Five tips to improve the candidate onboarding experience

Onboarding is usually the first touchpoint you have with a new hire, and it can say a lot about your organisation. Whether you are a labour hire firm or a direct employer, it pays to get it right. Here are five tips for a better candidate onboarding experience.

#1 Go digital

In today’s digital landscape, I’m constantly surprised by the number of businesses still using paper in the onboarding experience.

Paper is clunky for everyone. For your candidate, there is the hassle of printing and scanning. Then comes the work for your team, chasing late or missing documents, uploading, data entry and secure storage. Not only is this incredibly time-consuming, but it leaves the process open to human error and makes it hard to maintain compliance.

The right digital solution should increase turnaround time and deliver a seamless experience, integrating with your other HR software, including payroll.

Ideally, your solution should offer candidates a single port of call, from contracts and induction videos to payroll data, making it easy for candidates to get everything done on time and ready to hit the ground running.

#2 Make it easy

Onboarding is a vital part of the hiring process, but it doesn’t need to be complex. If you are running a paper-based manual process (see above) that’s the first thing to address.

And when it comes to your digital solution, there are a few things you can do to make it easy for your candidate and your team.

Eighty-nine per cent of Australians own a smartphone, so it makes sense to offer an entirely mobile experience, using the camera as a scanner. Your candidates will be able to complete the process on the go, anytime, anywhere, making it simple for them and improving your turnaround times.

Amongst Onboarded clients, 70% of candidates only use mobile to complete the process, so there is a clear preference.

Another must is automated communication. From reminders to notifications, you can guide candidates through the process and keep them on track without taking up any of your team’s time.

Integration with your other HR platforms is also essential. While this might seem like a benefit for your team, it’s a win for your candidates too.

With manual data entry or downloading and uploading between systems, there’s room for human error or missing documents, which can cause unnecessary delays and create additional steps for the candidate.

#3 Keep it quick

While onboarding is a necessary part of the process, the formalities and paperwork aren’t usually the highlights of starting a new job, so keep things moving. It’s a good idea to get started before the candidate starts work to avoid delays while paperwork is processed.

#4 Ensure it’s secure but forget the passwords!

Another area to consider is secure access. Sure, you can use passwords and usernames, but we all know these can quickly become a pain. In fact, a recent study shows that 50% of Australians forget passwords so frequently that they need to reset them twice a week.

We’ve all experienced the annoyance of a forgotten password when we want to jump in and get something done fast. With Onboarded, your candidates don’t need to worry about this. The experience is completed entirely through a single unique and secure URL — no usernames or passwords are required.

#5 Make it engaging and relevant

Video can be a great tool to induct staff, but organisations often use one set of videos for every role, leaving a new hire with hours and hours to view with little relevant learning. Tailoring the experience for the role is a great way to keep the candidate engaged and ensure they have the correct information to get started on the job, from WHS videos to CEO welcomes.

Expert advice can really help here too. The Onboarded team works with our clients to review and score content, and build a fast, easy, secure and engaging experience for your new hires.

Whether you are onboarding ten candidates or 10,000, a digital solution is a must-have in today’s market. It saves you time and money while delivering a winning candidate experience, so it’s a no-brainer.

At Onboarded, we’re the candidate experience experts, onboarding 15,000 candidates a month across businesses of all sizes, with an average satisfaction rating of 4.6/5. So, if it’s time to get more from your onboarding, get in touch.