Employee turnover is becoming a major obstacle for organizations focused on innovation, productivity, and overall profitability. The recruiting expense of replacing skilled workers is just the beginning. Ramp-up time, training and department-wide disengagement all add to the cost of an employee resignation. A recent research report from the Aberdeen Group shows that this issue is impacting companies in every industry, with 55 percent of high-performing organizations and 68 percent of average and low-performing organizations listing high turnover as a significant problem.Closer examination of the factors driving turnover offers a surprising revelation: It is possible to accurately predict which employees will leave by looking at the length and quality of an organization’s onboarding process. In fact, another Aberdeen study determined that 86 percent of new hires make an active decision to remain with the company or search for other opportunities within their first six months on the job. Their decision to stay or to keep looking is strongly influenced by the onboarding experience. A critical component of retaining top talent is creating a comprehensive strategy to support employees from the point of hire through their first year of service.
The Role of HR Automation in an Effective Onboarding Program
Many organizations have taken advantage of new automation solutions to simplify and streamline the candidate sourcing and hiring processes. Unfortunately, it is quite common for new hires to experience an abrupt change in how processes are managed after starting their new position. The automation stops once employees are on the job. They fill out endless forms, track their own training, and hope their new manager won’t forget to share critical information.High-performing organizations have found alternative methods of handling the new hire experience, increasing effectiveness and improving engagement levels long term. For example, these companies are to have a pre-boarding process to bridge recruiting and onboarding, and they are to start the training process during onboarding in an effort to help new hires become independent as quickly as possible. Of course, managing these activities can quickly become ineffective if left to recruiters and managers who are already short on time. As a result, the most successful organizations have implemented the use of business process management, or BPM, software to organize and automate the .
