Employee onboarding best practices: A technology perspective.

• Author: Kopoulos, Ari
• Position: MANAGEMENT

The employee onboarding process is no longer used just for administrative issues. It's true that advanced software and automated technologies eliminate duplicate entries and streamline employee on-boarding, but that's just the beginning of the array of business and employee benefits that onboarding technology can deliver for your business or HR department.

Benefits of an Organized Employee Onboarding Process

Research shows that new hires are more likely to leave companies within the first eighteen months of their employment. The costs of finding, attracting, hiring, onboarding, and training new employees can prove prohibitive, so it makes sound financial sense to develop an employee onboarding process that makes the best possible impression on new hires. A smooth procedure provides the following business benefits:

* Increases employee retention

* Heightens employee engagement

* Enables a self-service onboarding process

* Fosters brand advocacy among current and former employees

* Accelerates administrative processing

* Identifies new hires for training, promotion, and other actions

* Improves employee efficiency

* Shorts the learning curve

* Promotes inter-office communication

* Attracts top talent from word-of-mouth promotions and referrals

* Builds trust and strengthens alignment with company goals

The Importance of Employee Onboarding

A smooth and organized onboarding process (and offboarding process) can prevent bad hires, make favorable impressions on new hires, and expose people early to the company's culture. The costs of bad hires are truly shocking--a Career Builder survey found that two-thirds of employers experienced problems due to bad hires. Out of 2,700 employers, 41 percent reported that each bad hire cost an average of $25,000. Of those surveyed, 25 percent of respondents reported average costs of bad hires to be $50,000 or more. Employee onboarding presents some technological challenges, but overcoming these issues can ensure a smooth and effective onboarding process.

First Impressions Drive the Employee Experience

A new employee checklist reassures new hires by identifying critical employee issues. Astute employees can quickly spot whether anything is missing or seems inappropriate for their positions. Strong employee self-service programs help to retain top talent by making a favorable first impression and engaging new hires immediately in the company's culture. In fact, statistics show that employee onboarding programs can increase retention rates by as much as 25 percent while improving productivity by 11 percent. The onboarding process doesn't just enter a new employee in the system; it introduces new hires to the technology tools that the company uses, familiarizes people with office practices, facilitates preparation before the start of work, and acquaints new hires with managers, team members, and the company's core culture.

Using Preboarding Time to Best Advantage

There are many ways that software technology can deliver HR and business benefits while making the most out of the time between preboarding...