Finding great employees is no easy feat and it can be more than a little disappointing to lose employees who barely make it past their probationary period. Keeping employees for the long term starts from the moment they’re hired and a great onboarding process is essential. In fact, a study commissioned by Glassdoor found that a strong onboarding process improves retention by 82%.

The onboarding period is much like a first impression in that it’s your opportunity to show the candidate your best side. Here are four things you can do to show your new hire that they made the right choice:

Get administrative paperwork out of the way before the employee’s first day. New employment comes with a host of forms to fill out and this is not a great way to spend the first day. Completing forms before the first day frees up a lot of time for the employee to form relationships with managers and colleagues. Using digital forms that integrate with your ATS is a great way for you to easily keep track of information and manage employee files. Not to mention that digital forms can autofill with details provided by your new hire during the application process. This provides a much better candidate experience than asking your new hire to resubmit information or manually complete paper forms.

Provide a first-day welcome. You want your new employee to feel like they are a celebrated part of the team. If your new hire has a dedicated desk, display some company swag like a coffee mug, pens, notebook and a welcome note from the team. If your new hire is working remotely, you can send a package of the same items to them ahead of their first day. Socialization is a key part of the onboarding process and an informal lunch with the team can help foster a sense of inclusion.  These little touches go a long way to providing a great first impression.

Assign an onboarding buddy. The onboarding buddy should be a peer who has been with the company for at least one year. He should also be familiar with the company’s inner workings, a supportive resource, and a champion of the workplace culture. Starting a new job can come with a lot of anxiety and unanswered questions and an onboarding buddy can be a great source of information and moral support. One study found that new hires with buddies were 23% more satisfied with the onboarding experience than those without.

Check-in regularly. A key part of onboarding is making sure that your new hire has all of the necessary tools to do their work effectively. However, onboarding certainly doesn’t end there. Your new hire will need regular check-ins through their first six months. Regular performance feedback is critical for employee engagement and those 1:1 meetings are an excellent way to find out what’s going well and not-so-well from your new hire’s perspective.

Feedback on the onboarding process can be extremely valuable. Ask your new hires to tell you about their onboarding experience by completing a short survey within their first 60 days. Their feedback can be used to enhance your onboarding process to facilitate greater employee retention and engagement.

Sincron HR Software

Our e-onboarding module includes options allowing new employees to upload documents, complete e-forms online (coming soon), read and accept policies, take tests, and complete feedback forms. HR administrators can create tasks (send a welcome message or distribute swag), assign an onboarding buddy, create check-in reminders, assign 1:1 meetings, and send one or more surveys.

• The platform allows organizations to integrate their strategic planning objectives and KPIs into performance management
• Sincron HR configures the platform to ensure organizations meet or exceed industry/accreditation standards
• The new HR Essentials platform is now available for just $2/month per employee
• Training and tech support (call, text, video library, etc.) is included

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