Could overhauling your new employee orientation approach improve operations?
Employers don’t always place an emphasis on employee onboarding — more than three-quarters of HR leaders say it’s underutilized at their organization, according to a recent Kronos and Human Capital Institute survey.
That’s unfortunate; because having new hires learn about internal policies isn’t the only positive outcome employee onboarding can provide.
Employers might not realize it, but strong onboarding practices can help prevent several common problems they may experience — including:
-
Culture challenges
Employers view incorporating new hires into the company’s culture as their top onboarding goal, according to 62 percent of the respondents who participated in the HCI and Kronos survey.
A study from BambooHR suggests that employee onboarding programs are a sound way to achieve that objective. Eighty-nine percent of workers who had an effective new employee orientation process say it helped them feel fully integrated into their new company’s culture.
-
Involvement issues
Nearly half (49 percent) of employers say new hires are more engaged after going through a structured orientation program; 42 percent report they have higher productivity, and more than a third (38 percent) say employees exhibit higher morale due to well-organized onboarding practices, according to CareerBuilder research.
-
A lack of loyalty
Onboarding may also potentially encourage employee devotion. Workers who feel their onboarding program experience was highly effective are 18 times more likely to feel highly committed to their organization, according to BambooHR’s findings.
-
Retention troubles
Employers are at risk of losing new hires; nearly 30 percent have left a company within 30 days of starting, according a 2018 Jobvite study.
That may be why a survey conducted by SilkRoad found businesses in North America, the Asia-Pacific region and Europe, the Middle East and Africa say retention is a key employee onboarding goal; luckily, more than half of organizations feel effective new employee orientation efforts improve retention rates, according to a Society for Human Resource Management report.
If you’re considering restructuring your orientation process, our blog post on 4 ways to make your onboarding program a success offers several tips to help ensure your efforts are effective.
For more information about ways your organization can increase retention, view our blog posts on the 3 turnover threats you can’t ignore, using exit interviews to prevent other employees from leaving and employee retention strategies that really work.
Our blog posts on getting your workplace culture mojo back, boosting company pride and increasing employee engagement can provide additional ideas to help enhance employees’ work environment, strengthen their overall commitment to the organization and escalate employees’ day-to-day involvement in the workplace.