Poor onboarding causes high costs and dissatisfied employees. Both can be avoided. Learn now from typical training mistakes and how you can make it easier for new employees to start at your company.
A new job is exciting for everyone involved, both for the newcomers and for the existing team. For the start to be successful, the first four weeks are crucial. This is because many employees decide against the job, particularly during the orientation phase. Often the reason for this is a poorly organized training process – and that costs money! Especially if the effort is ultimately not worth it at all.
Poor onboarding is among the top 3 most common reasons for quitting during the trial period. – Survey by Softgarden eRecruiting GmbH
The solution: a well-structured onboarding process that prepares your new employees well, welcomes them into the team, and at the same time does not put too much pressure on other team members.
But first, let's look at the hard facts!
Why is good onboarding so important?
It's not just us at blink.it who are convinced that a successful start to a job is fundamental to long-term employee satisfaction and company success. More than half of all HR professionals believe that successful onboarding reduces company turnover and early resignation rates.
More than 92% of surveyed HR managers believe that professional and social integration within the company was accelerated or improved through onboarding measures. – Haufe 4. Onboarding Survey 2020
Summary: Well-thought-out onboarding ensures …
improved performance
better connection to the company
less stress for everyone involved
higher employee satisfaction
Note: You can find further information on the points mentioned at Highflyer
You see: While onboarding is especially important for new employees to quickly find their feet in the job, it also counts for the entire company. After all, a replacement can result in costs equal to a full year's salary.
And last but not least, good onboarding is also a stellar argument for recruiting! According to the Haufe Survey 2020, 70% of surveyed HR managers were also able to improve recruiting and employer branding.
Avoid these 3 typical onboarding mistakes
There are also a few mistakes in onboarding that we encounter again and again, even though they are completely preventable. Does one of these points sound familiar?
1. Poor or no preparation
The time has come: A new team member has been found and the first day of work is approaching. In many companies, this seems to come as a surprise every time; everyone involved is overwhelmed and things get 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 this stress.
The mistake? No or too little time is scheduled for orientation, new employees are not introduced to the team, and there is a bad atmosphere. All of this naturally gives new employees a poor first impression.
Tip: Before the first day of work, create a fixed schedule with everyone involved and plan the most important sessions in advance, like a class schedule.
2. No explicit contact person
To ensure that newcomers know who they can turn to with any questions right from the start, you should designate a fixed contact person for the entire onboarding process. This makes it clear from day one who is responsible for them. Ideally, this task should be handled by an employee from their future team.
Tip: A fixed contact person not only gives newcomers confidence when they have specific questions, but also ensures faster integration into the team. This often makes it easier to internalize the company culture and internal workflows in the new job.
3. Too little communication and feedback
In many companies, the most important thing is forgotten: regular communication. After all, feedback is not only important for you as the future employer or for the team; it also needs to work for the new employees. To achieve this, it is all the more important to communicate expectations and goals clearly and to give feedback in good time if something isn't working out. But don't forget the feedback from the new employee as well! Even if the collaboration doesn't work out, you can take away a lot of lessons for the future.
Tip: Schedule fixed feedback meetings from the very beginning! Ideally, every two to four weeks and with different employees.
Finally, let's look at the actual content of your onboarding. Ideally, this consists of live sessions and an accompanying course – very much in the spirit of Blended Learning. How to design your next blended onboarding to be engaging and varied can be found here:
Engaging onboarding: 5 blink.it tips
Good orientation when joining a new company is much more than just building a foundation of knowledge. After all, the new employees should also get to know the company, its values, and their future team members.
To finish, 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 founding history with short (quiz) questions.
Media mix: Say goodbye to long documents and rely on a media mix of varied digital self-learning phases and joint sessions.
Stories instead of facts: Information doesn't always have to be dry; try using storytelling and creative ideas in your learning content.
Video diary: Actively involve new employees by having them report briefly on themselves and their learnings of the day in a video diary.
Active executive: To ensure that the newcomers don't just get to know their direct team colleagues, the management should also introduce themselves briefly via video.
Conclusion
Good onboarding reduces avoidable friction by giving new employees guidance, a dedicated contact person, and regular feedback from their first day on the job.
Successful training therefore begins even before the first day of work. A clear schedule, prepared content, and defined responsibilities relieve the burden on both new employees and the existing team.
This is not just about imparting specialist knowledge. Personal exchange, integration into the team, and regular feedback are just as much a part of onboarding. Digital learning content and joint sessions can be sensibly combined for this purpose, creating a structured training process.
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
Why is good onboarding important for companies?
Structured onboarding facilitates the professional and social integration of new employees. At the same time, it can reduce uncertainty and stress, helping new employees work independently more quickly.
What mistakes should companies avoid during onboarding?
Typical mistakes include a lack of preparation, the absence of a dedicated contact person, and too little exchange and feedback during orientation.
What should be prepared before the first day of work?
Companies should create an onboarding plan, set important dates and sessions, clarify responsibilities, and inform the existing team about the new employee.
How can onboarding be made engaging and varied?
Digital self-learning phases can be combined with in-person sessions. In addition, quizzes, videos, storytelling, and a video diary provide variety and actively involve new employees in the orientation process.
