How the Best Onboarding Works: Does Your Process Measure Up?

You’ve probablyheard the phrase “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Inthis article, I’d like to show you how to make sure that first impression is agood one, and how technology that most organizations already have—includinglearning management systems (LMSs)—can leverage your effectiveness in onboarding.

Onboarding starts before you evermeet a new employee

New employeeonboarding begins before the first day of work. It begins when prospectivehires first obtain any information about your organization, perhaps as anapplicant or even well before. For instance, exposure to your company’s brandand image in the industry, news of the organization in the media, or even wordof mouth on the streets or at conferences: All of these create an impression.

The way thatyour organization treats the employee before day one (some organizations referto this as “preboarding”) and throughout his or her first year will eitherimprove or weaken the new hire’s initial impression. In fact, according to theAberdeen Group, companies that use preboarding are 1.6 times more likely to have a lower cost per hirethan those without.

The moment of truth: Onboardingbegins

Employeesmay enter the process of new-hire onboarding believing your organization isamazing! They hear positive reviews of your company’s culture through online reviews or social media. Maybe theircolleagues are clamoring to work there.

Yet even ifyour new hire has a positive impression initially, your onboarding process willquickly shed light on how the company truly operates, and research shows thatnew hires decide pretty quickly whether they want to stick around. According toBersin & Associates research, 90 percent of employees makethe decision to stay with their employers within the first six months of hire.

The Societyfor Human Resource Management (SHRM) notes, “A 2007 study from the WynhurstGroup found that newly hired employees are 58 percent more likely to still beat the company three years later if they had completed a structured onboardingprocess.”

When newhires accept a job offer, they immediately begin to reflect and ask themselves importantquestions:

• Was this a good decision? ShouldI have chosen this organization?
• Do I have what I need to besuccessful? How will I get the training and resources to be successful?
• What is expected of me? By when?
• How is my performance measured?How often?
• What can I expect in the firstweek, month, and year in this job?
• Will I enjoy working here?

Strategiconboarding helps the applicant answer these questions earlier in the process.

So what is onboarding?

Simply put,onboarding is the process of integrating new hires into an organization.

This isdifferent from new-hire orientation, which typically takes place over thecourse of a single day or perhaps a week. While both onboarding and orientationmay involve paperwork, compliance courses, self-study, and exposure to companyculture, strategic onboarding is not just transactional. Instead, it is a more holistic,ongoing, and thoughtfully executed experience.

Effectiveonboarding prepares new hires to be effective in their roles through exposureto needed information (at the right time and pace), socialization with otheremployees, opportunities for reflection, and a balance of activities.

Ideally,this process includes tactical information as well as carefully plannedexperiences and exposure to information, combined with ongoing feedback.

Why onboarding matters

According toSHRM, a 2009 study by the Aberdeen Group “reported that 66 percent of companieswith onboarding programs claimed a higher rate of successful assimilation ofnew hires into company culture … and 54 percent reported higher employeeengagement.”

Whenemployees assimilate more quickly, and when they engage with the organizationat a higher level, they are more likely to be proficient and to contribute moreto the organization.

The AberdeenGroup study also related successful onboarding to decreased turnover, higherjob satisfaction, organizational commitment, and lowered stress.

The numbers speak for themselves. But what ifyour organization doesn’t get it?

Getting buy-in

Considerforming an internal advisory group to assist in creating or revamping youronboarding.

I wroteabout the importance of advisory councils for learning-technology initiativesfor Learning Solutions Magazine in2012 (updated and republished in 2016). The process for usinga council for onboarding is very much the same. Carefully select individuals inyour organization who have a vested interest in improving the bottom line, as Isuggest in that article.

Involving supervisorsin the process is critical. Determine what the managers’ expectations are byasking what they want new hires to be able to do within the first week, month,90 days, six months, and year of employment. Working with the managers todefine what success looks like can also shed light on other dependencies in theonboarding process.

For example,if your organization isn’t able to provide the correct space, equipment(laptop, phone), or technology access (intranet, internal email, SharePoint,printer access), the new hire will be less likely to meet the manager’sexpectations in the time frame the manager expects.

Similarly,if there is a lag in HR paperwork, benefits decisions, offer letters, anddirect deposit forms, the new hire can’t get up to speed as quickly asexpected.

By using theadvisory group to uncover current processes and limitations, and comparingthese to the manager’s expectations for new-hire proficiency, you create anopportunity for dialogue and process improvement.

Use facts,focus groups, and storytelling to get the attention of the individuals who can gainbuy-in to improve processes. Paint a picture of what happens when onboarding isineffective, and get commitment to improve the onboarding process by connectingthe outcomes of onboarding to the impact on the bottom line. Numbers can getthe attention of individuals who need to sign off on investing in a new-hireonboarding program.

Create a project team

You may needa tactical project team, perhaps consisting of some of the members of youradvisory council as well as those responsible for putting new methods intoaction. This could include members of HR, instructional designers, webmasters,a project manager, and learning and development team members.

The projectteam can deliver the plan for improving onboarding, and the advisory groupserves as a means to vet ideas and take them to a higher level for approval, ifneeded. Use their help building the framework, and recognize them for theirefforts.

What to include?

Start with thebasics (before day one), and share logistics with the new hire as soon aspossible. This may include paperwork needed for technology access, benefits,company procedures, and resources.

Balance themundane paperwork with efforts to warmly welcome the new hire. This can includehandwritten thank-you notes from her team and manager, copying the new hire onwelcome announcements sent within the company, or including his bio andexperience on the company intranet or in newsletters.

Be sure toshare information new hires will need before their first day, such as dresscode, parking, building access, what to expect on day one, and team member contactinformation.

It is alsohelpful to let the new employee know what to expect (in whatever detail you canprovide) for before day one, and for their first day, first week, first month,and first year.

Leveraging technology

You canbalance the time required to welcome and prepare new employees by leveragingtechnology whenever possible.

You may notbe able to automate everything related to the hiring process right away, butyou can use existing technology to get the efforts started, then build in automationover time.

• Use thecapabilities and features of your learning management system (LMS) or enterpriseresource planning system (ERP) to automate some tasks. You may be able to automateoffer letters, welcome letters, introductory videos, checklists, documentgathering and workflow, quizzes and compliance courses, and introductions toany internal or external social media channels for employees.
• Using yourpublic-facing website to share information about the work experience in yourorganization can serve as a recruitment tool as well as a means to provideinformation to new hires. The transparency created by making information andguidebooks available for employees and their managers can give a new hire abetter understanding of what to expect. NASA has been recognized as No. 1 inthe Partnership for Public Service report Best Places to Work in the FederalGovernment. See how NASA uses its website to recruit and prepare employeesfor working at the agency.
• Some organizations send new employees a welcome video from theCEO. Even more inventive, HireVue employees record their own welcome videos and share themwithin the company’s social networks.
• Remember tobalance delivery of self-paced learning (such as early access to materials andresources via your LMS) with human interaction and reflection. Althoughautomating some tasks can be helpful, following up with phone calls andcheck-ins before the new hire begins will make the experience more personal.
• Think about thecloud-based tools your work teams are using. A client of mine uses Slack for many points of teamcommunication in addition to project management. Adding new hires or consultantsthrough the app into the conversations and channels gives them an opportunityto learn more about the projects underway and to interact with team membersquickly.
• Companies with virtual teams are discovering that tools such as Skype can bringworkers together, and by creating channels for work purposes as well as casualconversations, they are bridging the distance between workers and creatingstronger teams.

Make it ongoing

Creating astrategic onboarding process will take the buy-in of senior leaders andmanagers, input from individuals across the organization, and a commitment toongoing improvement.

Setexpectations with your advisory group and your new hires, regularly checking infor feedback and adjusting course as necessary. And celebrate successthroughout the organization as you continue to strengthen the new-hireexperience.

References

Hein, Rich. “Top 8 Sites for ResearchingYour Next Employer.” CIO.com. 28 March 2013.
https://www.cio.com/article/2387201/careers-staffing/top-8-sites-for-researching-your-next-employer.html

Hofmann, Jennifer. “Virtual Teams Are Here to Stay(No Matter What Yahoo Says).” InSync Training. 19 August 2014.
https://blog.insynctraining.com/blog/2013/06/04/virtualteams

Lahey, Zach. Welcome to the 21^st Century, Onboarding! Aberdeen Group,2014.
https://v1.aberdeen.com/launch/report/research_report/9865-RR-twentyfirst-century-onboarding.asp

Lamoureux, Kim. Strategic Onboarding: Transforming New Hires into Dedicated Employees. Bersin& Associates, 2008.
https://mms.gpstrategies.com/pdf/010408_RB_Onboarding_KL_Final.pdf

Lindenberg, Stacy. “Revisited: Building InternalAdvisory Councils.” Learning SolutionsMagazine. 31 May 2016.
https://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1971/

Martinez, Ben. “Up Your Onboarding Game withTechnology.” The Hiring Site Blog. 16 January 2015.
https://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/2015/01/16/onboarding-technology/

Maurer, Roy. “Onboarding Key to Retaining,Engaging Talent.” Society for Human Resource Management. 16 April 2015.
https://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/staffingmanagement/articles/pages/onboarding-key-retaining-engaging-talent.aspx

National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration. “Careers at NASA.”
https://nasajobs.nasa.gov/