We’ve all found ourselves staring at a new employee packet at least once in our careers. Depending on the size and organisation of the company, it may have consisted of several stapled sheets of paper (a welcome letter and a list of internal resources with a W-9 thrown in) or an impressive binder with everything from branding guidelines and the latest quarterly magazine to a full-colour brochure of area attractions and landmarks.
Whatever the case, the time and money spent up front immersing new employees on the expectations, standards, goals and culture of an organisation impacts a company’s bottom line long after a newly hired employee is handed their badge.
According to a report published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) – Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success – half of all senior outside hires fail within 18 months in a new position and half of all hourly workers leave new jobs within the first 120 days.
What is the solution to this costly attrition rate? The 54-page report points to efficient onboarding practices as the most critical to employee retention (after effective recruitment and screening processes) while observing “the faster new hires feel welcome and prepared for their jobs, the faster they will be able to successfully contribute to the firm’s mission.”
Though the Internet is teaming with insight into the most effective onboarding practices, a single technological concept is enabling business to put these fruitful plans into action: HR automation—converting time-consuming, paper-based HR processes into computer-based models often designed around a more efficient and engaging self-service model.
Here’s some sample onboarding advice and how managers are cutting new employee onboard time considerably using HR automation:
Design a well-planned onboarding procedure.
A well-planned onboarding procedure is one that evolves over time and can be executed in stages. Some companies have onboarding programs that span up to two years. HR automation allows this staggered interaction to be achieved by creating online, manageable repositories of information.
Not only is this more efficient from a records management/compliance perspective, but from a relationship angle as well. The ability to automate HR-to-employee communications like scheduling orientations and/or sending periodic, predetermined messaging with content relative to the employee’s position and/or stage of employment can quickly build trust and rapport.
Emphasise quality interactions.
HR is truly the emotional epicentre of an organization. A company’s relationship with each individual employee cannot rely on what time of day a question is asked, or who in HR picks up the phone. Even the best HR team can’t do it all.
By automating everyday tasks, HR members can spend more time on quality interactions including those that are more sensitive and personal in nature, or investing their energy in launching programs and events aimed at employee satisfaction and retention.
Gain support from multiple organisational resources.
By automating HR resources and functions, HR teams can open up entirely new ways for engaging company-wide. No longer does a manager have to turn a new employee away with the comment “go ask HR” or spend business-critical time finding the answer themselves.
HR automation elevates the awareness of HR programs and activity while transforming the tedious into organized, transparent processes. Ultimately, these refined processes make onboarding the new employee less like an arduous set of disconnected tasks and more resembling of an ongoing conversation that is both streamlined and engaging.
Let Dajon introduce your company to the benefits of HR automation.