No Second Chance to Make a First Impression: The Power of Onboarding

Do you remember your first day as a new recruit in a new organisation? There’s a good chance that you were taken through a long list of HR policies and IT requirements, or other tedious activities. Feedback from new recruits is that onboarding programmes can often be often boring, and at worst inexistent. Indeed, the crucial impact of the integration phase isn’t always taken seriously, and while compliance training is important, it’s a tiny part of what makes for a successful onboarding programme.

According to Aberdeen, there are four building blocks necessary to achieve an engaging onboarding with lasting effects on the newcomer: Compliance, Clarification, Culture and Connection (Aberdeen (2008) ‘All aboard: Effective onboarding techniques and strategies’.)

By focusing too much on only one of these aspects, organisations are missing a unique opportunity to make a lasting impression on new hires.

Looking at onboarding as a business stake