We all have our expectations dashed from time to time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who here has ever ordered a burger based on the menu photo? A certain fast-food restaurant has a lot to answer for when it comes to setting the standards for accurate burger photography. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or who has tried a DIY birthday cake creation? It should be a bookable offence for YouTubers to make magnificent cakes look so easy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or bought a T-shirt online because it looked good on a Brazilian swimwear model? I mean, we\u2019re just asking for disappointment with this one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or spent a hours of childhood imaging the wonders of being a grown-up? Sorry to break it you, kids, but we do the same, except the other way around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at some point, most of us have bounced into a new job like Tigger\u2014”Glad to meet ya! Name\u2019s Tigger. T-I-double guh-er!\u201d\u2014only to shuffle out at the end of the first week feeling more like Eeyore\u2026 “Don’t pay any attention to me\u2026 Nobody ever does.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But while it\u2019s completely unreasonable to expect to win The Great British Bake Off <\/em>after a 20-minute YouTube tutorial\u2014or it should be\u2014shouldn\u2019t it be perfectly reasonable to expect a good onboarding experience in the 2020s? <\/p>\n\n\n\n And in an age when we\u2019re sending tourists to space, when our phones recognise us, when AI is becoming the norm, when our cars are driving themselves, and when we\u2019re seeing the dawn of the metaverse, why are so many small businesses sticking with a manual approach to the crucially important onboarding process? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lots of employers still see onboarding as an administrative task<\/a>, which needs to be ticked off a time-sensitive to-do list before a new hire can get to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s look at Bob\u2019s onboarding experience. He\u2019s been through a gruelling recruitment process and proved to be the best of a great bunch. His would-be manager from the hiring organisation gives him a call to say \u201cCongratulations Bob! We think you\u2019re great and we want to offer you the position!\u201d They negotiate a few outstanding salary details and terms of employment, and Bob takes the job. The hiring manager asks Bob to look out for a formal letter in the post before they wrap up the call. Around a week later Bob gets the letter. It lists his full name and new job title\u2014Bob Bright, Data Scientist\u2026 sounds exciting\u2014as well as employment dates, the length of the probation period, the conditions of employment, and the actions and obligations that Bob must satisfy before starting. He reads it, signs it, returns the letter. He waits another week. He gets another letter\u2014or maybe an email\u2014saying, \u201cSee you at 9 AM on the 3rd <\/sup>of January 2023. Please report to reception\u201d. Bob duly reports to reception 15 minutes early\u2014it would have been 20 minutes, but he couldn\u2019t find his parking spot. He waits until 9:15 AM, when he\u2019s rewarded for his patience with a stack of paperwork that takes him most of the morning to read and sign\u2014he rushes it because he doesn\u2019t want to make a bad impression on his first day. His afternoon consists of an office tour, and a meeting with his new manager. Day 2 is all about getting him set-up on the systems that he\u2019ll be using and establishing his goals, so he can hit the ground running. Any questions? Good. Off you go, Bob. And good luck\u2026 you\u2019re going to need it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, most onboarding approaches last more than a couple of days. Even so, there are lots of problems with Bob\u2019s experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It leaves his success to chance, which isn\u2019t great for Bob or the hiring organisation. There are at least two-week\u2019s worth of missed preboarding opportunities in there. There are missed opportunities for automation, engagement, improved employee experience, training, feedback, and so much more. But the biggest problem is that it\u2019s not really onboarding. At best it could be called orientation or induction, which is only the first stage of onboarding<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, how can people management professionals and HR departments build a better onboarding experience? How can they bridge the gap between expectation and reality, for both their organisation and the new hire? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly, onboarding is so much more than orientation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s an ongoing process that lays the foundation for success or failure. And it\u2019s the blueprint for the employer-employee relationship. Onboarding shouldn\u2019t be a short, one-time event, or a linear, step-by-step process. It can begin that way with automated orientation or preboarding. But the larger process needs to be an iterative, flexible system that allows new hires to play to their strengths and learn in the best way for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And if the initial underlying systems for orientation can be engrained into company culture, a great onboarding experience can seamlessly transition into a great employee learning and development system for the whole organisation. In that way, onboarding becomes as natural as any other organisational system, rather than feeling like a one-off episode that interrupts overall progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And a more holistic approach pays dividends too. Research from\u202fGlassdoor\u202flinks good onboarding to a 70% increase in productivity and an 82% improvement in retention. While according to new research<\/a>\u202ffrom Eagle Hill Consulting, poor onboarding leaves employees with unanswered questions. Respondents said their onboarding experiences often left them wondering who they most need to build relationships with (71%), what the company\u2019s core values were (53%), how to use the available tools and technology to do their job (54%) and where to find information about their benefits (46%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The best way to guarantee a good onboarding experience and avoid a mismatch between expectations and reality for both organisation and employee, is to establish a standardised onboarding system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s our hitlist for an onboarding experience that exceeds everyone\u2019s expectations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine if Bob\u2019s journey had begun with access to an automated and self-guided preboarding or pre-starter site, where he could read, and e-sign offer letters, contracts, and any other paperwork from his laptop or mobile phone. Maybe he could run through personalised flows, or access and read documents, policies, or office manuals in preparation for his first day and his role. Maybe that could include optional drip-feed training to show basic organisational procedures. Or gamification features to introduce some of the more common tasks. Maybe arrival packs could give Bob everything he needs for a smooth, stress-free first morning\u2014like directions to his parking spot and the reception. Perhaps, he could be given a who\u2019s who of the stakeholders and colleagues he may need to work with. A too often untapped goldmine of opportunity, preboarding can establish feelings of goodwill and loyalty that last throughout an employee\u2019s time with your organisation. As well as making the best use of the weeks, or even months, between a candidate accepting an offer and their start date. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Enthusiastic team welcomes, initial leadership one-to-ones, and early team building exercises are all good practices, but these should be built into ongoing company culture and practices. For example, rather than appointing someone the task of showing a recruit around during their first week, onboarding buddies or mentors should be appointed for the first year or more. And team members should be encouraged or even scheduled to check-in on new hires regularly for the first few months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To personalise the experience, managers or leaders can mark milestones like the first week or month and the first substantial contribution with a thank you message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A disproportionate amount of onboarding time and effort goes into teaching recruits about the company culture. And this is often at the cost of familiarising them with the tools they need. But if the organisation\u2019s HRIS (Human Resources Information System) makes the most of preboarding opportunities, some tools and systems can be set up very efficiently or even ahead of time. But in any event, proper time should be allowed for new hires to get to know the organisational systems and be trained where necessary. And it should be made clear to them that timelines for goals and tasks will make allowances for this.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Employers should encourage continuous 2-way communication and feedback, through multiple channels, including confidential options. But in the case of onboarding, HR departments should send out standardised surveys at 30, 60, and 90 days<\/a> after the hiring date and then biannually or annually to help understand how the current onboarding systems support long-term success and development. Because that\u2019s the goal of a good onboarding experience\u2014it\u2019s not all about short term benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As with preboarding, automated HR software can support initial and continuous training. It can help identify opportunities for drip-feed training or just-in-time training, so recruits aren\u2019t overwhelmed. And self-service portals mean that new hires can take control of their own learning journeys too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But when it comes to training and guidance there are clear gaps between the levels that organisations think they\u2019re supplying and the levels that employees feel they\u2019re receiving. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThe unreasonable reality of onboarding <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A reasonable expectation of something better <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Automation <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
There are endless imaginative ways in which automated preboarding can support a more valuable first day for both the recruit and the hiring organisation. Instead of signing papers, a recruit can meet people and begin their journey towards organisational socialisation<\/a>. Instead of getting lost in the car park and waiting to be given instructions, they can feel empowered to ask the right questions and take ownership of their onboarding experience. And instead of existing employees feeling like they\u2019re wasting productive time, they can use the information from preboarding to personalise and speed up administrative tasks.
And automating preboarding doesn\u2019t just help with consistency, it means HR software systems can start to build a valuable data profile of every new starter and encourage feedback, all of which can support a better onboarding process, shorten the time to productivity, and help create a gentler learning curve for recruits too. <\/p>\n\n\n\nMore than hello <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Proper provisioning <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Continuous feedback <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Training <\/h2>\n\n\n\n