Employees form the core of every organisation. Talented and productive employees contribute to the organisation’s business growth and overall organisational culture. On the other hand, employee turnover has a detrimental impact on morale and is expensive to the organisation as well.
There are numerous ways to tackle employee turnover. One of the key ways is to ensure proper employee onboarding as part of employee retention efforts. Here are four ways to design a robust employee onboarding program to ensure the robust employee retention.
Ensure onboarding content is up-to-date
Company policies and procedures change all the time. And the last thing you want to provide to your new joiners is outdated policies and procedures. Not only does this confuse your new joiners, it creates a poor first impression for both the company as well as on the new joiners. When there are changes to existing organisation policies, organisations should always ask themselves whether this should be included into the onboarding program or not.
Provide onboarding to managers
Managers play a crucial role in employee engagement. In an article featured on LinkedIn, it highlighted that “people leave managers, not companies”. The problem is that some managers, as superb as they are at what they do, fail at being a good people manager. Most of the time, these managers do not have proper onboarding training and tend to onboard a new employee based on the way they were being onboarded in the past. It is imperative for organisations to have in place an onboarding training program for new managers to ensure that they can successfully onboard new joiners to their team or department.
Schedule onboarding check-ins
Onboarding programs is an organisation’s investment. It requires time, effort and cost to implement a good onboarding program for new joiners. And the last thing that any organisation would want is to train a new employee only to have him or her leave within the first year. Schedule regular check-ins with new joiners or gather feedback through pulse surveys on ways in which the existing onboarding programs can be improved.
Refresher onboarding for promotions and transfers
Onboarding need not necessarily be limited to new joiners to the organisation. When employees get promoted or transfer to another team or department, they should also receive some form of onboarding. While it does not necessarily have to be the same onboarding program as that of a new joiner, there should be sufficient information to allow employees to transition into their new role.
Today, onboarding programs are meant to set new joiners up for success in the organisation. At the same time, such programs are no longer a mere one or two days of training. It could be a week or even a month of thorough orientation program as well as constant follow up. From an organisation’s point of view, onboarding programs can be viewed as a long term investment. The benefits of this long term investment would ultimately come in the form of increased employee engagement levels and lower turnover rates.
What does the first day at a new job look like for a remote employee? Dress in their comfy work attire and perhaps start with a “welcome to the team” conference call in the morning. First assignment ‘given’ to them is to familiarise with new-hire training tools. There’s not a lot of oversight for a new remote employee, meaning the first-day jitters are probably less of an issue.
Studies show that home-based employees are more productive. Besides the benefit this brings to employers, remote work comes with dreamy perks for employees: work-life balance, flexible hours and unlimited workspace options.
However, there are some hidden disadvantages to working remotely. Spontaneous brainstorms, team-building and personal connections with coworkers — all key factors in employee engagement — are missing from the home office atmosphere.
These challenges are especially important for leadership and human resources teams to consider when bringing new remote employees up to speed. Here are3 onboarding strategies to keep your remote employees happy and performing at their best.
Set up regular check-ins
A natural first step in the onboarding process is job training. While there are many digital tools available for onboarding remote employees, it’s even more important to anticipate the need for open and frequent communication. Whether training takes place in-office or online, make sure key onboarding staff anticipate questions that a remote employee might have as he or she settles into a new role. Team members working remotely won’t have the opportunity to wander around the office and brainstorm potential solutions when uncertainties arise, so having regular check-in meetings is essential.
Dedicated onboarding specialists are a tremendous asset when it comes to welcoming new employees. A “buddy system” can also be helpful — pairing seasoned employees with new hires can provide extra guidance, institutional knowledge and a personal connection.
Create opportunities for team-building
For remote staff, casual chatter around the water cooler is not an option for getting to know the rest of the team. If weekly meetings are a time for the whole staff to get together, eliminate any confusion by introducing remote employees to the team from the get-go. Create an inclusive atmosphere from day one by setting up a meet-and-greet so in-office staff and remote employees can get to know each other. Make sure remote workers are looped in on staff gatherings outside the office, if the distance is appropriate. Creating opportunities for togetherness will help close the gap in the long-distance relationship between remote employees and in-office staff.
Annual in-person team meetings are a great way to connect employees and build a sense of community within an organization. Hosting events help to create a culture of transparency, communication and fun — all essential ingredients to maintaining a healthy relationship with remote employees.
Invest in continuing education
Continuing education programs are investments in your employees’s futures. These programs are especially important when it comes to remote employees, as they demonstrate that you value their continued success within the company and beyond. Your company can provide opportunities for employees to attend conferences or complete professional development courses and certifications. Likewise, you can encourage growth by implementing programs for tuition reimbursement or training as well as creating leadership roles for existing employees to fill.
Whether it’s a small-scale option, such as weekly webinars, or a bigger gesture, such as sending employees to annual conferences, building development opportunities into the onboarding process for remote employees will go a long way toward making them feel like an important part of the team.