The ROI of smooth employee onboarding

Making hiring decisions is akin to placing bets on an employee's potential. New hires don't come cheap — there are costs to hiring and training new talent — and every company hopes to see a long and fruitful return on investment (ROI).

But here's the kicker: studies show that about 20% of employee turnover happens in the first 90 days¹, telling us two things: The onboarding phase is a critical period during which new hires commit (or not) to their jobs, and employers should look to invest in this phase if they want their hiring decisions (and spend) to pay off.

This article breaks down the key benefits and ROI possible with strong employee onboarding — and how employers can stack the odds in their favor.

It's time to play smart. The right onboarding strategy and tools to optimize the experience, like Workleap Onboarding, will ensure that every hiring decision becomes a surefire bet.

{emphasize}What's in this article

• The cost of ineffective onboarding
• Key features of Workleap Onboarding that enhance ROI{emphasize}

The cost of ineffective onboarding 

Onboarding is one of the first phases of the employee life cycle, bringing new hires up to speed with their roles, colleagues and teams, company processes, and workplace culture. This introductory phase sets the tone for the rest of their employment — it’s crucial to get it right. 

Traditional onboarding processes are associated with many inefficiencies, such as wasted time and resources and running the risk of early turnover. Often too short and lacking depth and support, new employees are left in the dark rather than shown the ropes correctly. Managers suffer, too: they need more structure, the right tools, and enough time to provide new hires the onboarding experience they deserve. 

Poor onboarding practices can cost employers — up to 200% of the employee's salary each time. There’s a clear opportunity to build better employee experiences and cut the cost of lost productivity and early turnover by improving the onboarding experience. 

Here's where onboarding solutions for HR like Workleap Onboarding come in. 

Key features of Workleap Onboarding that enhance ROI

Workleap Onboarding optimizes the onboarding journey, enabling managers to automate manual processes to design meaningful and engaging onboarding experiences for new hires. Its key features include: 

• Newcomer’s hub: Provides a centralized platform for new employees, where onboarding tasks and resources sit under one roof, preventing overwhelm and accelerating productivity. 

• Task management & onboarding plans: Customized onboarding plans and organized tasks ensure a clear path forward for new employees so they can hit the ground running and contribute to their team's success.  

• Reusable onboarding templates: Templates save HR managers time and ensure consistency across onboarding experiences — and ours can be personalized to each employee’s unique needs. 

• Feedback and reaction features: Immediate feedback is gold, helping address issues without delay to get back on track. Open feedback between managers and new hires also ensures a continuous improvement of the onboarding process.  

• Integration capabilities: Supporting over 50 HRIS systems and integrating existing collaboration tools like Slack or Teams streamlines processes, and enhances the new hire experience.  

Memorable employee experiences start with great onboarding — and it’s possible to find a turn-key solution that maximizes employee onboarding ROI from day one.