You just hired a new employee and it’s time for them to begin the onboarding process for what will hopefully be a long and successful career with your company. The big question is, how can your organization cultivate an effective and efficient onboarding experience? The onboarding process is the key to promoting employee retention, which ultimately saves your company time and money in the long run. One way teams are answering this question is by digitizing their onboarding experience to ensure new staffers have access to the information they need to thrive in their new role.
Why is Employee Retention Important?
There are several factors when it comes to bolstering employee retention, including work culture, training and workplace practices, the work environment, acknowledgement, and more. Employee retention efforts begin the moment a new person is hired and never stops. In fact, research has shown that a great onboarding program can boost employee retention rates by 82%. In an environment where talented personnel are hard to find, it is important to engage them right from the start.
Employee retention practices aren’t just a way to improve your company image, it is a smart decision financially and in terms of knowledge sharing for your business. Losing employees is a steep expense for any company; it costs approximately 1/5 of a worker’s salary to replace them. With that, turnover can cause knowledge gaps and a lack of experience on the team. Technology is the solution for providing a thorough training process for new hires and setting them up to be successful with the company, ultimately boosting company retention.
Why is Digitizing Onboarding Important?
Points of Reference
Digitizing onboarding means that training, information, and other key resources are stored in the cloud and therefore instantly accessible to those who need them. Let’s say your new hire was conducting a boiler inspection, which has many nuances based on different boiler types or features. For example, on a monthly period, test controls, flame detection controls, and drains must be checked, but annually the boiler must be disassembled to check for erosion and electrical problems, the tubes of the hydro test boiler need to be looked at, and the gas pressure settings need to be inspected. If your new hire was confused and missed a component of the inspection, there would be financial repercussions. With digital onboarding and processes, there are resources for the employee to instantly verify that they completed the inspection thoroughly and to your company standards without having to carry around old manuals. This makes the onboarding process easier because if a new hire gets confused or needs a point of reference, it is immediately available to them, and they walk away having solved the issue independently.
Visual Onboarding Plan
Digital project management platforms are also a key component in making an employee’s onboarding process successful. It provides an efficient, laid out onboarding and training plan that clearly outlines the projects and timelines for a new hire. This use of tech allows managers to track new hires onboarding progress, catch gaps in their learning, and have their work on file. This software and hands on process prevents any knowledge gaps for the new hire and sets them on the path to success within the company. When an employee has a strong foundation of industry knowledge and access to resources, they are more likely to stay with their company.
Open Communication
Digital processes decrease administrative time and open communication between those onsite and in office, so any issues or questions be taken care of immediately. From a training perspective, if someone was onsite for the first time and was confused or unsure of how to approach a problem, they can easily get in communication with an experienced teammate who would know what to do. With this open line of communication, they’re less likely to have lengthy or ongoing disruptions, and quickly learn how to correctly do the job.
Digital Onboarding Best Practices
You successfully onboarded your latest hire, but your property operations teams should always be giving thought to strengthening the onboarding process? Here are some tips moving forward for your team to continue to improve your training and onboarding process:
Be clear about employee responsibilities
Having documents and an onboarding calendar available to new hires at all times provides expectations about what information your team is responsible for knowing and a timeline for when they should be acclimated to the job and familiar with the materials. This guided process also teaches you what generally works and what doesn’t work for teaching future hires, so you can increase onboarding efficiency in the future and continue to grow your team.
Implement A Multi-Channel Onboarding Processes
Not every new hire learns the same. Having multiple channels of company resources enables a new employee to truly learn and excel in their roles, because there are multiple ways for them to grasp the material. Reading documents, watching demo videos, and learning hands on are three different ways of learning that will help your hires grasp new concepts associated with their role. While some may be able to retain knowledge from reading about a concept, another might need a training video that allows them to visualize the topic. When you diversify your teaching material, all types of learners can quickly onboard and find success in their role.
Have Accessible Information
Every company should have a knowledge hub. When a new hire is stuck or confused about their work, they can independently access tools to finish the job, learn the correct process, and avoid future blockers. Having to find the resources and fix the problem on their own also enforces their knowledge and helps their learning.
A company’s onboarding process never stops, because businesses are constantly growing and changing over time. Onboarding systems that take advantage of technology and administer a well-rounded education off the bat ultimately promise better employee retention rates. This builds a strong foundation for the employee and a promising future for the business.
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