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Ready, set, go! Successfully onboarding new employees

Meet new hire Joe. He's excited for his first day of work and ready to make a good impression. This is also the employer's chance to set the tone for a successful working relationship. But when Joe arrives, he spends the day stuffing envelopes and surfing the Internet. Why? Because his new manager and coworkers are too busy to "show him the ropes." And now Joe is already discouraged on his first day of work.

How does your organization prepare new hires when they walk in the door? Does your company have a formal process to help new hires hit the ground running in their new role or are they left to fend for themselves? Smart companies know that successfully onboarding new employees is a top priority.

Employers need to ensure that everything goes smoothly throughout the new hire's first weeks on the job. This is the prime time to provide the new employee with a general corporate background to establish the framework that will guide them throughout their career with the organization.

High stakes
According to Ceridian Human Resources Manager Karla Shirley, a formal onboarding process provides consistency, assigns a process owner and enables education along with tool sharing. "The new employee walks through the door on their first day on the job with a blank canvas -- ready for a fresh start," says Shirley.

Whether the canvas becomes a masterpiece depends a lot on how the employer brings a new employee up to speed on their job and the company. And while the employee benefits in the long term from starting on the "right foot," they have everything to gain and not much to lose within the first few months.

In contrast, employers have invested in hiring the candidate. Shirley says that the cost has been estimated to be as much as $75,000 if you add in training, orientation and productivity. Successful onboarding helps to mitigate this expense and enables the new hire to become an outstanding contributor sooner.

Employers also benefit from a positive onboarding experience in several other ways:

• New hires that enjoy their onboarding experiences go on to share positive comments about their employer with others. Having someone endorse your company to a client or potential employee is priceless.
• Positive onboarding experiences can reduce the time for an employee to reach peak productivity. Employees who learn the corporate processes and culture quickly will be able to start training for their job responsibilities sooner.
• The onboarding process provides an opportunity for new hires to learn more about the market positions of their new employer vs. the competition, as well as how the company wants to be known in the community.

A bad first impression
In addition to unfavorable endorsements, poor productivity and disengagement, when new hires experience an insufficient onboarding process they may decide to end their employment. If your company's turnover rate after one-year employment falls in the 15 percent range, you could actually be looking at millions of dollars worth of investments walking out the door.

There are good reasons to provide formal onboarding to new employees. Research done by Corning indicated that employees who attended a well-structured onboarding program in their company were 69 percent more likely to remain with the company after three years than employees who did not attend the program. And, when Hunter Douglas upgraded its onboarding process, they experienced a reduction in the turnover rate from 70 percent to 16 percent. Another manufacturer of blinds, Designer Blinds, reduced its annual turnover from 200 percent to eight percent. (1)

Shirley believes that an unsuccessful onboarding experience can also be frustrating for coworkers. The coworkers may spend time orienting the new hire in place of a manager who did not shoulder the responsibility. In addition, coworkers may see a new hire who appears to be idle while everyone else in the department is already at their workload capacity and ready for the new hire to become a productive team member.

Strategies and tips
To facilitate a high level of employee engagement from the start, Shirley says that successful onboarding programs should be all-inclusive in content and scope. "Think high level -- what are the functions and processes that all new hires should know, such as the company's brand, culture, human resource policies and related process," says Shirley.

In addition, every process needs to be defined explicitly to avoid confusion and updated regularly to reflect new procedures and personnel. There is also a need for employees to be aware of certain processes that may vary between groups.

Ceridian divides the issues that affect most new hires into three categories:

• Personal - parking, attire, supplies, administrative tasks, equipment, identification requirements, lunch.
• Department - coworkers, productivity expectations, team membership, communication, staff meetings, expense reports.
• Company - organizational goals, competition, branding.

Another specific area to be addressed applies to employees who will be expected to facilitate meetings or speak at public forums on behalf of the company. In some cases, these can be addressed over a longer period of time. In others, such as with a sales representative who calls on potential customers, it could require the assistance of another employee. Specific job requirements may require special training.

The most critical onboarding period is within the first 90 days. During this time, it is important to regularly meet with the new hire, set reasonable goals, provide positive feedback, review processes and offer coaching as needed.

Define success
"One thing that employers should always do is survey new hires to find out if the onboarding process addresses their needs," says Shirley. Are you providing too much information? Is the timeline to absorb the material realistic? Was anything omitted from the onboarding process? The surveys responses will highlight those areas that may require some changes.

New hire feedback can also serve as a positive endorsement for your company. Whether new hires share their experience with other potential employees or the company captures these positive comments to share in future onboarding sessions, there is nothing more credible than feedback from satisfied, successful employees.

If you need assistance with the onboarding process at your company or require support in facilitating the manager and employee relationship, Ceridian has solutions to support your organizational needs. Ceridian Organizational and Consulting Services offers Manager Quick Start training to facilitate the rapid development of a strong, positive working relationship between new managers and their staff. The program focuses on communication such as the degree of shared understanding between manager and staff and utilizes meetings that include a Human Resource representative.

Ceridian Talent Acquisition & Management Solutions can also help you automate your organization's onboarding process.

Call your Ceridian account representative to learn more about Ceridian's onboarding solution and Manager Quick Start.

Sources:
1) Source www.ere.net, How to Avoid the Four Deadliest Onboarding Mistakes, by David Lee, November 22, 2005.