How a great onboarding experience can cut new hire attrition by 20%

A great onboarding experience is something that sticks in your mind, and it sets the tone for everything that happens beyond those first few weeks/months in a new role. If a business gets it wrong right from the get go, it’s really, really hard to come back from that.

Mark Newman, founder and CEO of recruiting software provider HireVue says

“If you could make the first 45 days better, you could cut new hire attrition by around 20%”

I’d add to that and say that onboarding starts way before Day 1 in the job. It’s starts at the recruitment stage, before you even know who the new employee will be. So, every interaction and every experience the candidate (and eventual employee) has with you really does count.

Onboarding isn’t just the training, induction and integration of a new starter into the business. It also includes candidate care - the positive experience the candidate has throughout the recruitment process. It’s the picture the recruiter paints of the business, the people and the environment/culture. Onboarding is ‘ongoing’ as well. Once the initial induction and training is complete, a great onboarding process continues to offer employees relevant training and development opportunities.

How many positive onboarding experiences have you had? I’d be safe to bet, probably not many. For many it’s literally – here’s your logins and lifejacket. Give me a yell if you get stuck. Toilet’s down the back there. Lunch is at 1pm.

Great onboarding isn’t hard, and it doesn’t require a big budget for fancy branded merchandise. It simply requires some effort, good planning and caring about the people you bring into the business.

So, how do you create a great induction plan?

1. Be responsive to your candidates. Don’t leave them wondering where they’re at in the process. Keep them updated and treat them with care.

2. Before Day 1, give the new employee a call. Tell them how excited you are to have them join the team. Let them know you’ll be sending them a training plan (so they know what to expect), JD and any other resources that will help them prepare for the first day. Organise a ‘buddy’ who will be their 'go to' person in the early days.

3. On Day 1 – Make them feel special! Introduce them to the team and others in the business, organise a welcome team lunch or morning tea, give them the royal office tour. Establish a clear and thorough training plan and goals for them to work towards. E.g. by the end of Week 4, we expect that you will have been introduced to all your clients and have started booking in weekly meetings.

4. Check in – a lot. Starting a new job can be daunting for some people and they may not have the confidence to speak up if they need some help (especially if they can’t remember people’s names). Gentle encouragement is sometimes all they need to feel comfortable enough to open up. Some people will just fit it and adjust straight away. Just remember that every employee will be different and that’s OK.

5. Go through the role and make it very clear what’s expected of them – by month 1, month 3 and month 6. The most common problems new starters have about their onboarding is the lack of clarity around what they are supposed to be doing. If they haven’t been trained properly and aren’t 100% clear on what you expect, how are they to know if they’re not performing?

6. Monitor their progress and adjust training to suit their learning style and speed in picking things up. Some people pick things up quickly, some take a little longer, so patience is key here. Have realistic expectations and set training goals/milestones.

7. Survey your new starters. By the end of their first 2-4 weeks, every new starter should be able to say . . . “I feel welcomed here, I know what’s expected of me and I’m feeling productive”. If they don’t, you need to change what you’re doing because it’s not working and you risk having these new people leave.
   

Don’t let a busy schedule get in the way of creating an amazing employee experience. A great onboarding process will improve employee engagement and produce a happy and productive employee much sooner.

Which should be what every business wants.