5 Great Ways Onboarding Can Improve Employee Retention
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Employee turnover is not only bad for business in terms of the direct costs of replacing staff, but the ripple effects it can have across the rest of an organisation carry many hidden costs, too.
When turnover occurs, managers have to shift their attention and time to hiring, taking them away from other important profit-generating activities. There are productivity losses on several fronts – as exiting employees wind down and do a handover, for the team members who absorb their work, and for the new starter to become competent in their role. In addition, when a valued team member resigns it’s not just their knowledge and experience that walks out the door; it can also send a shock wave through the rest of the team that can disrupt team dynamics, culture and make the remaining team members start to question their roles.
While there are many effective strategies for retaining staff, from rewards and recognition to learning and development, to greater flexibility and autonomy, the best place to start focusing on retention is from day one: onboarding. Here we offer five tips to make the most of this opportunity.
Be prepared
Give them a warm welcome
Cultural integration
Set (and track) goals
Check-in regularly
Be prepared
‘Being prepared’ might sound obvious, but have you ever started in a new role and not had your location access pass given to you, or had to wait days to get access to tools or training you needed to do your job? It’s not a great experience and certainly doesn’t inspire confidence in the company.
Having everything in order before your employee arrives – instead of scrambling to get things sorted once they start – will instantly demonstrate your care and commitment to them as a new, and hopefully long-standing, team member. It will also help you get down to business more quickly as you won’t be wasting time organising or chasing things up. Some things to think about:
Contracts, policies and paperwork that needs to be signed off on, and when (e.g. can you send some of it digitally prior to their start so that it’s not so overwhelming on the first day?)
Ensure that new hires can upload qualifications, certifications, licences, work visas, vaccination records, etc. into your HCM suite - along with expiry dates so that these can be renewed as needed. Again, much of this can be done in the pre-boarding stage
Hardware/equipment (e.g. a mobile device, protective gear, uniform, etc.)
Software tools/programs, including access to shared apps or accounts
Job and team information e.g. safety protocols, leave processes and workplace procedures
Booking necessary meetings into their calendar and providing a schedule for their first week
One way to simplify and systematise this part of the onboarding process is by mapping out different onboarding workflows for different roles. This way, if you have two different people starting in logistics and administration, for example, you will have a list of every tool, document, training or area they need access to, know how long it takes to gain access, and thus be able to request access within the required timeframe.
Give them a warm welcome
First impressions do count. Walking into a new workplace can be nerve-wracking. Just as your new team member will want to make a good impression on you, the impression you make on them is just as important. It could be the difference between them feeling energised for the day or unsure, posting about how great their first day was on social media, or commiserating with their friends on the weekend and, ultimately, staying or leaving.
There are tons of things you can do to make the first impression special, but here are a few of our favorite ideas:
Consider a swag pack (e.g. branded water bottle, t-shirt, notepad)
Send a message on your instant communication tool or workforce management tool like the Humanforce Work App to welcome them and ask other staff to send them their favorite “welcome gif” or message
Assign them a buddy to show them around and answer any questions
Organise a team lunch so they don’t have to eat by themselves on their first day
Cultural integration
Culture is made up of a set of unwritten rules, norms, rituals and values – ways of working, interacting, communicating, and “being”. These things can take some time for a new starter to be exposed to and get across. By explaining what they are, a manager can help shorten that time and cut out some of the guesswork of knowing how to act, making the new starter feel comfortable quicker and like a part of the team. For example:
History and context – e.g. how the organisation started, how it has changed, why particular things are done a particular way, where their role fits in
Work or task-based practices – e.g. what are typical turnaround times? What are the chains of command? How do you ask for help from another team?
Lunch-time and break time rituals – e.g. does everyone eat together? Is there allotted time for breaks or can you eat whenever? (note: these breaks may be stipulated in awards/employment agreements)
Social practices – how do people tend to socialise? e.g. is there a local venue for after-shift drinks? Are any company-wide sports events held?
Decision making – are decisions made formally and communicated from top down? What feedback channels exist? Do you need to check with a manager before implementing something?
Set (and track) goals
Because there’s a learning curve when starting in a new role, everything takes longer. But feeling slow and encumbered can also leave new employees feeling inadequate and under pressure. If this goes on for too long, it can lead to early turnover.
These feelings can be alleviated by setting some realistic, achievable goals with your new employees. Having a range of clearly-defined short, medium and longer term goals to work towards will provide a sense of direction and ownership from the get-go. Be sure to give them some smaller, easy tasks that they can knock over in the first couple of weeks so that they can feel like they’ve achieved something. This sense of accomplishment will lead to more engaged and satisfied employees, who will be more likely to stay.
A note though: don’t set goals and then forget about them. Check-in regularly with your new recruits to see how they’re tracking towards their goals, and if they need any help or have any issues to discuss. Be flexible to rework goals or shift deadlines if need be, and don’t forget to recognise success!
Check-in regularly
Often after the first couple of weeks, people have a tendency to forget that someone is new and start treating them like anyone else. Although this is great, they might still be feeling slow, unsure or like a fish out of water which can create a sense of discomfort and friction. This is why it’s critical to keep checking in on your new starter to see how they’re tracking.
Check-in pulse surveys are a quick and easy way to collect structured information about how your new start is feeling at set increments (e.g. 1 week, 1 month, 2 months), but it’s always a good idea to follow these up with face-to-face check-ins. A pulse survey can be used to ask questions like:
How satisfied are you in your role?
Is the role meeting your expectations?
How are you going with the team?
Do you need any further training?
How was your onboarding experience?
Is there any equipment you need?
Is there any further support we can give you?
Is there anything we could improve on?
Armed with this information, managers can be prepared for and make better use of their time in their 1:1s, whether that’s conversations about growth and development or helping to support their new start with an issue or challenge.
Using both of these systems together will not only help to build trust and strengthen the manager-employee relationship, but will also help to identify and iron out any issues early on that might lead to turnover.
About Humanforce
Humanforce is the best-in-one platform for frontline and flexible workforces, offering a truly employee centred, intelligent and compliant human capital management (HCM) suite – without compromise. Founded in 2002, Humanforce has a 2300+ customer base and over half a million users worldwide. Today, we have offices across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Our vision is to make work easier and life better by focusing on the needs and fulfilment of frontline workers, and the efficiency and optimisation of businesses.
To learn more about how Humanforce can automate and streamline all aspects of people management, please contact us.
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