Best Practices in Employee Onboarding

Studies suggest that as many as 46 percent of new hires are likely to fail within just the first 18 months. All of your hard work put into recruiting the right candidate could be down the drain in just a matter of a year and a half. The good news is that an effective onboarding process can improve a new hire’s success rate by 11.5 percent. The big question is “What does an effective onboarding process look like?” Here’s a look at the top employee onboarding best practices to help you create a process that works best for your company.

Preboarding Starts Before Day One

You don’t have to wait until day one to get the onboarding process started. The advancement of technology and ERP software enables employers to start the onboarding process as soon as the offer is made. Employees can complete much of the necessary onboarding paperwork, such as W-4s, benefit enrollment forms and direct deposit information before the first day of work. In addition, new hires can view welcome videos, read through company policies and more.

Create an Inviting Work Environment

All new hires are apprehensive about their first day on the job. You can help quell these anxieties by creating a comfortable and inviting environment. Make sure that everyone on the team knows when the new employee’s start date is and encourage them to welcome them to the team. This first impression of workplace environment can mean the difference between retention and needing to start the recruiting process over.

Be Prepared for Day One

In addition, to creating a welcoming environment, you want to make sure the new employee has everything he needs from day one. Make sure the employee has all the necessary work materials, such as a laptop, cell phone and any necessary gear. You also want to be prepared to provide the employee with any necessary keys, passwords or codes needed to start the job.

Develop a Seamless Process

The last thing you want is to appear disorganized during the onboarding process. You should develop a seamless onboarding process by having all the necessary forms, paperwork, videos and company information in one convenient location as well as an efficient way to track compliance.

Versatile Onboarding Platform

Whether preboarding or onboarding, it is important to use a versatile and robust platform that can be used on multiple devices, such as a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone. This will enable new hires to complete the necessary paperwork on a medium that works best for them and also allow all members of the onboarding team to track the new hire’s status. An efficient ERP system can help you organize and streamline the onboarding process. This will provide a better success rate for your new hires and improve your retention rates, productivity, employee engagement and more.