The onboarding process is critical to the productivity of a new employee, and you can set your team up for success by implementing an effective onboarding program. Here are a few things that you should keep in mind when you are developing your onboarding processes:
What is Onboarding?
Onboarding is the process of providing new employees the information and skill sets that they need to be effective within your company. New employees will be more successful if they have the opportunity to integrate into your company, instead of simply throwing them in and telling them “good luck.”
From the moment a new employee begins their new job, you should have a plan in place to make it an easy transition. The most common interactions include an initial welcome, filling out new hire paperwork, and going through the job expectations. It is also important to plan additional training if an employee is lacking important skills that are necessary for the job.
Why is Onboarding Important?
According to Monster.com, within the first two years of employment 30% of newly hired employees will turn over. If those employees are leaving because they aren’t satisfied with their job, then you can mitigate much turnover by improving the onboarding process.
Sometimes, an employee might leave because they are overwhelmed with the position and they don’t feel like they have the right skill set to complete the expected tasks. Other times, an employee might leave because they are bored and they are seeking a job that offers higher work satisfaction.
Onboarding will allow you to assess the new hire’s transition into the company, allowing you to look for ways to ensure their satisfaction and increase retention.
Onboarding is More Than Just Orientation
Most companies assume that onboarding is the same as new hire orientation, but the truth is that there is so much more to an effective onboarding process. New hire orientation involves a discussion about benefits, payroll information, and filling out the paperwork for human resources. On the other hand, onboarding helps you to develop a happy employee who is contributing to the overall goals of the company.
Some of the aspects that should be integrated in the onboarding process include:
- Explaining the professional culture within the company
- Conveying the organization values and brand
- Aligning performance with company expectations
- Providing tools that are needed to assimilate the new employee into the team
- Quickly ramping up productivity in order to avoid wasted time
If you can get engage the new employee sooner, then they will be less likely to quit within the first year. The problem is that new hires are often bogged down with seemingly menial tasks, which means that it takes longer to help them achieve full productivity.
Good Candidate + Effective Onboarding = Success
Sometimes I find a situation where a company has a hard time keeping a position filled, and the problem isn’t with the employees that are being hired… the problem is with the onboarding process. Even if you locate the perfect candidate for the job opening, it isn’t likely that they will experience success if you are lacking an effective onboarding program.
Here at Premier Search, our goal is to help you hire the right employees for your job openings, and we invite you to contact us for more information. We specialize in employee placement in the senior housing industry: skilled nursing, assisted living, LTAC, home health care, hospice, rehabilitation and hospitals. Call us today at: (800) 801-1400!
I am Bernie Reifkind, CEO and founder of Premier Search, Inc. I can be reached at 1(800) 801-1400 or email at ceo@premiersearch.com. I welcome your comments.
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