SilkRoad customer eBay has been selected by Aberdeen Group as a Best-in-Class business after implementing an exemplary onboarding programme. A case study of the on-line store is used in the research company’s Onboarding 2013: A Look at New Hires report, which analyses the onboarding practices of 230 organisations.
eBay invested in technology from SilkRoad in order to automate form management as well as tasks and the socialisation aspect of onboarding. As a result, the company cut the administrative costs of onboarding by a quarter and reduced the number of onboarding steps by 60 per cent. This helped them improve business productivity and reduce operational outlay.
Firms considered by Aberdeen Group as Best-in-Class share characteristics such as a commitment to aligning onboarding objectives with company goals and using strategic initiatives to drive engagement and productivity. Key to being recognised was the fact that they had all invested in technology to aid in the onboarding process.
Nicholas Roi, Managing Director of SilkRoad UK comments: “We are proud that, as a result of our technology, eBay has been chosen to represent ideal onboarding practices in Aberdeen Group’s report. The report states that the selection and implementation of onboarding solutions, and the way in which they are integrated with talent management systems, plays a vital role in promoting business performance and growth – eBay is a prime example of a company putting this strategy into action and achieving outstanding results.”
Within the report, a centralised onboarding process, defining key metrics, ensuring accountability and investing in technology are named as key enablers of effective onboarding.
Best–in-Class organisations improved customer retention by 16 per cent and revenue per full-time employee by 17 per cent.
The report concludes that for businesses to achieve the status of Best-in-Class they should consider the introduction of talent management programmes including gamification, which it claims can drive engagement and retention, and cross-boarding, in which onboarding is linked directly with learning and requires fewer tactical activities than traditional methods. It also suggests that organisations attempt to balance the tactical and strategic elements of their onboarding procedure – Best-in-Class companies are seen to focus more on the socialisation of new hires as opposed to tactical systems such as new hire checklists.
Roi concludes: “The Aberdeen Group’s Onboarding 2013 report confirms SilkRoad’s view of the current trends in talent management. There are some excellent businesses leading the way – such as eBay – but there are more that need to take action in order to improve business performance, employee engagement, retention and, therefore, profitability. But, as this report shows, the steps that can be taken are manageable, and with just a few small changes, many companies could be classified as Best-in-Class by 2014.”
For more Best-in-Class onboarding information, download the full report at http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410362&cid=8383
