With low unemployment and a shrinking talent pool, companies are laser focused on attracting talent and strengthening their employer brand. It makes sense. Companies want to compete for talent and engage candidate earlier in the process. But, by focusing so heavily on everything that happens pre-applicant, many companies are neglecting a critical area of talent acquisition…onboarding.
When new hires have a positive onboarding experience, they are more productive on their first day and they are more likely to stay with their new employer. When onboarding goes well, the benefits directly impact organizational success. When onboarding goes badly, the overall employee morale and engagement of an organizations are at risk. Strategic onboarding includes three necessary processes: forms management, tasks management and engagement.

• Forms Management: Ensuring that new hires have filled out all the correct forms to stay compliant and begin business-driven projects quickly;

• Tasks Management: Ensuring that new hires have everything they need and have met with the right people during the new hire process;

• Socialization: Ensuring that new hires are informed of the company culture and information on their manager and team.

According to Aptitude Research Partners’ 2018 Hire, Engage, and Retain study, 65% of companies are investing or planning to invest in onboarding this year. As the pressure to identify talent intensifies, companies need these systems to handle every stage of the candidate’s journey including onboarding. We are excited to share some of our latest research on onboarding this month and hope you can join us and Patrick Rooney on November 29 to discuss some of the following trends:

• Extend onboarding to the first year: Onboarding should not end after 30 or 60 days. It needs to be an ongoing process that extends throughout the first year and beyond. Companies can invest in a long-term strategy by considering career development and new hire engagement. Currently, only 1 in 3 companies show new hires development plans.
• Don’t forget cross-boarding: Onboarding strategies are most effective when they include every new hire including existing employees. Companies should consider cross-boarding as a major initiative in their new hire experience. Over 70% of companies that invest in onboarding are prioritizing internal mobility efforts.
• Invest in the right provider: Onboarding solutions can have a dramatic impact on the new hire experience. They ensure that companies are staying compliant and that new hires are being productivity and contributing to organizational goals on day one. Companies need to consider providers with deep domain expertise in onboarding. Companies using technology are three times more likely to improve first year retention and two times more likely to improve new hire engagement.
• Measure the results: Companies need to identify the metrics for success. First year engagement and retention should be evaluated regularly in addition to compliance and productivity. In reality, only 24% of companies are measuring first year engagement and retention.

In order for talent acquisition to be effective, companies need to focus on the new hire experience. They must ensure that all of the effort they put into attract talent will not go to waste with a poor onboarding experience. We hope you can join us this month to talk about ways to improve onboarding for today and the future.