Poor onboarding leads to high costs and dissatisfied employees. Both can be avoided! Learn now from the typical onboarding mistakes and how to make it easier for new employees to start in the company.
A new job is exciting for everyone involved, both for the newcomers and for the existing team. To ensure a smooth start, the first four weeks are crucial. In particular, many employees decide against the job during the familiarization phase. Often, the reason is the poorly organized onboarding process – and that costs money! Especially when the effort ultimately is not worth it.
Poor onboarding is among the top 3 most common reasons for resignations during the probation period. – Survey by Softgarden eRecruiting GmbH
The solution: a well-structured onboarding that prepares your new employees well, welcomes them to the team, and does not overburden other team members at the same time.
But first, let’s get to the hard facts!
Why is good onboarding so important?
Not only we at blink.it believe that a successful start in a job is fundamental for long-term satisfied employees and business success. More than half of all HR professionals believe that successful onboarding reduces turnover in companies and rapid resignation rates.
More than 92% of the surveyed HR professionals believe that professional and social integration in the company has been accelerated or improved through onboarding measures. – Haufe 4. Onboarding Survey 2020
Summary: A well-thought-out onboarding ensures …
improved performance
better commitment to the company
less stress for all parties involved
higher employee satisfaction
Note: You can find more information on the mentioned points at Highflyer
You see: Onboarding is important not only for new employees to quickly settle into their job. It also counts for the entire company; after all, a replacement can incur the cost of an entire year’s salary.
And last but not least, good onboarding is also a great argument for recruiting! According to Haufe Survey 2020, 70% of the surveyed HR professionals were able to improve recruiting and employer branding as well.
Free Guide
Guide for Your Blended Onboarding
Are you still looking for the optimal onboarding concept? Then our guide will help you!
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Avoid these 3 typical onboarding mistakes
Even in onboarding, there are some mistakes we keep encountering, although they can definitely be prevented. Does any of these points sound familiar to you?
1. Poor to no preparation
The moment has come: A new team member has been found, and the first workday is approaching. In many companies, this seems to surprise everyone repeatedly; all parties involved are overwhelmed, and it gets hectic. What does the newcomer need? Where should they go? What needs to be done? You can save both new employees and your existing team from this stress.
The mistake? No or too little time is planned for onboarding, new employees are not introduced to the team, and there is a bad atmosphere. All of this understandably creates a poor first impression for new employees.
Tip: Create a fixed schedule with all parties involved before the first workday and plan the essential sessions in a sort of timetable.
2. No explicit point of contact
So that newcomers know from the very beginning who they can turn to with which questions, you should designate a specific contact person for the entire onboarding process. This way, it is clear from the start who is responsible for them. Ideally, this task should be taken on by an employee from the future team.
Tip: A designated contact person not only gives newcomers security in specific inquiries, but also facilitates a quicker integration into the team. This often makes it easier for them to internalize the company culture and internal processes in their new job.
3. Too little exchange and feedback
In many companies, the most important thing is forgotten: regular exchange. After all, feedback is essential not only for you as a future employer or for the team but must also fit for the new employees. To achieve this, it is even more important to communicate expectations and goals clearly and provide timely feedback when something is not working. But don’t forget the feedback of the new employee! Even if the collaboration doesn’t work out, you can learn a lot for the future.
Tip: Schedule fixed feedback meetings from the start! Ideally, every two to four weeks and with different employees.
Finally, let’s get to the actual contents of your onboarding. It should ideally include live sessions and a supporting course – truly in the spirit of blended learning. Here’s how to make your next blended onboarding diverse:
Exciting Onboarding: 5 blink.it Tips
A good onboarding at the beginning of a new company is much more than merely creating foundational knowledge. After all, new employees should also get to know the company, its values, and their future team members.
In conclusion, we share our best onboarding tips that have proven successful for us:
Company Quiz: Start even before the actual onboarding begins and introduce the company and its history with brief (quiz) questions.
Media Mix: Say goodbye to lengthy documents and opt for a media mix of varied digital self-study phases and joint sessions.
Stories instead of facts: Information doesn’t always have to be dry; try storytelling and creative ideas in your learning content.
Video Diary: Actively involve new employees by having them briefly report on themselves and their learnings of the day in a video diary.
Active Leadership: So that newcomers not only get to know their direct teammates, the management should also introduce themselves via video.
We have also experienced: Especially during the Corona pandemic, good onboarding was not always easy. In the following article, we interviewed two team members at blink.it about what they liked about their remote onboarding and what they would improve: Successful onboarding despite home office – 2 examples
Free Guide
Blended Onboarding for Companies
Onboard new employees with a mix of personal meetings + online course! How this works exactly and how you create your first "blended onboarding" in 3 weeks is explained in the guide.
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Do you have questions about blink.it or this article?
Feel free to write to us if you have questions about the product or specifically about this article. Our marketing team is available to you via email or will forward your inquiry to the appropriate Blinkie 😊
