Onboarding - why are we still getting it wrong?

Onboarding - why are we still getting it wrong?
Eploy

You’ve done all of the hard work of sourcing, interviewing and assessing candidates and are about to make to offer and await the candidate starting, so your work here is done right? Not quite. 

As all recruitment and HR professionals out there will know the recruiting game is tough. Finding the right talent who are the perfect fit, building talent pools, engaging with candidates, working to tight timescales and budgets is no easy task. And one area of recruitment that is often overlooked is onboarding.

Modern organisations are having to focus more on optimising time and resources with onboarding and being smart about planning ahead. Onboarding being everything from offer acceptance, preparing and issuing contracts, collecting and managing candidate information.

Manual v Online

So why is it that many organisations are still using paper systems and forms that can’t be managed at scale and are not proactive in tracking new hire progress? Aberdeen Group Research reports that even though 71% of companies say they plan to increase hiring over the next 12 months, only 32% of companies currently have a formal onboarding process in place.

When should onboarding start?

In the same Aberdeen Group research, 90% of businesses believe that employees make their decision to stay within their first year of employment. So how can you mitigate the numbers that decide to leave? 

One thing we do know is that failing to build the connection through the talent acquisition phase is risky. Too many companies wait until an employee has started work to begin onboarding. Keeping hires warm before they start ensures they are prepared and engaged ahead of their first day. It also helps to align new hires with employer brand and expectations which bodes well for the future. 

So maybe it’s time to take a look at your onboarding process and have a rethink about if it is really working for you and your new recruits.

Consider all the elements of keeping new recruits engaged:

-       Are you streamlined with reference request and collection, alerts if references are not received and automatic communications with candidates?

-       Are you able to automatically collect new starter information such as medical and banking information in a secure and compliant way?

-       Do you offer online contracting and form completion with electronic signatures to ease the paperwork burden?

Done in the right way, early onboarding can reduce no shows and keep hires warm to ensure they are prepared for their first day and beyond.

Free Resources

You can view essential features of onboarding here or for a more detailed look at tips and tools to create a candidate centric e-recruitment strategy, download this free e-recruitment strategy e-book

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