We are in the middle of “the war for talent”. The pandemic has freed up the market’s capacity as many have changed industries or have started working from home and thus lost their loyalty to employers and colleagues. There has never been as many job vacancies as there are today and this makes it the candidate’s market. It is more important than ever to succeed in retaining the talents you recruit. “Treat every employee as if they have one foot out the door” – that’s how you as an employer have to think today.

A survey by the Brandon Hall Group shows that companies with good onboarding are 82% more likely to retain new employees – while also increasing productivity by 70%. Setting a clear and qualitative process for the onboarding of new employees is thus a key to success. Here are my most important tips for a structured and good onboarding.

Pre-boarding

An onboarding should start even before the employee has completed their first day – we call it pre-boarding. Many employers ignore the period between the contract being signed and the employee making their first day, but there is no better ambassador for a workplace than someone who has just landed a new job. Take the opportunity to prepare everything before the start with interactive quizzes to answer, pre-recorded welcome videos from the CEO and colleagues to watch and sent out policies to read through. Also prepare the employee for what the first day at the new job will look like, it makes you feel even more welcome.

Focus on relationships

Regardless of the type of company you are, onboarding should always focus on the people in the organisation rather than your products. It’s about making sure that the new colleague gets the emotional connection and feels welcome, that’s where the loyalty lies. Here are some important elements to include in your onboarding process:

• Regardless of whether you work remotely or on site, it is good to assign the new employee an office buddy on the first day. Someone who can show,explain and answer all questions.
• Draw up an organisational chart of the people the new colleague will come into contact with in their role – and write out in what respect you will come into contact with the people.
• Make sure that there are scheduled meetings in place with the closest colleagues in their calendar on the first day. As someone new to the job, it can be difficult to get hold of the people you need to build a relationship with and helping on the trot removes an unnecessary threshold.

Automate the process

Adding structure to your onboarding process does not have to be difficult, because today most things can be automated. Using our digital tools you can create a process for what should happen when a candidate’s status changes from candidate to employee. This can be configured to automatically send out messages containing links to fill in, videos to watch and contact details to an office buddy.

Today, it is the candidate that chooses the employer and you do not want them to feel neglected throughout the process. Setting up a good structured onboarding process is basically about maintaining and continuing the ‘feel good’ factor that the candidate felt when they received the job offer.

/Sophie Cronberg, Customer Success Manager at Visma Talent Solutions