When a Positive Onboarding experience is successful, it provides an opportunity for converting the new joinees to become the Brand Ambassadors, and the most impactful ones too.

Since Remote Working has come about as the mantra for most organisations, the process of Onboarding is also bound to be remote. Although, technology or the readiness for remote onboarding can act as a differentiator in the efficiency and effectiveness of the process, the thumb rule remains the same - Remote or not!

In layman terms, an Onboarding process is the transition of an external candidate as an employee. There are various ways to ace this process, and it must be noted that the basics among the various tools of onboarding is common. And it is long before the candidate actually joins the Organisation.

Onboarding is important because it has been derived from Research that Great Employee Onboarding can improve employee retention by 82%¹ . However, it has been revealed that 22% companies have no formal onboarding programme² . Also, it has been found out that only 12% of employees strongly agree that their organisation does a great job of onboarding new employees³ .

So, it is worth noting that even though it has been proven that Onboarding is such a great tool for employee retention, it is not being done right.

Going by one’s experience, the thing which is most important is the acceptance of the new employee so as to give the employee that AHA feeling a.k.a Customer Delight! The long-term perspective for the Organisation must always be borne in mind.

Whether done remotely or in person, the following must be borne in mind: -

•  Meticulous Planning of the entire process is important. This will help figure out the tiniest possible hindrance and also the plan of removing the same. Start on Day zero and plan out each detail of the programme.

•  Identify the stakeholders, prepare to clarify expectations, know a little bit more of the candidate beforehand, do something that makes them feel special to Create That Personal Touch, and help create that culture fit. E.g. Picking up the employee picked up on day one from their residence.

•  The tenure of Onboarding needs to be Spread Out. Do not try to confuse the person by bombarding too much information in a short span of time

•  Leverage Technology wherever possible. You may use Social Media Platforms, or create apps, or online training modules to help them learn on the go! the list is endless.

•  Keep The Connect with them alive. The responsibility does not end the moment the person joins the Organisation. Apart from having fun and being engaged in various planned activities, it must be ensured that they are aware that a Hearing Ear is available for them when they feel lost or disengaged. z Buddy Programmes within the Organisation also work out well in getting the new joinees get acclimatised in the Organisation

While you ace these factors, let them have fun while undergoing these steps. This will help them create a bond with the other new joinees/ team members/ HR etc. When a positive Onboarding experience is successful, it provides an opportunity for converting these new joinees to become our Brand Ambassadors, and the most impactful ones too.

In addition to these positive ones, there are also some imperceptible aspects of Onboarding going wrong. The cost of efforts, time and reputation needs to be accounted for in addition to the cost of hiring a new person; training the person and waiting till they start delivering on the job.

The average employer spends $4,000 and 24 days on a new hire. (source: Glassdoor, 2018).

The average cost of replacing an employee is between 16% and 20% of that employee’s salary. (Source: Contract Recruiter, 2015)

So, the take away is simple, we just need to do our job right, make the new joinees feel special and valued; and get them onboarded physically and mentally and ensure a long-term positive impact.

References:

1 Glassdoor.com, 2015

2 Harvard Business Review, 2015

3 Gallup, 2017