How Your Onboarding Procedures Set the Tone for Employee Engagement

Employee engagement isn’t just a trending topic in HR, it’s proven to have a significant impact on operations and employee retention. Studies have shown that positive employee engagement affects productivity by as much as 17%, and profitability by as much as 21%. Companies are recognizing this and implementing technology with features and services that bolster engagement, starting with onboarding software.

Designed for Engagement

Building employee engagement begins well before the first day on the job. A smooth recruitment-to-onboarding process with clearly defined goals should be a priority for engaging new team members, yet 60% of companies indicate they do not set any milestones for new hires to attain. This lack of attention to employee engagement has a domino effect that can last throughout the employee life-cycle. And that life-cycle is often abbreviated due to job dissatisfaction.  

According to AON Hewitt’s 2018 Global Employee Engagement Trends Report, 35% of employees are disengaged, leading to bottlenecks in operations and lower employee morale. Starting off on the wrong foot can result in an employee’s disconnect, which is a detriment to a company’s bottom-line.

How are you actively engaging employees before and during the onboarding process?

First Impressions Matter

The fact is, 86% of new hires make a decision on how long they will stay with a company in the first six months. Research shows up to 20% of turnover happens within the first 45 days of employment, which makes your onboarding procedures instrumental in supporting new hires.

Recent studies also show that investing in your new hires from day one, until they reach full productivity (typically 8-12 months) will significantly increase retention AND maximize your employee lifetime value. Disparity between the candidate’s expectations, formed during recruitment and the reality of working at a company, can cause them to become disengaged and may significantly shorten their tenure.

How can onboarding engage new employees and strengthen their relationship with your company?

Effective Engagement For Employees

We know that employee onboarding is critical to engagement and reduces attrition. It helps new employees acclimate quickly and become more productive members of the team. In a recent piece discussing the “10 Must Have Features of the Best Onboarding Software,” the benefits of integrated employee engagement features are illustrated from an individual perspective, as well as the impact on a company as a whole. From self-services, on-demand accessibility, to rewards and recognition, onboarding technology should reinforce a supportive and nurturing environment in which employees thrive.  

HR Cloud is a comprehensive onboarding solution that is redefining best-in-class technology. Intelligent, intuitive, and all-inclusive, we’ve designed our flexible and fully customizable services to support today’s HR and engage the mobile, connected workforce to set the standard in onboarding processes.