"An ideal onboarding process needs to engage new hires, foster connections with existing employees and give leaders the tools they need to help new hires at every step of their journey," Gentry says.
Despite rumors of a recession and a cooling of hiring in the tech industry, the Great Resignation is not over yet. Recruiters and hiring managers in many industries are still running at full steam, looking for any way to make the process of recruiting, interviewing and hiring even more effective.
The challenges don't end when the offer letter is signed and returned. An employee's first days and weeks of a new job are critical to establishing relationships and building a connection with their coworkers, managers and the organization itself.
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Laura Lee Gentry, chief people officer at Enboarder Unfortunately, many companies are coming up short. Laura Lee Gentry, chief people officer at Enboarder, recently shared her insights into why many new hires leave an organization after less than a year, and how to create an onboarding process that minimizes the risk of turnover.
Why do you think so many new hires are looking to leave their jobs soon after they begin? Is this primarily a shift in employee mentality or is there something companies are doing (or not doing) that they can change to prevent this from happening?
I think it is a little bit of both. One of the biggest reasons new hires leave is that the actual job is different than what they thought it would be, so transparency in the hiring process is key for HR teams. In addition, many new hires today are younger employees who are more open and willing to change roles than the generations that came before them.
While it's not surprising that younger workers are more active in looking for new jobs, the fact that so many are leaving within three to six months of starting their new roles means insufficient onboarding processes are playing a role. New hires want to be engaged and valued in their roles from day one, and poor onboarding can lead any employee (especially hybrid and remote workers) to feel like they are not seen or appreciated by their managers and coworkers.
I think culture plays a role here as well. Employees want to feel like they are a part of something meaningful. It's vital to include compelling content about your culture, values, leadership and mission in your onboarding process and to reinforce that on an ongoing basis. Younger employees are also seeking mentoring experiences from their employers, and it's tough to build those connections when they do not meet with their teams in person often (or at all). Leaders and companies have to be thoughtful in entirely new ways regarding connecting with and engaging their people in this hybrid work environment.
How can HR teams design and implement an effective onboarding process to mitigate new hire turnover? What are some specific elements that need to be included for onboarding to be a success?
Successful onboarding processes go beyond just welcoming new hires — you must engage them and make them feel like valued members of the company community (or family).
Onboarding needs to focus on what employees need from the company before, during and long after their first day — not what the company needs from them. Organizations must demonstrate that they are committed to the new hire and care about meeting their needs, especially if the role is in a hybrid or remote setting.
An ideal onboarding process needs to engage new hires, foster connections with existing employees and give leaders the tools they need to help new hires at every step of their journey. While the perfect onboarding experience cannot prevent everyone from leaving, it can provide new hires with the comfort and engagement they need to stay.
Specifically, the onboarding process needs to emphasize human connection. It's important that organizations make new hires feel welcomed and give them the tools they need to succeed, but it's critical to avoid making them feel overwhelmed. Companies need to personally tailor the onboarding process to each individual and show they are adaptable to meet that specific employee's needs.
A great way to help deliver information in a more digestible way is through timely nudges that let employees know what they need to do at the exact moment it needs to be done. Employers also need to keep in mind that onboarding can come with many (often confusing) steps and processes. It's important that these are broken up into simple, easy-to-complete individual tasks for new hires to avoid confusion or frustration. Finally, onboarding should connect new hires with their managers and co-workers. It's this sense of connection that will set the tone for their employee journey.
How does hybrid and remote work present more of a challenge to onboarding and integrating new hires into their new teams?
When onboarding remotely or in a hybrid workplace environment, new hires face the same early challenges as they would in a traditional work environment, such as training, meeting new team members and integrating into the company. But in a hybrid or remote workplace, employees are missing the in-person guidance and social connection that they have come to rely on when navigating the company's culture and getting up to speed in their role.
Combine that with new workplace challenges that hybrid and remote work create, like the inability to observe cultural norms in action or inconsistent access to managers, and the onboarding process becomes even more difficult.
Some new hires are leaving their jobs before they even start — a form of employee "ghosting." What can HR teams do between the time an employee is hired and their first day of work to keep them engaged?
Between the time an employee is hired and their first day of work, HR teams and the hiring manager need to maintain connection and build momentum to help ensure employees show up on day one and stick around. The answer? Engagement onboarding, which emphasizes a higher level of interaction and human connection over the traditional process-driven, paperwork approach.
For instance, managers can send a personalized message to their new hire welcoming them to the company, send over electronic paperwork in advance so their first day is smooth sailing, or even connect them with peers so they can ask questions to get to know the team or prepare themselves for their role. With this kind of onboarding, personalization and real-time communication help build a connection between new hires and organizations before they start their first official day and throughout the employee lifecycle.
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Emily Payne
Emily Payne is director, content analytics for ALM's Business & Finance Markets and former managing editor for BenefitsPRO. A Wisconsin native, she has spent the past decade writing and editing for various athletic and fitness publications. She holds an English degree and Business certificate from the University of Wisconsin.
