Did you know a study by Sapling HR revealed that employee onboarding programs of 58% of organizations are focused only on processes and paperwork?

It’s no surprise that a good employee onboarding experience is crucial to impact positively on employee retention rate. Tailored onboarding programs will set up new hires on the path to success within your organization. However, a Gallup study finds only 12% of the employees strongly agree that their organization is great at onboarding new employees.

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Imagine walking into a store you’ve never been to before, you can’t see a  single person who would come up to you and say ‘Can I Help You?’ How would you rate your experience here? Let me guess, not good. Right?

Importance of Employee Onboarding Program

An employee onboarding program is concerned with transforming a promising candidate into a highly productive employee through strategically planned stages. A pre-established onboarding program leads new employees to job satisfaction, bliss, and long-term retention.

A report by SHRM proves the following things:

• 69% of employees that have experienced great onboarding would stick around at the same job for at least 3 years.
• New hires that went through a structured onboarding program are 58% more likely to stay after 3 years.
• Organizations have seen 50% greater productivity in new hires if they are provided with a standard onboarding experience.

Building an effective employee onboarding program is a continuous and iterative process. Whether you are starting out or are a seasoned veteran, most organizations are bound to make easily avoidable mistakes. Let’s have a glance at 4 such mistakes (and how to fix them):

4 Easily-Avoidable Mistakes in Employee Onboarding Program

Mistake #1: Not Providing a Proper Introduction to the Culture You’re Building

Don’t leave everything up on the new employees to adapt to the company culture without providing a proper introduction. Building and setting up a company culture is critical for your organization to have a structured onboarding process. Not introducing the culture you’ve built until now to new hires is a mistake.

Without knowing the cultural rules such as company values, communication streams, challenges, and opportunities, new joiners may feel underconfident to work.

Mistake #2: Not Connecting Them with Their Peers and Mentors

Not pairing up new hires with experienced mentors or buddies can hinder their productivity levels, job satisfaction, and retention rate. An article on CNBC revealed that out of 26% of workers planning to leave their employers, over 70% of them are doing so because of concerns about career development or rethinking their skill sets.

Providing employees with a collaborative or cohesive environment is vital for their career growth. Since remote or hybrid work models are currently in effect due to the ongoing pandemic, it has become more challenging to pair new hires with buddies or mentors. However, the digital transformation tools may help new employees adjust to their new environment with their onboarding buddies.

Mistake #3: Not Providing or Consulting Them about Onboarding Goals

As mentioned in the above point, all employees want to grow and advance in their career or path they choose.  They have long-term career goals and are working towards achieving them. Whether new hires share those goals with you or not, it would be a grave mistake to not provide or consult them about their goals at the initial onboarding stage.

Not consulting new hires during their initial phase won’t provide them the necessary inspiration to move forward and do their job better.

Mistake #4 Not Checking in with New Hires

Not checking in with new employees when they join your organization is not a difficult task and an avoidable mistake. The first few initial days are delicate and not checking in on them once in while may offset them from the course of sharing ideas and socializing.

This creates a negative first impression that you do not care about the well-being of your employees. You must check in with your new hires periodically and remind them you’ve got their back whenever they need it.

Best Practices for Great Employee Onboarding Experience

1. Consult Employees on Their Goals & Tie Them Back to the Onboarding Process

As mentioned above, consulting employees on their long-term career goals and tying it up with onboarding will inspire and motivate them to give 100%. Conduct one-on-one meetings on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. Doing so will offer a great onboarding experience and create an impeccable first impression.

You can even go a step further and give them tasks to complete within 30, 60, or 90 days of onboarding to find their determination level to achieve career goals.

2. Connect Them with Peers and Assign Them Mentors

We have already learned not pairing up new hires with peers and experienced mentors during onboarding can do. Thus, company HRs must consider appointing mentors or onboarding buddies. Also, smart HR software may help HR teams to manage new hires, onboard them, assign mentors, and do many other tasks effortlessly.

Assigning mentors will ease the work of new hires, make it effortless to settle in, and familiarize them with the company culture. New employees, with mentors beside them, would be more invested and dedicated to their work. Moreover, assigning buddies like mentors would help them socialize with other colleagues and feel more at home. 

3. Provide Opportunities for Them to Learn about the Culture

Mentors not only are tasked to help new hires regarding any work task but also introduce them to company culture. As per an article published in Harvard Business Review, new hires take around 90-days to adapt to company culture. Since most organizations never pay attention to explaining all the company cultural rules, you can be an exception.

Allow your new employees the opportunity to learn all about it within those 90-days and even after that. Being cognizant of what other colleagues do and how they do it could be a differentiating factor for them to be effective at their work.

4. Check-in with Them Periodically to Remind Them They’re Supported

Checking in can be as simple as sending an email, having a chat during a coffee break, or a video call if you are working remotely. Managers or superiors should check in periodically and communicate with new hires for great employee experience starting from the introductory meeting.

We all know how terrible one-on-one meets can be. However, the sole purpose of doing so is to remind new joiners that they are backed by their managers since they have the best interests in mind for them. Such periodic check-ins should focus on creating a sense of belonging and encourage them to be more confident to express their ideas.

Conclusion

Often new hires are left unchecked, leading them to feel like they are stuck in the new company with no support. But having a structured employee onboarding program would set them up for success in the new position. While building an exceptional employee onboarding program, you’d find most companies including yours have made easily avoidable mistakes.

This article gives you an understanding of what common mistakes to avoid and how to fix them while building an onboarding program. Eliminating these mistakes using best practices as listed above would not only help new hires to grow from day one but also help you cornerstone your success.