In this blog we are going to tell you about 4 phases of Onboarding, so read this blog carefully to get the complete information.
In the era of candidate-driven markets, talent competition is increasing rapidly. This is the reason organizations need to make proper efforts to attract quality employees. One of the key strategies for improving your employer’s brand and recruiting better candidates is optimizing the onboarding process. The onboarding process is your first impression and your only chance to play the groundwork for the rest of the new hire’s experience with the organization and by the time the onboarding is about to finish, your new employee will understand the culture and values of your organization in a better way.
However, some organizations do not understand the value of onboarding. If you are new to onboarding or looking to improve this area of your HR process then you have to understand that onboarding goes through four phases that will help you in drafting a clear strategy to engage candidates. Moreover, it will also help you in improving new hire retention and help employees in adapting your organization’s culture. So let us understand what onboarding is and what are the four phases of onboarding through this article.
About Onboarding
Onboarding is a human resources industry term that refers to the procedure of introducing a newly hired employee into a company. It is also known as organizational socialization and is a significant part of helping employees in understanding their new position and job regulations. It’s the procedure that enables them to merge seamlessly with the rest of the company. There are many actions that go into the onboarding process, including from the job offer to team training. Onboarding may last anywhere from a few weeks to a year, but the most productive onboarding usually lasts at least a few months as it should be done properly. Ideally, this will help employees feel confident and capable when the onboarding process is complete.
The attainment of employee onboarding depends on the efficiency of the onboarding strategy. The quicker employees are authorized to do their jobs, the faster they are likely to become productive, participating members of the organization. However, Onboarding is not just HRs job as it is also the responsibility of the primary manager, who will introduce the employee to their role in the company, their performance expectations, and the culture of the company they are going to be a part of.
The Four Phases of Onboarding
The challenges that Human Resource managers face regularly are countless and this is the reason many teams refer to the four phases for the employee concerning onboarding. So let us understand these four phases of onboarding and how they work:
- Phase 1: Pre-Onboarding
The first phase of onboarding is known as pre-onboarding. This phase starts as soon as a candidate accepts your offer and proceeds until their first day of joining. This is a very important time for your candidates as they are the most worried about what lies ahead. This is the reason even a small miscommunication or misunderstanding can make candidates doubtful of their decision of joining your organization. However, when candidates are managed properly and you keep them updated on organizational developments, they will also feel more excited about their decision to join your organization and to work in such an environment.
So in the pre-onboarding phase, you should help employees in completing all the important paperwork. And you should also make sure to give them sufficient time so that they may finish up with leave tasks at their last organization. For instance, if they are relocating, you should check if they need any help in finding a suitable place to live. You could also send them a video or document that gives a brief description of how your organization functions and what things they could experience on their first day. All of these small steps can help you manage the first phase of onboarding and your candidate will also feel eager to work with your organization.
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- Phase 2: Welcoming New Hires
The second phase of onboarding is usually focused on welcoming new hires to your organization and providing a direction to help new hires acclimate. You should keep in mind that they may not know anyone inside your organization yet, and they also do not know how teams operate daily. This is the reason it is necessary to give them a clear working structure of your organization before their work. Most new hires will be excited to get started, still, it’s better to impede this phase to less than a week.
You can do this by keeping the first day as simple as possible. During orientation, you can help them understand your organizational culture, and show them how your work practices are associated with this culture. Further, you should discuss topics like time off, attendance, medical insurance, and payroll policies of your company. If important, you should also help them in knowing directions to parking spots, cafeterias, and medical facilities. After this, you should also introduce your new hires to their teammates and other stakeholders so that they can take their help as well. At the end of the second phase, you can arrange a quick meeting with your new hires to make sure they are comfortable and adjusting well or if they have any inquiry or not.
- Phase 3: Role-Specific Training
The third phase is the training phase which is one of the most crucial phases of onboarding. It is directly related to how successful new employees will be at their jobs as, without formal training, your employees may not know what it takes to develop. This may result in developing a feeling of dissatisfaction, which can lead to a high turnover rate. But in contrast to this, a well-drafted new hire training plan will help employees feel welcome and this also shows that you care about their development and understanding.
As a first stage of the training, you should help employees familiarize themselves with your Learning Management System. For instance, If you offer online courses, they should not feel stressed-out looking at the application. So you should explore different types of learning techniques like blended learning, self-paced learning, micro-learning, and more so that your new hires can select the style and can understand your learning system at their convenience. Moreover, Any onboarding learning materials should be stored safely in a place so that employees can easily access them and refer back to them whenever they want.
- Phase 4: Easing the change to their new role
The last phase of onboarding is implied to help employees shift from the role of a new hire to the one of a full-fledged employee. You should assist your managers to set clear expectations for their new team members so that they know what they are responsible for and how they should work. It is better to set smart goals to help them picture what success, quality, and productivity look like. After a month or quarter, you could conduct a performance review as well to acknowledge their efforts so far and help them improve their performance so that they can not only understand where improvement is required but also this will help them develop their potential.
Benefits of Going through Onboarding Phases
The following are some of the benefits of going through onboarding phases in an organization:
- Better Experience
An onboarding process is successful if it concentrates on company culture and employee development. This enhances the employee experience and shows them that they are respected and prized.
- Better retention
Maintaining employees is important for organizations because employee turnovers are costly and time-consuming as well. It can cost a lot of money to train new employees so it is better to retain old employees and help them with their development from the start.
- Higher engagement
Employees who are engaged are supposed to do better at work as they become more efficient and productive during their engagement. Through onboarding, employees can become more engaged by feeling more connected to their organization, as well as its importance, mission, and idea.
- Powerful company culture
According to statistics, 69% of organizations that provide onboarding processes get easier integration into corporate culture. If the organization creates a purposeful and strong company culture and then shares it throughout the onboarding and recruitment processes, it can attract and retain the right candidates for its company.
- Easier talent attraction
Statistics indicate that 20% of newly hired employees tend to recommend employers to other people after they have had their onboarding process go well. This is why it is significant for them to have an engaging experience during their onboarding so that they become more engaged with the company as well.
- More productivity
Newly hired employees generally adjust during their first months as they have to know the organization better as well as form professional relationships among the fellows of the team. A good onboarding process can speed this up by helping them build relationships and become accustomed to the organization and thus improving their productivity in the company.
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The bottom line
Onboarding is an important part of an organization that has to be supervised carefully to help new hires adapt their organizational culture, values, and work easily. But if it is not done so, the chance of facing high turnover among new hires increases, and the time, effort, and energy spent on your recruitment strategy go in vain. We hope this article helped you in understanding the different phases of onboarding that are important to help employees adjust to their new roles. Now you should also work as per these four phases to go through the onboarding process seamlessly.
Conclusion
We Hope this blog is sufficient enough to provide the information about 4 phases of Onboarding. Thanks for reading this blog.