the benefits of a proper onboarding process: how it can enhance your business.

Everyone knows how important first impressions are for creating positive experiences. However, many companies still haven’t thought about the first impressions they present to their new hires. During an employee’s first weeks and months at a company, their gut feeling about their new workplace is cemented, and the quality of their introduction can have major effects on their performance and retention further down the line.

That’s where onboarding comes in. By carefully planning and implementing a quality onboarding process that gives your new hires the tools and knowledge needed to do the job, integrates them into the company culture and creates confidence they need to flourish, the HR department can dramatically boost the overall health and performance of the organisation.

If you haven’t yet formalised and implemented a real onboarding process yet, this article will show some of the main reasons to get started as soon as possible.

increased retention

Numerous surveys and studies show that employees who go through a quality onboarding stay at the company for longer. As an example, this academic study of software engineers at a Fortune 500 financial firm found that those who went through an extended onboarding process had a 92% one-year retention rate — compared to 82% for those that didn’t get the extended onboarding. In a time of severe talent shortages, boosting retention by 10 percentage points would be a major win for most companies.

better employee engagement

Starting a new job should be an exciting, hopeful time — but for many new hires, it’s a disappointment. A study of over 1,000 American workers from HR services company Paychex found only half said they were satisfied with their onboarding. According to the results:

• one in three described their latest onboarding as “confusing”
• one in four said it was “boring”
• one in five called it “disorganised”

Positive work experiences, trustworthy leadership and the right tools and training are all key for employee engagement — so failing to provide them during onboarding will lead to a disengaged workforce.

a strong employer brand

A good reputation among jobseekers is a vital element in a strong employer brand — but it’s also one of the hardest to build up. If you’ve spent time and money becoming an attractive employer but your reputation gets damaged by a dissatisfied employee who quit after six months, you’ll know why onboarding is important. Surveys have found that almost one in five HR teams say issues in their onboarding programme have damaged their employer brand, but it’s likely there are even more teams who haven’t discovered the damage yet.

stronger integration for remote workers

For the thousands of worldwide workers surveyed in our own Workmonitor study, some degree of remote working is a non-negotiable benefit for around 54% of them. We also found that 55% of them would consider quitting if they were forced to spend more time in the office.

This is the reality — but when they’re working from home, it’s harder for these workers to take part in everyday office life. A remote onboarding process that creates a feeling of belonging and takes advantage of the benefits of remote work can make remote workers feel at home in their teams — and reduce the risk of their engagement levels dropping.

reduced hiring-associated costs

The retention-boosting effect of a good onboarding programme can lead to a much more cost-effective workforce. In a situation of high turnover, the organisation spends money hiring new employees, training them up and waiting for their productivity to reach normal levels — only for the employees to leave before the company sees any benefit. Additionally, it then has to hire replacements, and risk the same situation unfolding again.

Bringing down early turnover by investing in your onboarding plan can therefore cut costs significantly — allowing the HR department to have a major impact on the company’s bottom line.

To find out what these costs look like in your company, download our calculator. Just add some details about your workforce and current turnover rate, and discover your total hiring, training and lost productivity costs — and see how much a small reduction in turnover could save.