What Should Onboarding Look Like in 2022?
The onboarding trends to expect in 2022!
In 2022, we can expect the onboarding process to look very different due to the recruitment market being driven by candidates and the shift towards flexible working. This being the case it is more essential than ever to review and prepare a well-structured onboarding process to welcome newly recruited talent that aligns with your end-to-end recruitment processes. This will position your company to build higher levels of engagement, meaningful connections between colleagues and new hires, and ultimately – hold on to your precious talent.
At Core HR, we are serious about onboarding as it delivers motivated employees that feel welcome in the company culture. It aids in driving company objectives and directly impacts employee retention.
Let's delve into how we expect onboarding to work in 2022, so you can deliver a purposeful onboarding program that builds and maintains momentum this year!
Pre Day-One Onboarding:
Exposure to the company prior to a new starter's first day is a great way to build a sense of belonging that ties candidates to the business before starting. Our Recruitment Partners have observed a decrease in new starter engagement between offer and start date, which has had resulted in a significant impact on candidate withdrawals. Onboarding which starts before day one can dissuade candidates from seeking (or entertaining) alternative roles and locks in top talent!
It is crucial to keep communications flowing and maintain a sense of excitement for new starters post-offer and pre-start date. This can be done by some simple communication touchpoints including:
Verbal confirmation of the offer of employment
Communication post reference checks
Manager check-ins prior to start date
Starter information packs
The above are some great basic methods to keep a successful candidate engaged with their new role, but is it enough? It's important to not only focus on the logistics of new starters, especially while new starters are isolated in a home office somewhere. More in-depth pre-employment engagement is key! You could consider:
Frequent manager communications and team inclusion/building post-offer and prior to starting
Buddy systems – communications from a buddy and set-up prior to start date
Scheduling online chats and "meet and greets" with key stakeholders prior to start date
Onboarding Checklists
A structured checklist of what needs to be achieved in the first 90 days sets employee expectations and shows a strong commitment to the chosen candidate. This builds mutual trust. It communicates that "we will give you the tools and information you need to do your job, it may be hard, it may be "information overload" but we commit to it!".
Opening channels of communications between new starters and their key stakeholders and colleagues is a useful tool to set up an online "getting to know you" chat. This helps build connections, encourages networking, and boosts a sense of belonging well before day one (and despite any physical distance).
Utilising Technology
Flexible working environments have forced a stronger emphasis on virtually engaging with new recruits. Technology can be utilised to enable managers to oversee what stage their new starters are at on their onboarding journey. The role of the Line Manager during onboarding is to draw a team together and connect with new starters. Therefore, virtual management check-ins for new starters and increased utilisation of technology within the onboarding process is a necessity.
Asana is the perfect project management platform that organises structured team collaboration and can track progress within an onboarding plan. Asana can help make your onboarding checklist actionable, with the ability to create tasks and subtasks with links to milestones and due dates. These can then be assigned to different team members and share accountability across a team, department or business.
Onboarding and Candidate Feedback
With any process, be it recruitment or onboarding, you cannot know if the things you are doing are falling short unless you ask those that have experienced them. Seeking feedback on your processes to aid continual improvement is crucial. How can we pinpoint areas for improvement in driving onboarding performance unless we can seek feedback from those who have been onboarded? Pulse checks and experience surveys (across many areas of the business but specifically onboarding and recruitment) are a great tool to find out how you are doing.
Considering the current retention challenges most businesses are facing there must be post-induction follow up – gaining feedback from both the candidates and the hiring managers involved. Asking questions regarding methods of communication, feelings at various stages in the process and how excited candidates were, are important. Let's not forget those busy and important line managers – how did they find the process and what improvements could be made to make their life easier and assist them in getting their new starters engaged and productive quickly?
The additional challenges of the last few years mean there is some way to go before onboarding is meeting the requirements of working in this hybrid world. Finding new ways of driving connection and inclusion that don't rely on traditional physical presence within an office space is challenging but is something we can assist with.
Technology can be of great help, but for smaller businesses, this is not always relevant or cost-effective. There is certainly some easy and efficient tweaks you can make to your onboarding to keep that star candidate engaged and assist them in embedding in the business even before they start!
If you need help reviewing your onboarding process to align with your current business operations and this new business landscape, while also increasing retention and engagement, contact our HR Partners. We would love to support you!
