Onboarding is Not a Weeklong Event; It is a Journey

Employees are the spine of any organization and its life force. And the first interaction of a new hire as an employee of the organization is the Onboarding program.

Onboarding adds immense value when put together with thought and care. It acclimates candidates to the organization's role, culture, and vision much before day one of their jobs. Although it is common to introduce an onboarding plan for new hires, it is crucial to prioritize the securing and development of talent.

Ozemio conducted an onboarding-related survey with 120 mid to large organizations and around an individual user group of 1200 to learn about their existing onboarding experiences, the issues they face, and their results.

Here are the key findings from the survey: 

Results from Organizations:

• 74% of the organizations that participated mentioned that they have effective onboarding solutions but acknowledged not having a formal onboarding effectiveness measurement.
• 43% of the organization had an attrition rate of 25% within the first three months.
• Overall, almost all participant organizations have registered a higher attrition rate in the last two years than earlier.

Results from individuals:

• 74% of the employees who left an organization within the first six months felt disconnected or "didn't belong."
• Lack of visibility and recognition was among the second most common reasons from the survey respondents.
• 48% of respondents left because they complained of a drastic gap between the expectation set at the hiring and onboarding stage vis-a-vis the actual anticipation of their managers.

Onboarding for new hires is crucial, and if done well, it would make the new hire committed to the organization and vital to its success. Or Depending on the experience that employees have at this juncture of their tenure with the said organization, they may become an integral part of the organization and its culture and start contributing to the organization's growth or becoming a turnover statistic.

With the recent change in global employee behavior post-pandemic, it has become imperative that organizations prioritize onboarding to ensure that all of their employees feel in sync with their mission and vision and also embody the organization's culture. With a more flexible working style – work from anywhere, hybrid working style getting adopted faster, effective onboarding has become even more essential.

One of the conclusions we derived after the exhaustive discussions is that while we live in a modern world with new facets to workforce expectations and reality, most organizations still rely on dated onboarding methods.

Considering the recent mix of workforce and talent market, an impactful upgrade to onboarding solutions would not only let new hires feel an integral part of the organization but also add value to its success. A systematic and structured period of pre-onboarding, during-onboarding, and post-onboarding plan gives new hires a clear plan to conform with a new organization.

A practical and strategic onboarding solution should:

• Simplify the tedious aspect of hiring – i.e., documentation.
• Avoid information overload on the joining day.
• Personalize the onboarding – not one size fits all.
• Be a perfect blend of in-person and digital knowledge transfer.
• Be spread out over a pre-specified time; just a one-time orientation is insufficient.
• Be closely linked with a new hire's growth path.

We at Ozemio have been a proponent of crafting unique onboarding experiences by choosing the latest technology, learning experience, and design theories. Our onboarding solutions and framework has helped our customers improve their employees' time to competence, saving on the hiring budget by reducing turnover costs and having a workforce that feels connected, engaged, and committed.
Connect with our Onboarding Experts to improve your onboarding experience.