As companies ramp up their hiring, there’s a strong need for good onboarding to ensure that companies can keep the fantastic employees they’ve spent the time and effort recruiting.
Here are the top onboarding trends companies are using this year to ensure that they don’t fall into the 40% of businesses that are understaffed this year. Using these ideas will make it so any employee you hire will stick around for as long as they’re needed.
When you are ready to hire and ideally keep employees, Jobvite’s talent software will be here to help.
The pre-boarding before their first day
If your company’s introduction to your new employee happens on their first day on the job, your company is already falling behind. Preboarding allows companies to gather any personal information needed ahead of time so that on their first days in the office, employees don’t have to spend a lot of time waiting for their data to be scanned and processed.
Preboarding should allow for small introductions to the company’s culture while also ensuring that new employees feel welcomed and appreciated. Although this happens before they officially start their job within the company, employee retention must begin here. You should wow these new workers and get them excited to start their careers within your company.
A focus on employee mental health and needs
As an employee’s first few days at the company start, the new hires themselves will be taking in a lot of information. If they’re on-site, they’ll have to learn how to get into the building, what to wear, where to park, and where to report every day. If they’re remote, there’s even more to figure out, since they have to learn everything through a phone or computer screen.
Help lower their stress levels and ensure that they feel welcomed and taken seriously. It’s natural to feel anxious and unsure about a new job, especially if this is the first job they’ve held since the beginning of the pandemic, so work with them on lowering stress and nerves. The onboarding portal shouldn’t overwhelm them with information instantly, and every step should be able to be taken at the unique pace of each employee.
Onboarding is more than just technical information
Although employees need to understand the companies they work for and the work they’re expected to do, there’s more to a business than the numbers. Help employees understand the value of working for this business through its culture and by going into details of what their daily lives will be like working there.
Onboarding new employees should be an introductory course to the business itself. The process should contain information on what the workers’ jobs will entail, whether it’s remote work or not, and what the company wants to do for them individually. Everyone was hired for a reason, something stood out about their application above so many others, so it’s good to be honest and admit that. Show them they’re appreciated!
Helping new employees see upward mobility
A fantastic trend many companies are forming this year is boosting employee retention by showing them how their roles can evolve and grow over time. Use the employee onboarding process to look at a timeline of how other employees have succeeded within the company, and let them view what types of promotions and internal job transfers they’ll be eligible for eventually.
Of course, it’s impossible to predict the future and know if they’re going to work out, but helping them build an image in their mind of working for the company in the long-term can help develop an emotional connection. When people can visualize a future for themselves, they’re more likely to work subconsciously to reach that future, making this career planning both a pep talk and a legitimate plan.
Leading employees to feel like a team sooner
No amount of employee onboarding programs will work if you can’t help these new employees feel like part of the team. Giving them their place in the business allows them a better understanding of how their work affects others and helps move the business forward. A fantastic way many companies do this is by having a mentor program.
This program works by onboarding new employees through pairing them up with employees who have been with the company for a couple of years. You should ensure their mentor is someone who enjoys working for the company and has a lot of promise for what the employees need to achieve. If you don’t pair carefully, you might send the wrong message to the new hires. Seeing the work through the eyes of someone who’s been doing it for a couple of years can be inspiring to new employees who want to be that skilled as well.
Not allowing remote onboarding to be less rewarding
Remote onboarding is often overlooked, with some companies simply sending out a slideshow of talking points. This is an enormous missed opportunity to show new employees that their work matters.
New employee onboarding metrics can be improved if you help them see a future at the company. Don’t give these new hires a reason to think that the company cuts corners or avoids doing the most it can do for them, even if you can’t hype them up in person.
Onboarding is more than simple job training
Many people struggle to see the difference between recruitment and onboarding and the difference between onboarding and training. There’s only one thing onboarding has to achieve: create excitement for the employees to work for the company. If well done, a great onboarding process can ensure that employees stay for their full career, but if poorly done, they might not make it through the first thirty days.
Too often, a rough onboarding can be the difference between new employees staying for a long time and leaving after just a few months. Jobvite’s talent software can help you create and sustain that new employee engagement right from the get-go. Contact us now for a product demo.
