviors, skills, and knowledge they’ll need to succeed and contribute to the company’s success. Not to be confused with orientation, onboarding is an ongoing process of building engagement from the first contact until the employee becomes established within the organization. On the other hand, orientation is a stage of onboarding where new employees learn about the company and their job responsibilities.

Formal Onboarding Program

  • 86% of New hires decide to stay or leave within their first 6 months (Oval Group)
  • 30% of the new hires who had quit their job said they didn’t have any onboarding or the process was not well prepared. (Divante)

Structured onboarding programs significantly influence whether a new employee decides to stay or go. As a result, it’s critical to pay close attention and ensure that your onboarding program puts your new hires in the best possible position to succeed.

Prepare Employees for Onboarding

Employee satisfaction and engagement start with a solid first impression! If your employees don’t get the information and enthusiasm they require after accepting your employment offer; they may do what dissatisfied consumers do every day and walk out without a second thought. The objective of your employee onboarding process should be to make sure that the employee feels welcome, appreciated, and ready to succeed. On day one, provide the following to the new employee:

  • Provide all documents and forms that need to be completed and submitted to HR.
  • Prepare the employee’s workspace and provide them with all the materials and resources required to do their job.
  • Plan a schedule of meaningful training activities that are to be completed over the first week
  • Provide the new employee with a copy of company policies and procedures (often in the form of an employee handbook
  • Ensure they know where to park, a list of contact names and information, and how to get to the workplace location 3-4 days before they start

Announce and Introduce the New Employee to the Team

An introductory email that is appropriately delivered and well-written gives your team time to react to the news, get ready to welcome their new coworker, and minimize potentially negative surprises such as a new employee finding out they have a new supervisor or department member on the day they start work. It also helps the new employee put their best foot forward. Business news daily offers the following template as a guide to introducing new team members:

“Dear [employees of your company], 

We’re excited to announce an addition to our Team, [Person’s name], who will fill the position of [title] previously held by [predecessor’s name], [OR], who is coming aboard because [reason for the new position]. [Person’s first name’s] first day with us will be [starting date].

[Person’s name] has extensive experience in [skills relevant to their new job] and is a graduate of [school or other academic achievements]. [He/she/they] [is/are] joining us from [previous employer’s name], where [he/she/they] [performed job duty]. Before coming aboard at [previous employer], [he/she/they] [list responsibilities, if applicable].

[Person’s name]’s supervisor will be [name]. As part of the [department or team name], [person’s name] will [list job functions]. You can reach [person’s name] at [phone number and/or email address] or just head over to [his/her/their] [office/desk] at [location, if applicable].

Please join us in welcoming [Person’s name]. [He/she/they] [is/are] excited to meet you, and I’m sure you will be too when you learn that [fun facts]. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions at [your contact information] – and join us at a welcome [event] at [location or URL] on [date and time].

Sincerely,

[Your name and title]”

The Value of Personal Introductions

Personal introductions are effective in breaking down resistance and boundaries among people. Personal introductions also make new employees feel valued, and the act of self-introductions contributes to a healthy work culture. Employees who know one another well seldom quarrel or criticize one another. Conflicts and misunderstandings ruin the harmony at work and exacerbate stress levels.

Communicate the Company’s Vision and Culture

New employees are more engaged, productive, and motivated if they know how their job contributes to the firm’s success. Thus, knowing the company’s mission facilitates a stronger sense of belonging and purpose by providing employees with an opportunity to see how their daily activities contribute to the business’s overall success. Furthermore, understanding the company’s goals aligns leadership, enhances employee engagement and helps organizations assess how well-integrated the purpose, mission, and values are.

Make the first day memorable.

The first few days and weeks of a new employee’s experience set the tone for her overall satisfaction with the job and company. It is the company’s opportunity to make a good first impression on its newest hire, and it is where excellent, well-planned onboarding comes into play.

Here are some tips on how to make the first day memorable:

  • Give the new hire meaningful work on the first day.
  • Provide online training options for orientation
  • Ensure that all training activities match the employee’s learning style
  • Managers should make themselves available to the new hire during the first week.
  • Two-way communication is critical during the first six months!

Familiarize the new employee with policies and procedures

Formal written rules and procedures help organizations operate more efficiently and effectively by keeping everyone aligned in purpose regarding expectations and concerns. In terms of new employee onboarding, policies and practices are essential because they emphasize their professional obligations. However, they also aid employers in managing staff effectively by defining what is acceptable and unacceptable in the workplace.

Form a cross-departmental onboarding team

New hires should get a feel for the role each department plays and how it connects to their job. For example, HR knows compliance; management knows performance expectations; coworkers see the day-to-day, and IT knows how to get equipment up and running. Forming a small team with members from each department helps ensure that you’ve covered every new hire-related topic before they even walk through the front door.

Advantages of Structured onboarding process

A structured onboarding process is essential because it ensures that every new staff member has the same experience when joining your organization. This helps to create a cohesive and unified team, and it also gives employees a better understanding of the company’s culture and values.

Additionally, a structured onboarding process also helps to ensure that new employees are up to speed on their job duties and responsibilities. This increases the chances that they will be successful in their role, and it also helps to reduce the amount of time and resources spent on onboarding new employees.

Set expectations Early

  • Nearly 50% of all U.S. employees don’t know what’s expected of them at work! (Gallup)

Expectations give new employees a set of behaviors and a professional code of conduct to guide their work. Business news daily reported that, in general, employees should expect to maintain the following behaviors in any workplace:

  • Display a positive and respectful attitude.
  • Work with honesty and integrity.
  • Responsibly represent the organization.
  • Perform their jobs to a reasonable, acceptable standard.
  • Maintain good attendance.
  • Professionally conduct themselves, even when off duty.
  • Follow set policies and procedures when dealing with problems or issues.

Assign a Team member to Mentor the New Hire

  • 74% of new hires consider their peers the most helpful source of support during onboarding. (Gartner Research)

Assigning a mentor to newcomers offers them an immediate connection; it also allows them access to the mentor’s existing network. Mentors can make introductions happen smoothly and assist the new team member in building inter-organizational relationships. In addition, a good mentor can help the new employee learn the ropes and feel comfortable in their new position.

Seek and Provide Feedback During the Onboarding Process

  • 88% of organizations don’t do onboarding well (sapling)
  • 91% improved relationships with new hires by simply soliciting feedback

Employee feedback is critical to maintaining a positive employee experience. Throughout the onboarding process, data collected at each stage allows managers to look for flaws, inconsistencies, or areas that can be improved.

Seeking feedback

an organization that seeks feedback during onboarding makes new hires feel valued, even in the early phases of their employment. It’s also a display of an open culture that values honesty and forthrightness and, as a result, improves new hire productivity by enhancing the employee experience from the outset.

Providing feedback 

supervisors and peers may provide criticism, which can help a company create a more cohesive workplace when done successfully. Positive and negative feedback is essential because they aid in breaking bad habits, the reinforcement of good behavior, and team performance optimization toward objectives.

Onboarding is an essential process for both the employee and the company. By following these tips, you can make sure that your new hire feels welcomed and prepared for their new job. This will help them be more productive and reduce the time and money spent on training replacements if they leave prematurely.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading our article!

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