Save Capacities and Gain Employees With a Good Onboarding Process

Employee recruitment is becoming increasingly difficult for companies. Because nowadays it is no longer the case that applicants can be happy and grateful when a company decides on them. On the contrary - in times of War of Talents it is often the companies that have to fear whether the applicant decides for them or for another company.

But this is not the only challenge that many companies face. Because what happens after an ostensibly perfect match between applicants and the future employer? Exactly, the beginning of a collaboration. And for this to be as successful and long-lasting as possible, the entry into the company for new employees is extremely important and forms the basis for decision-making for the further continuation of their employment.

In this article you will find out what onboarding is all about, what goals, tasks and phases are associated with it and how you can optimize the onboarding process in your company. Finally, we will reveal some best practices to you and give you an overview of various onboarding software providers.

What does onboarding mean and how long can it take?

There are many processes and structures in companies that differ from department to department. Maintaining an overview is not so easy. Especially when the company grows over the years. What existing employees can already break a sweat is a real challenge for new colleagues. That's why it's extremely important to guide newly won employees from the very beginning, introduce them to individual processes, familiarize them with their tasks and make their start in the team as easy as possible.

This process is also known as onboarding in personnel management. Depending on the size of the department and the scope of the position, the duration of optimal onboarding varies and can thus range from a few weeks to a few months. In some companies, onboarding also ends only at the end of the probationary period or after the first year of employment.

What goals does onboarding pursue and what tasks are associated with it?

As already hinted at, the topics of onboarding and onboarding process are an elementary part of personnel procurement or employee retention. Because the work does not stop just because the employee has signed the contract. Onboarding is the first contact your new colleagues have with you and your company after the application phase, which means the onboarding process has a major impact.

Of course, there is technical support for a good onboarding process in the form of HR software such as Persis or Personio. Such tools are also incredibly valuable and make your work easier. Nevertheless, it is important to understand the relevance and course of an effective onboarding process. That's why we would like to show you the goals and the tasks associated with an onboarding process.

6 aims and tasks of onboarding new employees:

1. New employees should quickly feel comfortable in the company and identify with their tasks. This enables them to contribute to the team more quickly and to contribute to achieving goals.
2. Appreciated employees show more initiative and build a bond with the company, which can also keep them beyond the probationary period.
3. Employees who experience a positive work atmosphere and individual promotion in the company also communicate this both consciously and unconsciously to the outside world, whereby the company enjoys a better position in the recruiting process due to a positive company image.
4. A well-prepared onboarding process reduces the risk of errors in new colleagues, which in turn minimizes possible economic damage in the company.
5. In addition, a well-prepared onboarding process reduces stress for all parties involved.
6. New employees who do not even start the job or quit and leave the company during the probationary period, cost the company a lot of money and resources due to the recruiting process and all the recruiting measures taken. This can be avoided with a good onboarding process.

Why should companies optimize their onboarding process?

Of course, the answer to the question of why companies should optimize their onboarding process arises from the goals just presented. But if you look, for example, at the two extreme Corona years 2020 and 2021, there is another central point: decentralized work. Because a large part of the companies faced the challenge of the home office situation for their employees and a remote situation for applicants when the pandemic broke out. All processes had to suddenly take place online and digitally. In addition, there was no more personal exchange with each other (neither among colleagues nor in job interviews). So anyone who had not already created certain structures before was facing an unprecedented upheaval: the complete digitization of all work-related processes in the company. In a very short time, digital structures had to be created with which the employees could communicate and work together without problems even in a decentralized manner.

This was followed by the challenges of online recruiting and remote onboarding. Because it was clear, the way onboarding had been conducted offline in the company itself until then, was no longer possible. In order to integrate future employees into your company and make them part of the team, you had to find new ways. The entire process of onboarding had to be rethought and adapted so that it could be as successful online as offline. During this time video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet experienced their heyday, which could be used for team meetings and onboarding talks. The fact that the call participants can also share their screen is particularly helpful for remote onboarding.

And as life goes, after every low comes a high. And so the pandemic brought some advantages for some companies. Because through the general digitalization in the company many workflows were facilitated. For example, employee files were converted into digital personnel files (for example with the help of Persis). Projects were planned very easily in the team with the help of Trello, Asana or monday.com and tasks were assigned to the various responsible parties - and all online. Without direct contact with each other and without endless agreements.

Workflows Dashboard - Persis

If companies succeed in shining in times of decentralized work with an onboarding process optimized for the online world and enabling their new colleagues to have a positive user experience, this will build a connection to the company. This can ultimately lead to their developing a positive image of their employer and wanting to stay in the company beyond the probationary period.

The different phases of an onboarding process

A good onboarding process does not start only on the first day of work and end after the first working week. Ideally, the company plans the perfect onboarding process even before applicant search so that it can already be started during the recruitment process.

Successful onboarding can be roughly divided into three main phases, which can then sometimes be broken down further. We now reveal the three onboarding phases.

1. Preparation phase of the onboarding process

The first phase of the onboarding process is the preparation phase. This means that all activities that arise before the start of the newcomer need to be defined and clarified here. These tasks therefore form the basis for a successful first day of work and good training.

The important tasks of the first phase include:

• Preparation and execution of the contract signing
• Possibly sending first information materials
• Provision of work equipment, setting up the workplace including all access data as well as equipment for the home office
• First appointment invitations for onboarding and team meetings send or set
• Organization of keys or employee badges
• First to-do's consider and coordinate with those responsible
• Buddy or contact person to be determined

2. Entrance phase of the onboarding process

The entrance phase of the onboarding process refers to the first day of work, when the new employee starts working for you. This day is particularly exciting and important for the person, which is why you should be as well prepared as possible to leave a good first impression.

You should prepare for the following tasks in the entrance phase:

• Welcome new colleague and Present him/her in the company
• Introduction of colleagues
• Instruction in areas of responsibility
• Presentation of internal process processes

3. Integration phase of the onboarding process

The integration phase in the onboarding process can either be designed very generally or in a little more detail, for example by dividing it into further sub-phases. These sub-phases can, for example, be divided according to first week, first month, end of probationary period and first year. Each company decides this individually.

Relevant to-do's that come up in these phases are:

• Getting to know all colleagues
• Arriving in the company & team and getting used to tasks
• Discuss first goal agreements between the new ones and the team lead
• Regular feedback conversations (both from team leads and the new employees)
• Various teambuilding measures
• Offering opportunities for training and further education

In theory, there would also be the planning phase of onboarding mentioned above. We deliberately left this out in the overview of the onboarding phases. After all, it results from the results of the three onboarding phases we presented here.

In conclusion, it can be said about the onboarding phases that they are extremely relevant for your new employees for their training and integration. You can of course also get help in the form of HR software. For example, these offer you support through automated team presentations, onboarding workflows or also onboarding notifications. An HR tool that can offer you such functions is for example Persis. Further down in the article, we also introduce a few tool providers for onboarding software solutions.

Best practices for a successful onboarding process for new employees:

So far you have already gained valuable knowledge about the onboarding process and its relevance. In addition, we would like to give you some more tips with which you can certainly score points when onboarding your new employees:

• Goodie Bag as a welcome gift
• Friendly and detailed Welcome Day in the entire team (for example with team breakfast, lunch together and/or After-Work)
• Company tour, where colleagues from other departments / offices are also introduced
• Special onboarding with company management to get to know them personally
• Shared coffee or lunch dates in the team and/or with the team leader.
• Fixed contact person during the entire onboarding duration.

Providers of onboarding software on the market

After all the theory, you are probably curious now which tool providers can support you with this complex and yet important process. That's why we'll start right away and give you a small overview of various onboarding software providers:

Optimize the onboarding process with Persis

Persis is an HR software that has been on the market for 35 years and with which you can digitize your HR processes - no more annoying Excel files and paper files. By digitalizing the HR process, you can work up to 30% more efficiently, which in turn saves you resources and costs. The four core modules Applicant Management, HR Manager, HR Development and Reporting support you in various areas to smartly conduct your onboarding process.

• For example, with the Applicant Management Module you can automate all recruiting processes, view applicant cases in a few seconds and even directly compare your top 5 applicants. Everything just to be able to react quickly enough to get your favorite on board.
• The HR Manager gives you the ability to transform recurring tasks into automatic workflows where tasks, responsible parties, deadlines, and reminders can be set. This way you can create interactive checklists and you will never miss important appointments again.
• With the HR Development Module you can record and track the goals agreed with your new employees and plan regular feedback conversations. Record the results of the feedback conversations in text fields, dropdowns or checkboxes and always keep an overview of the competencies and developments of your employees.
• The HR Reporting allows you to evaluate and visualize all key figures. The management has easy access and can therefore use the reports to optimize the application and onboarding process.

Recruiting Performance Dashboard - Persis

For whom is Persis suitable?

Persis describes itself as industry-independent and flexible HR software and is used not only in medium-sized companies and corporations but also in law firms, financial institutions, the public service, health care or machine builders. This variety of application possibilities can be guaranteed by standard packages and individually combinable packages. The software can be extended at any time with additional functionalities so that you always have and only pay for what you also need.

Currently, Persis is also celebrating its 35th anniversary and is gifting you with two free trial months. - (Status: April 2022)

Other Onboarding Softwares

In addition, you can find other suitable software solutions for a better onboarding process on OMR Reviews. Besides numerous tool informations there also real and verified user experiences. These include for example:

Personio

rexx systems

Factorial

Kenjo

Zoho People

kiwiHR

Conclusion on successful phase of induction

If you're looking for an onboarding software solution, you should think in advance about how your entire onboarding process should be setup and structured. Because only this way you can determine in which areas you need technical support from an onboarding software and what requirements this software should meet. Such a software solution provides you with advantages such as the data from the recruitment process being directly available for HR management, all persons involved in the onboarding process automatically receiving checklists and all kinds of reminders, that there can be automated communication with the future employees and thus you always have all relevant information at a glance.