When companies implement an onboarding program, the results are increased retention, a lowered bottom line and better productivity from new hires. In fact, organizations with an effective onboarding program retain 90 percent of their new employees, according to 5-Point Checklist for Effective Employee Onboarding.
Here are a few other interesting statistics about onboarding and how it affects companies and new workers:
- Just 24 percent of employees feel connected to their peers. A proper onboarding program can promote team-building and collaboration, increasing feelings of connection and belonging.
- New hires grasp a company’s culture and objectives more quickly when mentored. A quality onboarding program can include mentoring.
- Companies with structured onboarding programs may see a 60 percent year-over-year increase in revenue.
Does your company have a formalized onboarding program? If not, it is missing out on some stellar benefits.
3 Onboarding Tips to Get New Hires Off to a Great Start
If you want to help your new hires hit the ground running, give these three onboarding tips a try:
1. Clarify company values and objectives — The first thing a new hire should understand upon beginning their job is your company’s values, objectives and mission. They should also be informed of how their work will contribute to these goals. This will immediately give them a sense of purpose and help them align their actions with your business’ goals. You can deliver this information in the employee handbook or create a short eLearning course that outlines organizational values and goals.
2. Create a survival guide for new hires — Have you ever considered creating a survival guide for new hires? (This is not to be confused with the employee handbook.) Sara Pollock, a contributor to Recruiter.com, generated this novel idea. She wrote,
“The new employee survival guide should be updated continuously as each new hire joins the company, so it’s best to maintain the document digitally. Be sure the survival guide’s tone aligns with the company’s brand, and share it with new hires before their first day, so they have time to study it.”
Gather the data for the survival guide directly from new hires and seasoned employees. Ask them what they wish they’d known prior to starting their job and include that information in the guide.
3. Offer a translation dictionary — Just for today, pay attention to the language used in your office. You’ll likely find that a lot of jargon that an outsider wouldn’t understand is thrown around. Help new hires understand your company’s unique language by writing a translation dictionary. This isn’t just helpful — it’s also a lighthearted way to welcome someone to your team.
New hires want to succeed in their jobs, be well-liked and fit in with their peers as soon as possible. Help them out by clarifying your company’s values and goals as well as providing a survival guide and a translation dictionary. New employees will love you for it.
Share this Post
Comments
Great post here, I love the “translation dictionary” especially because I worked at a company that had one specifically about all of the acronyms used in that company. It was literally an entire page printed out covered in acronyms and their definitions and was super helpful early on in onboarding. And obviously, in today’s modern world, I would recommend using onboarding software like Lessonly (https://www.lessonly.com/new-employee-onboarding-software/), rather than a printed page. Even with that, I felt like I didn’t know what was going on for like six months though. I think the most impactful thing you can do though beyond all of these things listed is to foster personal connection. I love the idea of a buddy system from day one so that the new hire doesn’t feel left out and can have a safe person to ask all of the questions you might feel silly for asking.