Onboarding New Employees

Finding the right person for your team is only the first stage in a successful hiring process. Once you’ve had your job offer accepted, you need a plan to engage and empower your new employee from day one. According to SHRM, 50% of people leave their new roles within the first four months. Additionally, up to half of all senior hires fail in the first 18 months too. The best way to address these challenges is to find a way to immerse each employee in the workings of your business. That’s where your onboarding plan comes in.

What is an Onboarding Plan?

Employee onboarding is the process of welcoming new employees into your team. Some companies assume that this process only needs to last for a couple of days. However, to get the most out of a new staff member, it’s important to offer guidance and support consistently, managing their growth as they mature.

Beyond making a new team member feel welcome, onboarding systems also ensure that your people are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to integrate into your workforce. An onboarding process can be divided in 4 ‘C’s:

  • Compliance: The most fundamental aspect, compliance refers to everything from essential company rules to legal procedures, dress codes, and government policies.
  • Clarification: Even the most competent employees benefit from a breakdown of their job requirements. Clarification involves letting your people know exactly what’s expected of them, and how their performance will be measured.
  • Culture: Everyone in your team needs to feel connected to the overarching company culture. This process involves introducing people to the norms of the workplace, work ethics, and leadership techniques.
  • Connection: Networking is crucial for any new hire. Ensuring that your people can interact well together provides not only a more positive workforce but also a more productive and efficient environment.

What are the Benefits?

Building a high-performing team is a time-consuming and expensive process. Onboarding is one of the best ways to make sure that you retain the talent you spent so long finding. Organisations with an onboarding process achieve up to 62% greater new employee productivity, along with 50% better new hire retention. It eliminates the “sink or swim” approach to welcoming someone new into your business and replaces it with a strategic and welcoming plan of action. With the right campaign you can:

  • Reduce employee turnover costs: The costs of employee turnover can range between 100% and 300% of a replaced employee’s salary.
  • Improve company culture: Helping new staff members to build bonds leads to a more cohesive and positive company culture.
  • Boost productivity: It takes up to 8 months for new employees to reach full productivity, but a set programme can speed things up by showing team members what they need to do to be successful.
  • Improves employer brand: Sharing stories about your onboarding and induction process will show that you’re an employer who invests in their people.
  • Attracts new talent: In a time when employees are looking for more than just a good salary from their job, an excellent onboarding plan can set you apart from the competition and improve your chance of finding great candidates.

What Does an Onboarding Plan Include?

To gain a full insight into the creation of a employee onboarding plan, download the template below:

Employee Onboarding Plan

Further Reading

How to build an employer brand

How to use behavioural testing

Copeland help automotive business recruit the best people. We help reduce hiring times – focusing on quality over quantity. 

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