They say that first impressions count. It’s certainly true for employees on their first days and weeks in a new job. From experience, employee inductions tend to fall into one of two categories
- The impressive induction – A new starter enters into a structured, organised process that systematically introduces new colleagues, a new culture and new processes to them over a defined period, minimising awkward moments and reinforcing the decision they made to join the organisation.
- The distressing induction – A lack of preparation means that staff are running around trying to organise computers, introductions and things to do. The new starters’ anxiety starts to climb as awkward moments become commonplace and they may start questioning their decision to join the organisation. Information tends to be passed on either too quickly to be absorbed not quickly enough.
There are solid stats to back up this dichotomy.
A study by Brandon Hall Group suggests that organisations with strong onboarding processes improve their new hire retention rate by 82% and their employee productivity by over 70%.
Research by Robert Half found that 59% of Australian hiring managers have had an employee resign during their probation period due to poor onboarding processes and 43% lost new employees within the first month of their employment.
Disturbingly, it seems that hiring managers are missing a beat when it comes to the effectiveness of their induction efforts. The Robert Half survey, mentioned above, shows that almost one-third of hiring managers believe their current onboarding process is ‘excellent’, 51% think their process is ‘good’ and 16% believe what they are doing in the induction space is ‘sufficient’. When you pair this with the incredibly high rate of employee churn, it becomes apparent there is a fundamental disconnect between how managers believe they are performing and what is actually happening during the induction process. What these stats show is that getting employee induction right really matters.
Deliver impressive, avoid distressing
The most impactful way to ensure new hires get off to the best possible start within your business is to commit to a structured, technology-supported induction process. We’ve outlined some of the benefits of taking this approach below.
1. Increases employee retention
We covered this one in the intro, but there is an undeniable link between strong employee induction practices and employee satisfaction and retention.
2. Make the new employee feel respected
Induction is the first of many interactions between your new employee and your business. Taking the time and effort to engage new starters in your business, it’s people, and its operations show you are committed to the relationship and its success.
3. Optimise transactional tasks
How does the copier work? How do I log into system X. It’s boring, but administrative induction has to take place for employees to get up speed as quickly as possible. What’s more, with a technology solution like Tribal Habits, these processes can be automated, freeing up staff time and reducing the training load.
4. Open communication lines
A well-structured induction process encourages and nurtures and conversation across your organisation. Your new starters will be integrating with the people they work directly with as well as those in other functions. Open and fluid communication during the induction process gives your staff an understanding of what other employees do and how they can help the organisation reach its goals.
5. Develop a workplace culture of inclusiveness
Disturbingly, 40% of Australians feel lonely at work. This links to the point above about communication, but the induction process is the first point of contact your new starters will have with their co-workers. If this process is managed properly, bonds will form between employees that build company culture and allows people to bring their ‘real selves’ to work.
6. Win the talent battle
The way a business treats (an inducts) its employees has a direct impact on the market’s opinion of that brand. Websites like glassdoor.com have brought, transparency to this field meaning that potential employees can now understand exactly what it’ll be like to work for your organisation. Look at companies like SalesForce, Google or anyone on the Great Place to Work list and ask yourself, do these businesses have strong, consistent induction practices or are they leaving things to chance by taking an ad-hoc approach?
7. Save money and time
A scalable, repeatable onboarding process can be rolled out each a new starter joins, no need to re-invent the wheel. Shifting parts of the onboarding experience online can also free up the time of experienced staff by reducing the amount of face-to-face training required.
The evidence is clear that a structured, repeatable induction process drastically improves the way an organisation operates. To find out more about organisations are using Tribal Habits to create customised induction experiences, get in touch with us at [email protected]