Strategy | Onboarding humans (like humans)

Homo Sapiens. We’re social animals. And work is a social institution. So why aren’t more onboarding strategies tapping into the power of human connectivity to help engage and retain new starters? 

We all form long-term relationships at work. Colleagues we’ll network with throughout our whole careers. Workmates who’ll become close friends. Some of us will even meet our future spouse – (it’s estimated that in the UK, one in five of us meet our partner at work). 

Being able to build strong relationships and friendships at work is key to both performance and retention (and with 25% of new employees leaving a job within the first year, improving retention is vital). A multi-year research initiative by the Gallup Organisation set out to find the key factors that unified organisations with the best employee retention, customer metrics, productivity, and profitability. One of the key 12 factors they identified? “I have a best friend at work”.

Connections that drive retention