What’s a crucial part of recruitment that 88% of companies don’t do a great job of, and that 22% don’t bother with at all?
Onboarding has the power to make someone feel excited, energised and engaged when they start working for you. It tells your new recruit that you value them, makes them feel supported, and creates a positive impression of your organisation. Ultimately, it makes it much more likely that they’ll want to continue working for you.
Conversely, without onboarding – or when it’s done badly – a new employee is more likely to feel like an outsider, feel more stressed, be less productive, and ultimately be much more likely to leave – meaning you’ll have to go through the costly recruitment process all over again.
While effective onboarding is vital for any employer, when onboarding new recruits remotely – especially in the current climate – it becomes even more important. Here’s everything you need to know about onboarding remotely, and why it’s one of the most crucial aspects of successful recruitment.
Why is onboarding so important?
The recruitment process doesn’t end when your new employee starts working for you.
When you recruit someone, it means they have successfully sold themselves to you, but it’s important to remember that it’s a two-way process. You have sold them on the concept of what it will be like to work for your company. Just like you, the recruiter, they may have had a multitude of other options, but they chose you.
Successful recruitment happens when both sides live up to their expectations. If the reality of working for your company is a country mile away from the glorious picture you’ve painted, they’re likely to feel disappointed, and perhaps even deceived.
Picture this: You turn up on day one of a new job, someone grunts at you, shows you your desk and expects you to just get on with ‘it’.
“Lack of guidance has made them feel anxious, stressed, and duped.”
This example (no onboarding process at all) will certainly make your new recruit think this is ‘just a job’, and, the moment something better comes up (if not before), they won’t think twice about leaving. Instead of reassuring them or making them feel at ease, the lack of guidance has made them feel anxious, stressed, and duped. Even if you pay more than an equivalent role at another company, in reality, this won’t be a big enough reason to stay.
When they leave – unless you get a big wake up call about the importance of nurturing your new employees – you’ll kid yourself that they were the problem and the whole process will repeat itself again.
This is an extreme example. The reality is that most companies sit somewhere between the two: they make an attempt at onboarding, but it’s nowhere near as effective as it could be.
Onboarding is really about human psychology. Most people probably can technically just get on with the job at hand without training, without a strong sense of company culture or feeling that they’re part of a bigger picture. However, they’re unlikely to feel happy or fulfilled, and if people are not happy and valued, they’re less productive – and much more likely to jump ship at the first opportunity. Who could blame them?
Why onboarding is so important when working remotely
When you’re hiring and working remotely, onboarding becomes an even bigger challenge. Your new recruit will be meeting their team via a computer screen rather in person, and unlike physically entering a work space, there will be no tangible vibe or culture for them to pick up on.
Of course, it’s entirely possible to provide effective onboarding remotely: training, support and regular communication to make sure your new employee feels confident and happy can all be done remotely.
The current climate has resulted in a high number of skilled workers, including contractors, in the job market – many of them are people who wouldn’t ordinarily be looking for work. This translates to employers having more choice than before. The lack of jobs versus higher numbers of candidates has led to candidates being willing to work for less money or to travel further for work (once lockdown has lifted). In a nutshell: employers hold more power than before. But it won’t stay this way forever.
Companies who fail to onboard their new recruits now are likely to pay the price when things shift. If you don’t meet your new recruit’s expectations or give them proper support, what will happen when there are more jobs on the market? According to a recent study from Digitate, if your onboarding process isn’t up to scratch they could be twice as likely to look for a new job.
Organisations who find strong recruits in the current market stand a much better chance of holding on to them if they’ve made the effort to make them feel valued and supported. Those who throw their new employees in at the deep end and don’t bother onboarding them may hold onto them right now due to a lack of alternative options, but for how long?
How to do it effectively
As with other parts of recruitment, following a strategic, methodical process is the best way to onboard a new recruit. At Identifi Global, we’ve developed a detailed onboarding report to help our clients successfully integrate and support new employees through the critical first weeks and months of their employment.
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We believe the most effective onboarding methods begin with a deep understanding of your new recruit. This will enable you to tailor your onboarding to fit the specifics of the individual, rather than opting for a generic, one-size-fits-all process.
If you’ve done a psychometric test with your new recruit and have carried out all the relevant background checks, you should be able to successfully identify how to get them off to the best start possible.
Our report looks at four specific factors for onboarding:
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Interaction (how we like to engage and work with other people)
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Stimulation (what stimulates us when we’re undertaking tasks)
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Reward (what motivates us at work)
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Environment (what type of culture will nurture our key values)
For example, in terms of interaction, if your new employee is highly adaptable and finds it easy to move from one situation to another, you might want to identify opportunities where they can put this skill into practice. Encouraging them to get involved with projects that require a flexible approach will give them a platform to flex their skills and build confidence in their new role.
When it comes to stimulation, if your recruit favours rational thinking over intuition, you need to find ways of facilitating their use of logic while also supporting them in getting used to making decisions based on intuition.
“Each individual is driven by different motives.”
Motivation and reward are very personal. Each individual is driven by different motives, so understanding what drives your new recruit, if you want to successfully onboard and connect with them. For example, if your new recruit scores average or lower than average for self-esteem, this is something you should pay attention to. Identifying areas of strength and allowing them to take on suitable challenges will help your new recruit build confidence and self-belief.
When it comes to the working environment, again, preferences will vary hugely between individuals. Some people like to be micromanaged or work to strict guidelines, while others do not. If your recruit prefers to work in an unconstrained way, enabling them to feel free of rules, regulations and strict governance are the best way to ensure they don’t become despondent or demotivated.
Using a framework or model like the one in our report gives you a tried and tested process to follow, ensures that your onboarding is bespoke, and, importantly, allows you to measure its efficacy. If something isn’t working or your employee seems unhappy in any of the four areas of onboarding, using this type of model helps you pinpoint where the issues lie; giving you the option of trying an alternative approach.
Interested in our onboarding report? Get in touch to find out more about our full suite of recruitment tools.
