Onboarding is the structured way through which a new employee is introduced to his or her responsibilities within the company. In mature companies, integration takes place with the help of targeted measures aimed at making it easier for employees to find their way around their new working environment.
If properly managed, delivering a great employee experience from day one can leave a positive mark that stretches out for years to come. In the age of remote work however, as employees are deprived of formal and informal learning moments with more experienced colleagues, many companies are revisiting their onboarding content.
In many cases, emphasis has been placed in innovative digital content, which has proven to be an effective alternative of conveying key messages and bringing new hires to speed. Visual, engaging content is replacing corporate policies and bleak PowerPoint presentations in organizations are the world – and both companies and employees are benefiting.
Onboarding is key to reducing employee turnover
Amidst a global COVID-19 pandemic, some industries face dramatic moments. Others, however, report unprecedented surges in demand – such as e-commerce, logistics, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment to name a few. But even for these companies, Covid-19 has brought on a particular set of challenges, bringing new hires up to speed quickly being among them. To do so, some HR managers found it necessary to create a totally new, remote onboarding structure.
Even before the pandemic crisis settled around the globe, studies had shown that 22% of companies did not possess a formal onboarding system – no structured way in which to acquaint new employees with organizational policies, the detailed tasks demanded by their job role and the organizational culture that the company advocates.
According to some studies, the first 90 days of work are vital to an employee’s experience and perception of the company. This first impression sticks – it is one of the most frequently reasons reported in exit interviews, along with pay issues.
Onboarding content is essential to guarantee integration, reduce feelings of disconnection with the main goal of the company and with colleagues, reduce stress levels and increase productivity.
Efficient onboarding reduces employee turnover allowing for stable, productive teams, more satisfied with the work they perform. The impact has been quantified in detail: visual, engaging digital content will increase employee retention rates by 82%, increase the productivity by 70%, and improve positive customer feedback by 53%.
The consequences of failing to put an effective process in place are dire: when the onboarding system is not well defined, 33% of new employees will look for another job within 6 months and 20% in the following 45 days after being hired.
Replacing an employee costs between 16 and 213% of an employee's annual salary, depending on their position.
Furthermore, a new worker will need 8 months to achieve the productivity level of the person being replaced. This influences the company's annual revenue from 1 to 2.5%.
More focused on papers than on people
Studies show that 58% of companies direct their onboarding efforts to work policies and processes. This may explain why only 12% of employees who work for multinationals worldwide admit to being happy with their company's onboarding. When prompted, workers blame poorly structured programs lacking engagement and creativity, more focused on papers than on people.
How can HR teams adjust onboarding content for effective communication between company and employee? What is the gold standard in conveying expectations about their responsibilities and goals? How to increase the prospects of employees feeling connected with their co-workers and company culture?
Getting people to pay attention
Our experience has highlighted some vital few best practices for companies in all industries looking to revamp their onboarding efforts:
Livestream
Building a digital company culture requires meaningful interaction and live events are one of the simplest and most effective ways to achieve.
Remote work onboarding programs from creative companies include routine live streams, to discuss sales, team performance, policy changes, corporate quizzes, team building activities, or to simply get to know people working in different areas of the company.
Live events allow for swift interaction in real time, Q&A with leaders and a sense of proximity that regular videos just don’t provide.
Source: Workplace by Facebook
The employee handbook, revisited
In revised onboarding process, handbooks still play a role, even though the traditional, text-heavy versions are being replaced by more visual formats: Gifs, motion graphics, illustrations, quizzes and podcasts are the new norm, available on demand through the intranet or corporate social networks.
The tone is casual, relaxed and, who knows, hopefully funny. This will help encourage employees to read and learn.
Content tracking and employee feedback are on the raise
For added responsibility, tracking system are on the rise: most intranet or file management software will provide real time data on which documents have been already viewed by which employee.
However, many companies still struggle to collect and act upon this information in an effective way. Others, however, are able to identify if a particular element of their onboarding content is consistently left unread or if employees take too long to go through it, hinting at some potentially unintuitive content.
Employee feedback is important; systems should be set in place for workers to rate and comment the content served to them. This information is vital for HR managers set on improving their work overtime.
Engaging videos
Onboarding programs are more effective once they integrate interactive videos. The CEO’s message or the standard company video are not enough for the telecommuter because they simply don’t convey the same feeling of proximity one might experience and interaction they might come to expect from a live training session.
Instead, savvy HR managers are resorting to engaging videos aimed specifically at illustrating the different stages of the onboarding process. They might start with an overview from managers of each area and go on to the specifics of working at the company with detailed motion graphics videos, spanning the different tasks and skills required.
Role play
Instead of creating quizzes or exams to test basic knowledge, disruptive HR departments are creating simulations of real-life scenarios that employees might face.
The associated benefits of participating in a virtual journey, in the form of an online quiz show, for example, are:
Immersive “playing” and “competing” makes information easier to remember
It normalizes of failures and doubts
Provides instant feedback
Employees use cognitive and affective thinking simultaneously
We have helped companies in different industries revise their onboarding content and engage employees in a more meaningful way from their first day.