Onboarding: how to retain new employees

The onboarding process helps the employee get acclimated to the new position. From English it translates as "adaptation", it is a collective name for practices that make the first months at work more comfortable.

Onboarding is necessary for an employee to experience as little stress as possible when they enter a new workplace. It is a mutually beneficial process, because the more relaxed the newcomer is, the better he performs his duties. And the company will make more money because of it. 

Remember that comfort within the company directly affects its reputation.

Statistics confirming the benefits of onboarding

Many studies have been conducted on the topic of employee motivation. In one of them, the following results were obtained:

• 89% of respondents stated their desire to get to know a new employee on the first day of work;
• about 83% of employees expect to be introduced to the team when they start a new job;
• a quarter of all respondents are ready to leave their job within the first 90 days.

Alfa-Bank knows that new employees need help. Employees and HR also note its usefulness: 89.4% of respondents gave the adaptation system the highest score.

Onboarding together with non-material and material motivation makes the team happier. It reduces people's desire to change companies in the future.

How to prepare for the arrival of an employee?

The better the new workplace is prepared, the faster the employee will begin to fulfill his duties. Therefore, you should be concerned about the availability of the following things: 

• A list of logins and passwords;
• documentation for work;
• furniture, computer, necessary cables;
• work uniforms, badges, etc. 

If possible, it is necessary to warn about the newcomer to the team. Some firms appoint a responsible person who will deal with the adaptation of a colleague in addition to the HR-manager. It is better to receive all documents by e-mail - so you can get in advance the data necessary for the contract.

What to do on the first day of work?

On the first working day, there will be a lot of stress, so a person will not remember all his duties and will make mistakes. But the number of problems can be reduced, and the easiest way to do this is to introduce the newcomer to a mentor who will guide him. 

After that, you should tell him about the company and future goals. Sometimes it is useful to show the newcomer the values of the firm, so that he realizes that he is not only working for money, but also making the world a little better.

How to proceed after the first day of work?

The answer to the question depends on the new employee's position. The more important it is, the more time will have to be spent on training. But the main thing is to provide the necessary minimum that will reveal the newcomer. The seller of digital equipment, for example, should be given a methodology that describes the stages of communication with customers, ways of interacting with them, etc.

Valve (creators of CS and Dota 2) released a book for their new employees, which touches on even the smallest details. 

Further training can be broken down into the following time periods.

Stage 1 - Work Week

The employee will not memorize all his duties in the first day, so the first 7 days are the most important. They are used as follows: 

• set goals for the near future;
• give access to necessary resources if available;
• outline all the duties to be performed in the workplace;
• sign additional documents, if any. 

Another first week is needed to get to know the team. 

Stage 2 - One month of work

Usually the probationary period lasts 30 days, during this time the newcomer should learn the necessary minimum duties. At the end of the period can be discussed salary, the subtleties of the work schedule, etc. But the main task for a month is to give feedback to the newcomer on the work he has done. Some companies ask for feedback from the employee, asking if everything suits him in the company. 

Feedback through a survey is the most effective as it is easier to turn it into statistics. 

There are pitfalls in business that newcomers face. We have a lot of experience in the educational sector, which we decided to share in this article.

At the end of the month, further plans regarding professional growth are set. Usually they have the form of specific goals.

Stage 3 - Three months of work

During this period it is necessary to help the employee to gain knowledge, goals are set again and the employee's activities are discussed. Sometimes the newcomer is sent to trainings and provided with useful literature. In the company it is important not to forget about the ties within the team, corporate events are used to improve relations.

Cheat sheet on training a new employee

A checklist can be used to onboard new hires. Employee onboarding should include the following items:

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• Selecting a start date for the training and the overall period of continuation;
• learning the role of the HR department in the process;
  
• help from others in the adaptation process (coworkers, superiors);
  
• working out a goal for newcomers and a list of rules that you will need to know;
  
• if the job is difficult, you can prepare a list of tasks and goals for the first day, week, month and quarter;
  
• sorting out feedback.
  

Prepare the workplace and documentation in advance, this will not only avoid delays, but will also show the employee that the company takes a responsible approach. It is important not to overload the newcomer in the first week, as it will already be stressful.

Employee onboarding - examples for companies of all sizes

Preparation of documentation and workplace is an obvious part of adaptation. But we'll give some more examples of employee onboarding:

• Large companies use mass onboarding when they gather more than 5-7 people at a time. They can be sent to a training session where professionals will talk about the company and share their personal experience.
  
  
• The simplest way to help a newcomer is to prepare a welcome book. This is a small book or magazine that contains the necessary minimum information about the company, work intricacies, plans, etc.
  
  
• A gift is a way to make a person feel at ease. It can be a branded mug, food or clothing. 

KakaoPay is a digital wallet company. It has prepared a whole set for its employees consisting of an organizer, mug, brush, stickers, etc.

• It is better to introduce two types of trainings. In large companies there are departments that are not connected to each other. The first will be introductory, it will be suitable for all employees. There they will be able to familiarize themselves with the firm's mission, understand how different departments are interconnected with each other, etc. The second training is a profile training, where the presenters will be able to talk about the immediate goals of specific teams.
  
  
• Surveys are a way to find out what employees think about themselves. Studying them, specialists in the HR department will be able to work out material and non-material motivation. This has immediate and long-term benefits for employees. People will see that their opinion counts and they can influence the company. And in the future, the firm will be able to redesign the onboarding system, making it more effective. 

Conduct surveys also among those who have moved to a new position within the company. 

The preparation of a proper offer will also be useful. Its task is to answer all questions related to material motivation, salary, position, tasks, etc. Also there you can leave useful contacts, a list of possible tools, bonuses, etc.

What to do with remote workers?

Meetings and live trainings are not available for remote workers. In this case, onboarding of employees looks like this:

• We prepare documentation, give access to all the necessary files. 
• Add the employee to the necessary chats and groups. If desired, you can ask him to tell about himself. 
• Sometimes a valuable staff member needs to send equipment. It is better to provide it as soon as possible through couriers. Alternatively, ask the newcomer to come to the office.
• During the first few days, you need to schedule a video call. There the newcomer will be told about the tasks to be performed and the nearest plans. He will also be able to ask his questions, the answers to which will bring clarity to the work process. 
• We appoint a mentor who will supervise the employee for a month.
• Next, the learning process begins, which is done through the mentor, but the emphasis is on self-learning. Therefore, it is helpful to provide documentation with available resources. Also in demand remotely is the LMS (Learning Management System), which has courses to improve or gain useful skills. 

For bosses and HR, you can make a separate tab in your personal account where they can track the progress of employees and entire departments. 

After the probationary period, conduct a video call where we give feedback.

Onboarding must always be present

More often than not, small companies and start-ups are not engaged in onboarding new employees. They are guided by the idea that adaptation requires money and time, which a small firm does not have. This is a mistake for several reasons at once:

• It will be more difficult for the future employee to adapt to the new place. This will reduce his productivity, as he will be forced to spend time not on work, but on trying to understand what his superiors want from him and how to pass the probationary period.
  
  
• Stress directly affects the quality of work. A study on this topic shows that 54% of Russians are afraid of not finding a common language with the future team. The lack of onboarding complicates the process of adaptation in a new place in this matter. 

Most fears are experienced by people under 25 years old, after this age the indicator decreases. Therefore, the younger the team, the more necessary onboarding. 

• At first glance, the explanation of basic tasks may seem absurd: a newcomer will figure it all out by himself. But surveys showed that 22% of respondents could not understand what they were hired for. They were not explained what they needed to do and how to work with the tools they were given for the job. Proper onboarding solves this problem by increasing productivity and motivation. 

If the company does not have impressive resources for training courses, short presentations and a list of resources needed for the job can be made. You should also work on the team atmosphere so that newcomers know their questions will be answered.