Onboarding tips: engage to thrive

The fact of the matter is it’s costing businesses more and more to attract ideal hires amidst a candidate’s market.

Employee review site Glassdoor published that: “…According to a report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the average cost per hire in the UK is an estimated £3,000. That number will vary, depending on job level and on hiring practices, but every hiring manager can relate to the problem of inflated talent acquisition costs.”

On top of the cost and the difficulty to hire, the HCI (Human Capital Institute) throws findings into the mix that are enough to strike terror across the recruitment sector far and wide: “Up to 20% of all new hires resign within the first 45 days of their role, representing enormous loss for the business in terms of time and money expended on recruitment.”

Imagine going to all the time and trouble of recruiting to end up with an empty seat – again – and money down the drain when new hires don’t stick around.

Just the thought of it drives home the importance of keeping your talent happy once you’ve found them.

How to Prevent Keen Beans Coming Unstuck

Keeping new hires keen and sticky is an ongoing process that starts from the moment you pick up the phone to share the good news with them.

To this end, it’s worth thinking through every step of your onboarding process. Be honest with yourself if you fall short in any of the areas that most typically cause early exits amongst new hires, including:

  • Be Timely – A successful candidate shouldn’t have to chase up your Offer/Contract. They want an email confirming your Offer/Contract straight away, that they can digitally sign and return once they’ve had a read.
  • Be Digital –  Gone are the days when offers and contracts should be posted. Everything should flow through online seamlessly with links sent to your Applicant Portal so that your candidate can view any documents, policies, or handbooks if required for a particular role. They should be able to quickly fill in a form to provide specific information relating to your new hire that you can send to your HCM or HR Payroll System. Your letter should be able to be signed by the candidate, the hiring manager, and the recruiter if necessary. 
  • Be Engaging – Having a Company Branded Engagement App is a great way to keep your new hires warm and sticky at any point of the recruitment process – before offer or after contract!  They can review all company documents, policies, and practices, receive messages from the company and the team, can review their induction and training calendar and they can keep in touch with team members before day one.
  • Be Structured – Throwing new hires straight in to fend for themselves is off-putting. Giving new hires limited shadowing time with another team member who isn’t equipped to train is also a happy starter deterrent. Lack of a well-planned and delivered training schedule costs dearly if your new hire ghosts you after a couple of weeks.

At HireRoad, our unbeatable Applicant Tracking System can’t run your business for you. But it helps streamline and structure every touchpoint of the onboarding process. What’s more, our Engagement App will ensure all your employees are engaged, updated, and included, delivering the best experience for your new talent, at the same time freeing up your time with a pre-planned Onboarding and Induction process. 

Why not arrange a demo today?

Or call us on 01509 236 434 for a chat about how your recruitment and onboarding processes currently look, and how you’d like them to look.

Sources

The Hidden Costs of Onboarding a New Employee (& How to Avoid Them), Glassdoor – https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/employers/blog/hidden-costs-onboarding-new-employee-avoid/

Why New Employees Quit, HCI (Human Capital Institute) – https://www.hci.org/blog/why-new-employees-quit