In today’s tight labor market, your staffing department is working overtime to source top talent. There simply aren’t enough skilled workers to meet demand. However, filling positions is just the beginning. Once candidates accept an offer, the onboarding process starts – and many companies aren’t prepared.New hires go through an obstacle course before they are comfortably settled, which delays their ability to reach a state of productivity. More concerning still, missteps in the onboarding process can lead to poor new hire engagement, increasing the likelihood of attrition within the first year of service. The cost of turnover is high under any circumstances, but losing a new hire is particularly expensive. The resources devoted to recruiting and training are never recouped.
The Link Between Onboarding and New Hire Retention
New hire turnover is a significant issue for most organizations. In a recent survey by Futurestep, 1,817 executives were asked whether they were concerned about new hire retention. Ninety percent said “yes”. More than half of those survey indicated a new hire turnover rate between 10 percent and 25 percent within their businesses. Though most respondents (98 percent) agreed that onboarding is a significant factor in the job satisfaction of a new employee, only 69 percent actually offer formal onboarding programs. Of those, 23 percent last just one day.Automating the employee onboarding process offers an effective alternative to the chaotic methods currently in use by companies of all sizes. Organizations that choose automation use comprehensive workflow management tools to create a seamless experience for staff members who are just beginning to acclimate. Through improvements in the onboarding experience, these companies find that new hires become productive more quickly, and they are far less likely to leave the organization in their first year of service.
