A thorough onboarding process can improve employee retention by 82%. Is your current onboarding program capable of increasing retention?

Understanding the Onboarding Process

Onboarding is the process of integrating new hires into your company. It includes the steps necessary for new employee assimilation, such as:

• Discussion of company structure, vision, goals, mission, values, and culture
• New hire paperwork
• Orientation information
• Preboarding processes

The onboarding experience is crucial to your new hire’s success. It’s your job to make sure your new employees understand their role and complete all the necessary HR paperwork to get started on the right foot.

Many businesses don’t spend enough time developing a quality onboarding program, which can lead to confusion and frustration in new hires. It’s not enough to hand an employee a stack of paperwork because it doesn’t engage or excite recruits. 

Onboarding processes vary by company and depend heavily on your new employee’s role. Here are engaging steps to take during onboarding that work for all types of roles:

Preboarding Processes

Preboarding familiarizes your new team member with your company before their actual start date. These processes include:

• Giving the employee a tour of the building
• Introducing new hires to other team members
• Sending your recruit a care package with branded gear
• Emailing information about benefits, company culture, and general information

Preboarding gets your recruits engaged in their employee onboarding journey because they begin to understand the business, get to know people, and feel included all before their start date.

Formal Orientation

Orientation is formal training for new hires. Because this process involves your recruit learning a lot of new information, it’s best to complete this over a few days or weeks. The goal of formal orientation is to:

• Give new employees a positive impression of your business
• Familiarize them with your company image
• Open dialogue for questions
• Explain dress code
• Describe expectations and procedures
• Inform employees of paydays, sick leave, vacation, and other benefits

Paperwork Completion

Paperwork is the least exciting aspect of the onboarding process, but it’s important and needs to be done correctly.

Many new hires don’t know how to fill out W-2s or I-9s, so if necessary, you should guide them through the completion process to make sure they fill them out properly.

To break up tedious paperwork, include a fun worksheet. Your worksheet can include questions about the new hires’ favorite snacks, movies, songs, and fun facts about them.

The Importance of an Adequate Onboarding Process

There are many reasons proper onboarding is essential for your business:

Increased Engagement

When employees thoroughly understand their role, they’re more interested in what they’re doing. No one wants to start a job without adequate onboarding, as they’ll be confused about their daily tasks and expectations.

Taking the time to train your new team members properly makes them feel comfortable and valued. When people feel cared for, they want to return the feeling by staying engaged and producing quality work for your business.

Higher Retention Rates

With increased engagement comes higher retention rates. Engaged employees are nearly 87% less likely to leave their organization, so having an engaging onboarding process is extremely valuable.

Studies show that when a business has excellent onboarding processes, 69% of employees are likely to stay for at least three years. Take the time to develop unique onboarding strategies that intrigue your new hires and encourage them to consider a long-term career with your business.

Proper Integration

Our onboarding processes allow your new hires to get acclimated with your company. Offering your recruits a comprehensive overview of their duties and responsibilities and familiarizing them with their team prepares them for their role.

Without an effective orientation or preboarding process, your employee may be confused about your expectations of them. To make sure their integration is successful, give them the proper tools to succeed during their onboarding.

How To Get Superior Onboarding Support

If you want to improve your current onboarding processes, partner with AAIM. We offer various training courses for new hires that make your onboarding more engaging, including:

• Basic business skills
• Building your career
• Creating great teamwork
• Customer service basics
• Leadership communication skills

We make sure your onboarding process is ready to go for your new hires so that you can increase engagement and retention and properly integrate your recruits.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can streamline your onboarding process.