How to transform your onboarding process and why you should
When was the last time you heard someone ask for more forms to fill out? Probably never, right? Onboarding forms….
Onboarding for success and productivity
The dropout rates in the first few months of employment are astonishing. Don’t let your onboarding process be one of the reasons for this. Day one is the most important day for any candidate, so don’t let boring paperwork consume the day. Make sure you engage them from day one, to set the pace and push for immediate productivity. If you don’t give the employee something to do on the first day, you are ruining their first day at work. Make sure your new employee feels useful right away.
The basic steps when recruiting
Covid-19 has forced most industries to encourage their staff to work from home with easy access to laptops, mobiles and tablets. On the other hand, some industries simply cannot work from home, especially mining, manufacturing, health care industries who have to conduct their business on the go with smart technology. We do not know how long the concept of working from home will last, some say it is here for good. However, what is certain is the move towards processes based on the accessibility of smart technology to drive functions that traditionally depend on paper and printers. An approach that makes tasks convenient for the new employee, recruiter and HR department, thus, ensuring that every step is covered and compliant, makes sense. When changes happen at the workplace, then the recruitment sector has to also implement new strategies to win the battle for valuable workers with strong skill sets.
Onboarding for retention
The best practice for a successful orientation is to have onboarded the employee well before they walk in the door. According to HR technology trends, only 26% of companies use software and technology to drive their onboarding process for a better user experience. For those that use technology the results however are paying off especially with the high expectations of millennials. 53% of HR professionals say that employee engagement rises when onboarding is improved.
Recruitment process
When recruiting for a position the normal channels of engagement are:- advertising the job vacancy
- screening applicants
- interviews take place
- the job offer is accepted and ideally,
- one of the candidates is offered the job.
Touchpoints
The time between when the job offer letter is sent out and the candidate’s first day of work is most crucial and defines whether the candidate will stay with the company for more than 6 months or not. Most workers make a decision whether to stay or leave early on in their new role. In most cases, employees stay with the employers to gain experience before moving on, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
The first day for a new employee
Day one is the most important day for any candidate, so having a system that gets the paperwork out of the way early on is essential. It’s the norm now and expected by employees. Effective onboarding improves both employee retention and productivity. These essential points are part of a recipe to achieve a productive first day:
- After being introduced the employee should get straight to work on their first day
- Make sure that they have a well-defined job description, work station and some work to get on with on day one
- Make sure contract, paperwork and admin stuff is taken care of well before and they feel part of the team from Day 1
- Set up all logins and IT requirements, tools and equipment to give the impression that you are eagerly awaiting their arrival
- Create a buddy system during their orientation to break the ice with team members and to share thoughts, feelings and experiences with team members
Using technology to get the pre-orientation phase right.
Most recruitment agencies and HR departments use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to drive and manage recruitment. The ATS platform manages the candidate journey from advertising a job to signing a contract. The ATS driven automated process often stops when the contract is signed and does not support tech-driven onboarding processes. Most platforms do not take the experience further.
The next step which is onboarding is managed through the issuing of various forms and formalities, including the collection of essential information about the worker eg: tickets, credentials, qualifications etc. However, extending the functions of ATS to include the onboarding stage is now possible. Most onboarding software can integrate into well known ATS platforms and some of them can be used as a cloud-based independent platform in the absence of a tracking system.
Automating the end to the end recruitment process, including onboarding, is a vital step toward a higher employee retention rate. You need to show that you are in line and in tune with the latest HR technology and look to provide a self-service option so that there is less reliance on people to drive the process. This will surely help you increase your success rate and save your internal staff follow up & data entry.
Let’s walk through a technology-driven recruitment journey.
The power of one URL link
Based on our example, all a new hire needs is a smartphone, laptop or tablet to start onboarding. Once a profile for the new hire is set up, the recruiter collates the document requirement on the system, generating a one link URL for the candidate. The pre-formatted forms are sent to them through an automatic trigger on the system.
The new hire receives an email with the URL link – completes the paperwork all online, uploads documents requested and submits these all online with the click of a button. If additional checks like reference checks, visa checks (VEVO) are required, platforms such as Onboarded are integrated with these online tools. Making the checking and compliance processes are met.
Recruitment is a ‘people business’ and convenience is what candidates have come to expect in the 21st century. Onboarded software helps you avoid delays that can be avoided by collecting data professionally and accurately. Sealing the deal with a candidate is now possible with software that manages the boring administrative tasks.
