Our ways of working have been redefined by the ongoing pandemic. The return of the pre-pandemic circumstances is a vague question. Hence, transitions are around the corner for the post-pandemic era as well. Employee onboarding is one such process awaiting transformation. How the recruiters used to welcome employees or even hire them, has been altered significantly. In the business world, keeping up with what is new and emerging is extremely crucial for outshining competitors. One should always look three steps ahead and make preparations to meet the future. Being set in our ways is not an option in business; we always have to keep an open mind. Employee onboarding is concerned with giving the first impression of the firm to the recruit. Some organizations do not give importance to this process because they do not realize the long-term benefits it has to offer.
Advantage of Employee Onboarding
A strategic employee onboarding can offer the following advantages:
- Talent acquisition takes a hike- With a good employee onboarding experience, the recruits tend to judge your organization as well-managed. Instilling such a positive image amongst the employees will mean more competent employees would want to join your company, thereby, giving a boost to talent acquisition.
- Work engagement increases- Quite obviously, if a recruit is happy with the organization and realizes how well-managed it is, they will show immense work engagement and productivity to cope up with the level set in the organization.
- Boosted talent retention- If the employee loved the company during the onboarding process, it is a given that they would join and stay in the company happily. When an employee leaves a company, the business suffers a loss; hence, it is important to retain skillful employees in all the methods possible.
- Employee relations improve- One of the steps in the employee onboarding process is to help them socialize in the workplace. This can help to reduce anxieties and increase support to the recruits. Good employer-employee relationships have proven to increase employee productivity.
Trends in Employee Onboarding
Preparing for the upcoming trends is a continuous process that needs to be given full attention. Last-minute changes are costly and chaotic. The trends in employee onboarding are also as crucial as any other, these trends include:
Personalization
Every employee has a different set of skills and interests. To make the onboarding process memorable for each recruit, it is important to exploit your knowledge about their interests. The employee should feel like you have accounted for and valued their skills, experience, and interests. Their job description should be relevant to what they are willing to provide. They should feel like they are working in the company because they are talented and valued. Moreover, the information given should also be personalized based on the interests of the recruit. Greetings should be warm and it helps to store knowledge about them as a file.
Helping them fit-in
Gone are the days when the recruiter’s work was just until the candidate accepts the offer. Now, the recruiters are also responsible for making the recruits feel comfortable in the workplace. This involves introducing the recruits to their colleagues and managers in a setting that makes the recruit warmly welcomed. The recruiters need to ensure painless interaction amongst the colleagues. Providing coaches and guides is one way to ease along the process. More importantly, introducing the company to the recruit plays a major role in getting them started right away. If the recruit has all the relevant knowledge and connections in the organization, they can start contributing towards business at the earliest.
Social network
Nowadays, people are more comfortable interacting on social media than in real life. For introverted employees, this is the best way to ensure comfort and zero queries. The recruit can be encouraged to join the social networking platform like Facebook or WhatsApp wherein all their colleagues are already present. Getting to know their colleagues before the first day at work can also add to reduced anxieties and increased productivity.
Virtual Onboarding
Technology has taken over almost all the processes vital to the organizations. Virtual onboarding or remote onboarding has especially gained importance in the pandemic. With more increasing numbers of remote employees, digital onboarding becomes crucial. Digital onboarding can be orchestrated with the combined help of employee onboarding software, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. Virtual reality can help in giving a tour of the organization or present work challenges in the interview via simulation. Employee onboarding software helps reduce the stress of onboarding on the recruiters. Artificial intelligence like Chatbots can help address the queries of candidates along the process.
Assessing employee onboarding experience
The onboarding does not stop even when the recruit has been set in the organization. Assessing their performance and behavior after onboarding is also important. This can give you knowledge about whether something is lacking in the employee onboarding experience provided by you. To contribute to this, recruits can also be given questionnaires to assess the employee onboarding process.
Conclusion
Employee onboarding is a mandatory process for any company and digitalization eases it significantly. Keeping up with the trends in employee onboarding is crucial for staying in the game. The earlier the preparations are made, the lesser loss the company would go through. Isolate the trends that make sense for your company and work on them continuously.
To know about HRMS Employee Onboarding visit: Zimyo
