How to Onboard New Hires With More Purposefulness

The time it takes to hire for an open position can be staggering, and finally taking a new employee through their first day is a huge relief. But before they can start doing their job, they must meet with HR for what is often referred to as onboarding. They fill out paperwork, tour the office and do other routine tasks. Maybe they get lunch with their new coworkers. For many companies, this is all onboarding entails. However, it should not end here.

Essentially, onboarding should be a series of tasks, training and experiences that help an employee fully integrate into the company and its culture. They learn to fully understand how to do their role successfully and how that contributes to the success of the company. A comprehensive onboarding process can last a whole year and involves management, leadership, IT and other employees. Companies that make onboarding a companywide priority will gain a huge strategic advantage. In fact, employees who experience effective onboarding are 30 times more likely to report job satisfaction. Here are some of the integral parts of onboarding that organizations should be sure to include.

How Leaders Contribute to Onboarding Success 

The direct manager or supervisor is arguably the most important person in the onboarding process. Their central role includes tasks such as scheduling an employee’s first days and weeks on the job, communicating company expectations and developing an education plan. They regularly have conversations with their new hires to make sure they are on the right track and give actionable feedback to help them grow in their role. 

The executive team has an important onboarding role, as well. They communicate high-level information to new employees, helping them understand the organization's vision, core values and overall objectives. They also help new hires see how their contributions lead to the company’s overall goals, creating a sense of ownership and belonging in these new employees. This is important because employees who feel a sense of belonging in their workplace demonstrate higher engagement rates, and higher engagement means higher productivity and lower absenteeism. According to recent studies, this can mean up to 21% higher profitability.

Where Peers Can Contribute

Other team members across departments also have a vital role in onboarding. Broadly speaking, they show new hires what company culture is like, what quality of work is expected and what standards of behavior are acceptable. 

Experts also suggest that managers assign new hires an onboarding buddy — a team member who can make a connection with them, answer any questions they have and ultimately make them feel like part of the team. This strengthens the onboarding process in a few ways. For one, the new employee can develop a support system outside their direct manager. Also, the onboarding buddy is often someone who has first hand knowledge of the company’s onboarding experience and knows what will help new hires the most. 

Finally, this process helps the new hire become familiar with company culture — something that makes or breaks the employee experience. Culture has a huge impact on employee retention, and many employees (47%) consider it as a huge factor when they look for a new job. When the onboarding process makes it clear that the company culture is appealing, new hires will feel like they fit in sooner, and their overall employee experience will improve.

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Benefits of Strong Onboarding

The relationships described above make employees feel more engaged and supported as they take on a new role. Meanwhile, the current workforce gets the opportunity to promote company culture and ensure a new employee absorbs the company’s mission and values into everything they do. This can lead to improved metrics. Companies with a structured onboarding process have a 50% greater new hire retention. Also, studies show a correlation between engaged employees and top-of-mind KPIs such as absenteeism, turnover rate and profitability.  

A strong example of an effective onboarding tool is GSoft’s software Softstart. It’s an easy-to-learn software that is designed to make a strong, deliberate impression on new talent. Teams can record and post welcome videos for new employees, and leaders use it to share the company’s culture and brand assets. Important informational and educational documents are centralized in one place so that new hires can find the information they need quickly and easily. And managers can create a clear list of onboarding tasks and meetings over time so that the journey is clear from the very start.

Create a More Effective Onboarding Strategy Today

Treating onboarding like a simple, one-and-done task will put your organization at a disadvantage — especially considering the fact that a third of employee turnover happens in the first 90 days of employment. New employees shouldn’t feel like they must fend for themselves as they try to figure out their new role. The connection they make with peers and leaders will help them stay on track, seamlessly integrate into the company culture and have a positive employee experience.

While proper onboarding takes more time, planning and forethought, the benefits are worth it. In the end, you get a more engaged workforce that is highly involved in making new hires feel like part of the team. Tools like Softstart can lead any company in the right direction, helping them build a sense of unity among everyone in the workforce, both old and new. 

Learn more about Softstart here.