The correct Onboarding process is a powerful tool to welcome new employees, communicate corporate philosophy, ensure proper learning and enable future procedures. Discover the keys in this #LuxeTalentBlog. 

Implementing an Onboarding process: Ensure its success

What does onboarding consist of? 

The main objective of onboarding is to facilitate and speed up the incorporation, integration and adaptation of the new employee in the company.

Familiarize the employee with their new role and with the company: functions, culture, internal policies, team, working environment...

Make the employee feel at home, safe and special. 

How to structure a successful onboarding process?

Structure and organisation will be a major contributor to the success of this process, although it is important to tailor all this tips to your organisation's needs. 

Prior to onboarding

Welcoming the new employee a few days before he/she joins the company, informing him/her about the first steps and timings is always a nice gesture and will improve your plans for the new employee. 

• Welcome email with useful and practical information (Agenda for the first days, company information, etc.).
• Send a gift and/or a welcome pack
• Assign host/office manager 

During onboarding

Day 1 of onboarding

Welcome office manager/ HR manager, preferably face to face

• Office tour on-site
• Welcome video call meeting
• Administrative management (contract, account allocation, data protection...)
• Meeting with the manager 
• Handing out equipment (computer, mobile phone, etc.) 

Day 2 and 3 of onboarding

After explaining the basic information and answering any doubts, these days are the perfect time for technical training (work tools, database, platforms used, strategies, selection search, etc.).

After onboarding

It is essential to follow up with the new employee

One to one feedbacks on a daily basis by the manager, for at least the first week. Ten minutes should be enough. 

Practical training: shadowing with colleagues. It enables the employee to learn by observing how employees relate and interact with each other and with the product, the existing processes, and to acquire a detailed vision of industry dynamics.

The first month 

During the first month, it is essential to carry out a continuous follow-up: 

• Ask, "how is it going?"
• Meeting with employee 1 or 2 times a week.
• Video call once a week with the whole team
• First month satisfaction survey with HR

Third month 

Even as time goes by, we must continue to support new talent and follow up. Through: 

• Employee satisfaction survey with HR
• Performance review meeting
• A "new hire of the year" event: recognition and appraisal of new recruits during the year. This will be a key tool to increase employee engagement.

Why should we ensure the perfect onboarding process in our company?

The benefits of a successful onboarding process are multiple, according to research by Brandon Hall Group, a good onboarding process:

• Improves retention rate of new employees by 82%.
• Improves productivity rate by 70%.
• A new employee needs between 8 and 12 months to be as productive as his or her peers.

And as a study by People Fluent Research shows: 

• 25% of dropouts happen in the first 45 days.
• 70% of newcomers make the decision to stay or leave in the first 6 months.

In conclusion, all the studies indicate the importance of a good onboarding process and how transformative it can be for an organisation. 

Benefits for the company 

• Talent retention: You will be able to have the best profiles in each area of the company and reduce your turnover rate.
• Increased productivity: If new employees feel integrated, are clear about their objectives and company philosophy, they will be more productive. Productivity can increase up to 54% with new employees.
• Good impression: if employees feel comfortable from day one, they will have a greater sense of belonging to the company, thus improving employee engagement.
• Lower recruitment costs: if employees leave in the first few months, it will have a negative impact on cost management, as recruitment has to be reactivated.

Benefits for the employee 

• Improves the employee journey and well-being at work, the personnel feel part of the company.
• Improves internal communication, employees are now better informed about their tasks and the functioning of the company.
• Improved working environment leading to higher motivation.
• Greater satisfaction in the company that will make talent decide to stay.

After exploring all these points, we can conclude that a proper onboarding process becomes essential for the new employee's future career in the company. The right onboarding will help to improve employee retention and decrease turnover, and even attract new talent by communicating a strong company culture. And of course, we cannot forget the huge increase in productivity. 

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