Leveraging the Power of Onboarding
A strong onboarding process is an essential element within a successful business. A recent interview with Christian Harpelund, Co-founder and Consulting Director of Onboarding Group, discusses the importance of structuring high-quality onboarding experiences. In discussing its importance, Harpelund says of the process, “Onboarding is the discipline of receiving and integrating new employees into the company, so they feel part of the team. Good onboarding enables them to perform and provide value to the organization. This is what we call structured onboarding.”
Unfortunately, many companies take an ineffective approach when it comes to designing onboarding. While structure is key to onboarding, it is important not to confuse structure with over-standardization. Many companies center onboarding around a standardized checklist designed to convey pre-packed information.
Instead, organizations must develop structured onboarding processes that covers six key areas:
- Company culture
- Rules
- Company network
- Collaboration
- Competencies
- Employee performance
Key methods of covering these areas should include training sessions, team meetings, one-on-one discussions, and work assignments. This model of onboarding seeks to utilize concepts from motivational theory so as to seamlessly integrate with efforts to promote employee development throughout their tenure with an organization.
Successful onboarding also takes a data-driven approach. By instituting an effective structure for onboarding, an organization can easily assess key metrics related to the efficacy of the process. This is an important element as employers need to be able to measure the effects of their onboarding efforts – especially in light of the fact that employees within the modern workforce are increasingly likely to look for new employment opportunities when they don’t feel sufficiently connected to their company.
Harpelund emphasizes the importance of effective onboarding processes by pointing to the following key employment statistics:
- 1 out of every 5 new hires will leave within the first 12 months. When it comes to new hires in their first jobs, 48% will leave within the first 18 months.
- The cost of losing a new employee within his or her first 12 months is equivalent to 2 years of salary.
- The average time frame for onboarding to performance is 6 months.
- Companies with a well-structured onboarding process have employees with twice as high of an engagement level and 54% higher productivity levels from new employees.
Because new hires generally stay an average of less than two years with a company, employers must start making an effort to shorten onboarding time frames. Furthermore, employers with an effective onboarding process are more likely to retain employees. A well-designed onboarding process has been shown to increase employee engagement, decrease employee stress levels, reduce sick days, and build a more positive employer reputation.
Employers who make an effort to establish effective onboarding practices are likely to strongly benefit throughout the tenure of onboarded new hires. By onboarding new hires in an efficient and well-structured manner, employers are well-positioned to foster positive relationships between the company and its employees. This is highly likely to lead to higher productivity and employee retention levels, both of which will strongly benefit the company in both the short- and long-term.
About the Author
Justin Goodman has spent the past 20 years in insurance. He is the co-founder and CEO of Total CSR and co-founder and Managing Director of Project 55. By the age of 29, he was recognized as one of the top five construction insurance experts nationwide by Risk and Insurance Magazine. He also was named to Insurance Business Magazine’s Hot 100 and most recently the 2024 Insurance Journal Agent of the Year. Justin has trained over 50,000 CSR’s, account managers and producers through his work at Total CSR. He has a passion for developing the next generation of insurance professionals. When not with his family, he devotes his free time to speaking engagements and advising agency owners across the country.
