Table of content:

  1. What does onboarding mean?
  2. Facts and figures
  3. What are the benefits of an employee onboarding process?
  4. What factors should you consider for your onboarding process?

You have finally found the new employee(s) you were looking for? You might think that the role of HR ends here.

On the contrary, once the recruitment process is over, you must start and structure the next step: employee onboarding.

According to the Harvard Business Review, almost 33% of new employees look for another job during their first 6 months within the company. And 23% leave it within a year.

Recruiting new employees has a significant cost, but the investment is worth it if your employees stay in your company for several years.

Once the contract is signed, you should not leave them to fend for themselves. You should convince them to stay in your company. Turnover has a cost that can be avoided.

You should therefore continue to support your new employees during the first few weeks or months. This period is a delicate one where communication plays a major role.

In fact, according to the Harvard Business Review study, it is estimated that it takes up to 8 months for a new employee to reach full productivity.

What does onboarding mean?

According to The Cambridge Dictionary, onboarding is “the process in which new employees gain the knowledge and skills they need to become effective members of an organisation”.

The employee onboarding process includes all the actions taken by a company to welcome and integrate new employees.

However, there is also a pre-onboarding phase, which refers to the period between the moment when the candidate verbally accepts an offer and their actual arrival in the company. This period can last several months due to the varying degrees of notice.

The objective of integration for the company is one of business impact, i.e. the employee must receive all the tools and information she/he needs to be productive as quickly as possible.

But it also helps to facilitate the employee’s understanding of the company, its culture, values, and how it runs. To encourage cohesion within the teams around shared values.

Facts and figures

Today we are experiencing a war for talent and competition between companies is strong. It is easy for a qualified employee to find a new job. Today’s generations are no longer afraid to leave their position if they have found better elsewhere or if their first weeks in a new company did not go well.

As mentioned in the introduction, 23% of new hires leave their new company within a year, often due to a lack of communication.

This has a direct effect on hiring costs for companies. According to the study above, the cost of replacing an employee would be between 100% and 300% of the annual salary of the departed employee, depending on the position held.

But there are ways to reduce turnover and prevent employees from leaving the company before the end of their probation period.

One of the solutions is to welcome them into the company through a well-organised onboarding process once recruitment is complete.

Today, the problem is that ¼ of companies say they do not have a clear onboarding program. Once the recruitment of employees is complete, they are frequently not followed up. Or they do not have initial training that would allow them to integrate well into their new company.

Yet more and more researches and articles suggest that the onboarding phase is the most important in an employee’s career. If a new employee’s onboarding phase does not go well, it can have a significant impact on its long-term integration into the company. But also on its commitment, its efficiency, and she/he will be more likely to leave the company quickly.

A failed onboarding phase also means more costs and work for HR teams, as they have to start the whole recruitment process from scratch.

The purpose of onboarding is to give employees all the tools they need to become successful.

Ronald, Training & Development Consultant at LHC International

What are the benefits of an employee onboarding process?

Before even starting the recruitment process, you must identify what skills are required for the new position. What challenges the new employee will face? You have to be able to intervene early in your employee’s experience to minimise future problems and difficulties.

We provide our employees with guidelines and a code of practice from which they can and should gradually develop their own way of working.

Properly welcoming and training new employees during the first weeks is therefore essential. This can only be beneficial for your company and your new employees.

Onboarding increases your employee’s productivity:

Starting a new job can be stressful for employees. They must learn everything and integrate into a new organisation and understand how it works.

You should therefore onboard them during their first days and prepare properly their working environment: have the necessary equipment (such as a computer), access to the company’s software, an e-mail address, etc. Everything must be functional.

Providing them with all the necessary training, equipment, and tools from day one will save everyone time. Your new employee will be able to start working quickly and be operational faster.

Employee onboarding reduces turnover and builds loyalty:

Welcome them with the right foundation to increase their loyalty and commitment to your company.

According to Glassdoor, a good onboarding improves the retention of new employees by 82%.

If the onboarding is well-prepared, it will help employees validate their decision to start their new job within your company. They will feel more confident in their choice and will be more motivated to work and make a long-term commitment.

Onboarding provides more transparency:

Ensure that your new employees receive all the necessary information about your company’s operations or teams from the start to put them on an equal foot and to increase transparency within your company.

Onboarding affects your employer branding:

The employer brand reflects all the issues of your company’s image, linked to human resources management and recruitment. It reflects your company’s values and missions.

Inform the newcomers about your company’s raison d’être, its missions, and its values.

Indeed, beyond the impact of onboarding on the employee, it is your brand’s image that is at stake.

Onboarding allows for a better analysis of your recruitment phase:

For many companies, it is difficult to understand the reasons why their employees leave. According to a 2019 Cezanne HR study, almost 63% of HR departments have had an employee quit before they even started their new job.

You must understand the reasons for these resignations to know how and where to improve your recruitment and induction process.

This is what onboarding is about, to give everyone the same amount of information or knowledge to better follow the results of the employees and understand why some of them don’t achieve the expected results.

What factors should you consider for your onboarding process?

You cannot improvise the integration and training of your new employees.

Be familiar with the qualities required for the job and provide the necessary information about your company and the job.

Steps for an effective onboarding process could be:

  • Pre-onboarding
  • Preparing the team, the workstation, tools, and CRMs
  • Welcome day and welcome package
  • Assignment of a mentor
  • Role-specific training
  • Transition to their new role
  • Follow-ups
  • Regular communication

The integration of a new employee is a delicate phase of the recruitment process. Their experience in a company depends on several factors: the recruitment process, the onboarding, and long-term training.

If you organise a well-structured onboarding process after the recruitment, you can influence many factors that will increase your company’s performance.

Successful onboarding creates a solid foundation for building a lasting, trusting, and qualitative relationship between your new employees and your company.

Give them time from the beginning of the relationship. Giving them all the necessary tools and information is very important. It will increase the chances that your new employees quickly become involved and loyal to your company.

If you are looking to expand your team, do not hesitate to contact our consultants. LHC International specialised in Hospitality, Finance, IT, Real Estate, Sales & Marketing, and Office & Management.

Contact us.

LHC International is a leading executive search firm for the hospitality and operational real estate industry.