Onboarding – Why it Matters to Your Company

Recruiting in today’s world doesn’t end with the offer letter being signed. It continues on through the first year and sometimes even longer. Companies are more at risk of losing new hires in the first 3 months than at any other point in the first year and this could be due to a poor or non-existent onboarding process.

A formal onboarding process matters a great deal not only to your new hire, but to the company as well. According to a study done by Leadership IQ, more than half of new hires fail within the first 18 months. Another study done by The Wynhurst Group says that 22% of staff turnover occurs in the first 45 days of employment. This isn’t exactly how you want your recruitment efforts to end.

 “New employees who went through a structured onboarding program were 58 percent more likely to be with the organisation after three years.” (The Wynhurst Group)

That’s a pretty powerful statistic. You can improve your company’s retention rate just by having a structured onboarding program. Not only does that make your job as a recruiter easier by not having to re-recruit for the same positions, but you also create a healthy culture where people want to stay and contribute to the company.

To prevent your new hire from leaving, make sure your company has a formal onboarding process.

1. Start making them feel welcome before their first day
2. Help them feel prepared for their job and make them feel at ease
3. Continue doing checkups throughout the first year

By investing in a good onboarding program you can also accelerate the time it takes for your employee to go from new hire to productive employee, saving the company time and money. It sets realistic expectations of what the employee can expect and what is expected of the employee in their new role, ultimately setting the tone for how they perform for your company.

A formal onboarding program can greatly reduce turnover rates, which can also save the company time and money from loss of productivity, lost work due to vacancies, and recruiting activities.

Just like recruiting is a good time to promote your brand, onboarding provides the same opportunity. Having a consistent brand experience is important and you should maintain that experience through the onboarding phase. Once someone has been hired, they still need to be convinced that they have made the right choice and buy into the company’s culture in order to stay and become a valuable employee. A successful onboarding program can ease the new hire into the company culture and get them thinking about how to make the brand better before they even start working.

If you’re unsure of where to start when creating an effective onboarding program, we’ve created an onboarding checklist to help you. Having an automated onboarding program can also take some of the workload and give you that time to make sure you are fully focused on welcoming and acclimatising your new employee in the company.