Integrating new employees is a challenge that every company must take on. A recent survey shows how companies implemented their onboarding in 2019 – and what problems they faced. We summarize the three most important findings:

Sometimes even a handshake determines how the relationship between two people develops. Between companies and their employees, onboarding takes on this function: the first impression! The onboarding process affects several levels of the employee-company relationship:

• Professional integration into the workplace and processes

• Personal well-being and first contact with new colleagues

• Emotional connection to the company's goals

The Onboarding Survey 2019 (free download at Haufe) shows that there is a need for improvement in onboarding in many companies – and at several key points. The three most important results at a glance:

Own representation: Companies hardly provide onboarding budgets and rarely use digital tools – the responsible parties see great potential for improvement.

(1) Little budgets available for onboarding

In theory, a very positive picture emerges: Over 90% of HR managers believe that professional and social integration is improved or accelerated through their onboarding. Moreover, more than half of the respondents are convinced that better onboarding can reduce resignations in the first year of employment.

In practice, however, it becomes clear that companies often cut back on the important onboarding process in their corporate strategy: Only 12% of companies provide a budget for onboarding.

Excerpt from own representation: Only very few companies provide budgets for onboarding processes.

A critical result, as good onboarding involves costs both in planning and execution: The working time of HR managers is just one factor among many.

(2) Onboarding is rarely supported digitally

The lack of budget for onboarding processes could be a reason why digitization in onboarding has not yet arrived: 88% of companies still relied on analog processes without digital tools in 2019.

Excerpt from own representation: 9 out of 10 companies do not use digital tools for onboarding processes.

Interestingly, this figure coincides exactly with the proportion of companies without onboarding budgets. A connection can only be suspected here. It is undeniable that digital tools incur costs that must be planned in the company – at the same time, however, tools save time (and consequently money).

(3) Responsible parties see potential for improvement

The results of the survey regarding budgets and tools are sobering: There are widespread problems with the financing and implementation of onboarding measures. However, these problems are apparently very clear to HR managers: 77% of respondents see potential for improvement in their own onboarding.

Excerpt from own representation: A large portion of HR managers see potential for improvement in their own onboarding.

The previous results clearly show where companies need to take action to improve their onboarding:

• Companies must better support their onboarding! This also means providing specific budgets for processes that assist in the onboarding and retention of employees.

• Companies need to rely more on digital tools for their onboarding! These tools relieve the responsible parties, enhance the learning effect for new employees, and thus accelerate the onboarding process.

A simple solution for digital onboarding

Perhaps these results sound familiar from your company – there is a lack of money and support for the onboarding of new employees. A possible solution for you and your employees is called Blended Onboarding – onboarding in a mix of online courses and personal sessions.

We at blink.it have been using this method for all new employees for years – with great success! How you can also implement Blended Onboarding in your company is explained in the free guide: Blended Onboarding in companies.