Managing employee onboarding: why is it so important?

Picture this: it’s your first day at work in your new job.

When you arrive, no one tells you where to park. No one is there to welcome you either. And worse, the receptionist has no idea who you are or that you are supposed to be starting your new job today.

How does this make you feel? Certainly not very well.

A bad onboarding experience is enough to sabotage a new employee’s motivation.

Luckily, by preparing a good onboarding plan, you can make sure that this first day, and all the following ones, will be a success. Here’s how.

What is the onboarding process?

Employee onboarding is the entire process of orienting a new employee to their new role and work environment. From the office tour to the definition of their tasks and responsibilities, and including team introductions.

Welcoming new hires goes beyond the first day at work. It is a well-structured and prepared integration plan.

For many people, learning is easier if they have a clear representation of what the puzzle should look like once put together. Similarly, onboarding involves structuring all the information so that it is easily accessible.

Your onboarding plan should be adapted to your business. Therefore, it is crucial that you take the time to build it and invest in implementing an integration system that will maximize your employee retention rate.

New hire onboarding is an investment for your company, both in terms of money and time, but the results will be felt in the long term.

No more organizational nightmares!

Why is it important to set up an onboarding plan?

Onboarding new employees is a crucial step in your company’s human resource management for long-term staff retention and loyalty. It is your first opportunity to create a true sense of belonging.

These days, new candidates are interested in companies that stand out. Remember that not so long ago, it was the other way around. Candidates had to stand out to get a job within your company.

Obviously, no employer should leave a wrong impression on a new hire. As human beings, we need to find our place in a new environment and establish our bearings. 

When does the onboarding process end?

Onboarding ends when you feel that your new employee is thriving in the company, when they are confidently involved and are making a general contribution that goes beyond their position.

In the case of employees who have obtained their position through internal transfer or promotion, the onboarding process can vary. The onboarding plan remains important, but it will be adapted to the organizational knowledge the employees already have.

Main benefits of successful employee onboarding 

Onboarding is often neglected and poorly prepared, which leads to bad performance and an increase in redundant, repetitive tasks. Learning ‘on the job’ has its advantages, but it is better to opt for a more formal onboarding method to start on the right foot. 

Here are the main benefits of good onboarding planning.

Employee attraction and retention

Without a well-prepared onboarding, a new employee will take longer to assimilate and understand their position's work methods, tools, and challenges. Even if they have all the required skills, this could be an issue.

New employees who benefit from onboarding as soon as they arrive in the company can take initiative faster and more efficiently. This encourages them to be resourceful and creative in their position.

New employees will grow quickly by better understanding their role and contribution to your company. They will have a better sense of priorities and be more sensitive to organizational issues.

Reduced employee turnover 

Given the current labor shortage and the resulting high turnover rate, onboarding new employees can be time-consuming. And while the onboarding plan can be a powerful staff retention tool, I suggest you automate it to save time and money. 

When hiring a new employee, you not only look at their skill level but also at whether they are a good fit for your company’s culture. That is why your organizational culture should be highlighted in your onboarding plan.

Better communication

You will be able to inform and support your new employee, which will ensure a loyal and fruitful collaboration, built upon a healthy basis.

Once your onboarding plan is set up, it will be useful to your company for a long time. By digitizing the onboarding process, you will be able to reuse it for every new hire!

Employee engagement

Don’t forget to include in your onboarding plan enough time for your new hire to become familiar with the company, its mission, values and their role within your organization. 

Each new employee will also need time to get acquainted with their office and coworkers. You should reserve one to two weeks for onboarding and training related to the new employee’s position.

Automate onboarding with a learning management system (LMS)

Did you know that a learning management system could help you speed up new hire onboarding?

You could even invite your new employee to your LMS before their first day at the company. Imagine how much time you would save and how much stress the new employee will avoid!

In fact, new hire onboarding steps are numerous and repetitive. By automating the process, you will have more time to be present for your new employee throughout the process.

Discover our different onboarding templates to create new online courses in less than a day. Digitizing your onboarding plan could be done in just one week!

And go further... By revamping your program with our onboarding template! Try Workleap LMS for free and make your onboarding program stand out from the crowd!

Remote employee onboarding

As the remote work trend grows and brings about new challenges and issues, a learning management system will allow you to remotely onboard new employees. It is an efficient way to adapt to your employees’ new reality without compromising your corporate culture.

Start automating your onboarding plan by creating your Workleap LMS platform.

Request a demo and find out how to use our LMS to improve new hire onboarding in your company!