As everyone knows onboarding is a term used extensively in Human Resources and this term refers to the process of hiring people for an organization. The process of onboarding is an extensive one and since the term lacks an official definition, there are varied opinions as to the processes or categories that fall under this term. Mentioned below are a few of the elements of the onboarding process
- Employment offers
- Negotiation of salary
- New employee forms
- Training
- Benefits paperwork
- Tour of the facility
The process of onboarding starts when the employment offer has been accepted by the candidate and it ends when the said candidate is completely integrated as a performer in the organization.
Benefits
A good onboarding program its own set of benefits, listed below are a few of those benefits
Attracting and Recruiting the Best
With the help of a good onboarding program, it is possible to build a concrete foundation for the elements that create a positive work culture and that can be used to attract and retain the best candidate/talent.
Early Employee Engagement
According to the research conducted by the Gallups “State of the American Workplace Report” indicated that the outcome out of all the different factors depends mostly on employee engagement. Putting the new hires through a fun, thoughtful and educational program helps in building a long and fruitful career in the company.
Increased Productivity
This one is a no-brainer, that companies have increased productivity as onboarding is the process of getting new hires to be a useful asset in the company.
Employee Retention
If an employee were to leave the company, that results in a monetary loss to the company. A good onboarding program increases the chances of employee retention.
Steps in Employee Onboarding
Here are some of the steps and practices that are followed in a good onboarding program
- Implementation of the basics even before the first day
- Making the first day for the new hire special
- Orientation programs
- Making use of onboarding plans
- Monitor the progress of the new hires on a regular basis
- Using the technology that helps to improve the onboarding process
- Recognizing the fact, that the onboarding process is a long haul which may take up to 12 months.
- Engage higher-level authorities with the new hires
- Being clear and transparent about the details of the job.
- Making use of the HR onboarding checklist
Onboarding Checklist
It is basically a checklist that aids the HR managers to ensure that all the steps in the onboarding process being done and on schedule.
Checklist for Candidates
- Submitting your application for the job
- Background check
- Reviewing of job roles and schedule
- Reviewing the duties related to the role
- Filing out all the new employee forms
- Preparing an introduction for the teams
- Preparing for the job
Checklist for Organization/HR Managers
Week 1
- Meet and greet with the rest of the employees
- Handout employee handbook
- Organizing the office tour
- Help the new hire set up his work-space
- Orientation Program
- Explain company policies on everything
- Meet and greet with the CEO
- Checking is the new hire is adjusting accordingly
- Going out for a team outing
Week 2, 3 and so on
- Constantly monitoring the progress of the new hire
- Organizing training sessions
- Organizing cultural and social activities
- Conducting an employee onboarding survey
These are some of the basic steps that are followed in an organization. Though most organizations have onboarding programs that may vary. This checklist is used by every organization.
What are some HR Onboarding solutions?
There enough HR onboarding solutions that organizations can use in their favor, the prevalence of HR onboarding software is not unknown. It is a technology that helps the organization facilitate an unhindered transition for the new hires. The onboarding software allows seamless communication with each other and makes the whole onboarding process a smooth journey.
Onboarding software comes with a variety of features that aid in making the onboarding process an efficient one.
Here are the features that the onboarding software has to provide
An interface that is User-Friendly
Having an user-friendly interface makes things easy and the software easy to use. As new hires often spend a lot of time trying to communicate with the HR manager for various reasons.
Hence it is important to choose a software that has a user-friendly interface, for the ease of efficient use.
Cloud-Based
When the software is cloud-based it means that the managers can track and monitor the progress of the employee in real-time. Cloud-based software allow people to store information and data on the cloud, this makes it accessible from any place, with an internet connection.
Automation of the Workflow
This feature helps in bridging the divide between people and process, by automating the workflow, the managers can track and monitor the process from anywhere and across any department.
Gamification
This is an interesting feature of the HR onboarding software. Using aspects of gamification in the onboarding process, it makes the whole process a fun one. By adding concepts like level-ups and quests, can make the normal day at work an interesting one.
Benefits of Implementing HR onboarding Software
Listed below are some of the benefits of implementing HR onboarding solutions
- Standardizing the onboarding process
- Prevention of risk related to compliance
- Enhancement of process visibility
- Increased productivity
- Improved employee engagement
- Elimination of man-made errors
- Eliminates the need for paperwork as everything is digital
