IDC Research Manager Kyle Lagunas has discussed new hire onboarding as a pivotal step between talent acquisition and talent management. And while onboarding is increasingly making its way onto the radar (according to Lagunas, 35 percent of organizations say it’s critically important while 32 percent said it’s very important), fundamental problems are resulting in missed opportunities.
For instance, per the North America Candidate Experience report, only 63 percent of new hires completed forms online, 37 percent received calls from a hiring manager, 25 percent of new hires received a detailed schedule for the first week, 17 percent of employers provided multiple communication channels to new hires, and 15 percent of employers asked for candidate feedback prior to start.
Lagunas offered several questions HR professionals and HR managers should address in order to improve the new hire experience.
What are we trying to accomplish in new hire onboarding?
Impactful people processes affect more than HR metrics: they are tied to business goals.
Ping senior leaders to identify near and long-term, tactical, and strategic goals that will allow you to build a meaningful connection to the organization’s business and culture. Dream big when coming up with these, new employees want to know that the work they do matters – and how. The work doesn’t have to change the world, but it does have to be important to the business and the person.
Who owns what in impactful new hire onboarding?
Leaving onboarding to the new hire is dooming them to fail. But you can’t keep everything within HR either. Consider what role hiring managers, business unit leaders, IT/operations, and executives have to play. Lagunas provided the following potential breakdown as an example:
- Talent Acquisition: Transition to new hire, momentum
- HR: Preboarding, orientation, enablement and empowerment
- IT, Operations: Systems, workstation
- Hiring Manager: Assimilation, acclimatization
- Business Leaders: Mission, vison, values, connection, contextualization
For the rest of Lagunas' questions, head over to the SilkRoad blog.
Comments