Onboarding is essential to your organization and often works hand in hand with your company’s culture. Employee onboarding is no longer just about showing new hires the ropes: it’s also about introducing them to the company and making sure they feel welcomed, confident and engaged. This, in turn, leads to better work and a more successful organization overall.
These new employees will be taking in a lot of information during their first week at the company and it’s important to make sure that all information is consistently distributed to employees and that no important information is missed or misunderstood. Automating your onboarding process can help with this by eliminating accidental mistakes, especially when it comes to understanding all of that fancy paperwork jargon. To increase efficiency and mitigate human error, formulate a personalized checklist for each employee that contains all necessary documents. Customizing each employees onboarding experience to fit his or her own needs will not only make them feel comfortable and welcomed, but also make sure they start their job on the right foot. And of course, it would also be beneficial to the company by reducing mistakes and increasing efficiency.
And yet, onboarding is still more than just efficiency and paperwork. It’s also about welcoming new hires and introducing them to the actual work. Enlist experienced employees to help show new hires the ropes and provide them with valuable information and experience. This will also give them the opportunity to pass down important knowledge, from the lay of the land to the company culture and practices.
Most importantly, make it fun! This will allow your employees to feel engaged, enjoy the orientation process and better connect with the company. A study by 15Five, a leading Web-based employee feedback solution, found that people are more productive and produce better quality work when they feel like their company is invested in them. They perform better when they feel that they are supported, have the space to be creative and focus on where they can be the most valuable, which in turn, leads to a more effective organization.
Having a strong onboarding process can ultimately benefit the organization in many ways:
1. Increasing Company Morale: When people are excited about going to work, this is when they achieve the most, which benefits your organization. Encouraging an open, welcoming and productive environment is the best way to keep your employees motivated.
2. Reducing Turnover: Similar to the previous point, when people are engaged and enjoy the work they do, they are less likely to move on. This, in turn, increases retention and reduces turnover. In fact, it was found that new employees who participate and engage in strong onboarding orientation program are 69% more likely to stay at the company for up to 3 years.
3. Encouraging Employee Trust and Loyalty: When people feel safe to explore, create and work, they become more active team members and problem solvers.
4. Better Reputation: This is simple: The better people feel about working at your organization, the better your reputation! This will allow you to gain a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting and hiring new employees in the future.
The right onboarding process may vary across different organizations. Still, it is imperative that your organization invest in your employees to keep them happy and engaged. And onboarding plays a big role in that investment. Thus, automating, updating and strengthening your onboarding process should be an important focus for your organization so that it may continue to grow and succeed in the future.
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