Post on 04-Jun-2020
Onboarding: The Day that Matters Most for Retention & Engagement
Kip Soteres, Soteres Consulting
• Recent clients include the BlueCross BlueShield Association, Comcast, ADP, Hearth Transitional Housing, & PNC Financial Services
• Gold Quill and Silver Anvil awards for communication excellence related to change
• Published and cited by Ragan Communications and the IABC’s Journal of Employee Communications Management
• Led dozens of workforce integration communication efforts across multiple industries – M&A, restructurings, orientations, onboarding, and more
Kip SoteresChange Communications Expert
Founder & PresidentSoteres Consulting
Since 2015
VP, Director & Manager Roles
Highmark Health PNC Bank
BlueCross BlueShield of TNCadence Design Systems
2001 to 2015
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Approximately 3-9 months
Sourcing
Recruiting
Interviewing
Selection/Offer/Acceptance
Start date / Orientation
Traditional Recruitment Model
New Recruiting
Selection/Offer/Acceptance
Onboarding
Mentor/peer support
Ongoing & Evaluations
3-12 months
New Recruitment Model
Approximately 3-9 months
Sourcing
Recruiting
Interviewing
Selection/Offer/Acceptance
Start date / Orientation
Story capture, ambassador creation
What new recruiting elements are being integrated into new recruiting models?
a. Creation of new hire ambassadors to support recruiting
b. Ongoing onboarding communications through the year
c. Community creation to establish mentor/peer support
d. All of the above
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Question #1
20 percent of employee turnover happens in the first 45 days of employment.
Source: Bamboo HR and SHRM, April 16, 2015https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/onboarding-key-retaining-engaging-talent.aspx
Companies approach onboarding as something that stops “when all
paperwork is signed and the employee’s first day is complete. We
in HR think we’re done, but the reality is we’re just getting started.”
-- Ben Peterson, CEO of BambooHR
The Revolving Door Crisis
Source: Bamboo HR and SHRM, April 16, 2015https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/onboarding-key-retaining-engaging-talent.aspx
86 percent of HR and recruiting
leaders feel that a new hire’s decision
to stay with a company long-term is
made within the first six months of
employment.
The Revolving Door Crisis
The average company is losing one in six of their new hires each
month for the first three months.
Source: Bamboo HR and SHRM, April 16, 2015https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/onboarding-key-retaining-engaging-talent.aspx
Month 1
Month 2
Month 3
100 hires, lost 17
83 hires, lost 14
69 hires, lost 11
Hire 100
Three months later you have 58
Source: Bamboo HR and SHRM, April 16, 2015https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/onboarding-key-retaining-engaging-talent.aspx
If you hire 100 employees in March, how many of those employees will you typically still have with you at the beginning of July?
a. 86
b. 20
c. 58
d. 42
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Question #2
Make New Hires “Sticky”
Among companies with onboarding programs:
• 66 percent report a higher rate of
successful assimilation of new hires
into company culture
• 62 percent report higher time-to-
productivity ratios
• 54 percent report higher employee
engagement
Source: Bamboo HR and SHRM, April 16, 2015https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/onboarding-key-retaining-engaging-talent.aspx
Of companies who establish formal onboarding programs…
a. 62% report higher time-to-productivity ratios
b. None report better retention after three years
c. One in six report losing 20% of their employees
d. Usually conclude onboarding after the first week or two
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Question #3
First Area of Focus: OrientationDay 1 Orientation
• Has multiple stakeholders: HR, IT, Employee Relations, Legal, Payroll, Safety, Security,
Voluntary Benefit Reps, etc.
• Is usually developed in silos aligned to the stakeholder groups with no visibility on overall
impact
• Must balance legal and regulatory requirements with Day 1 experience
• Needs defined logistics, processes and roles for managers, executives
• Must account for employees with different needs: full-time? on-site? unionized? Shift?
Etc.
• Introduces metrics for time-to-productivity and new hire feedback for improvement
One factor that makes it tough to upgrade onboarding programs is…
a. The multiple stakeholders who are often involved in the process
b. The tendency of small groups to solve onboarding challenges themselves and not want to change
c. Different audiences with different policies and benefit offerings
d. All of the above
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Question #4
Second Area of Focus: OnboardingContinuous Onboarding
• Often does not exist in any formal capacity within a company
• Sometimes exists in unstandardized, defined small pockets within specific teams or
functions – allows for best-practice capture
• May redefine manager roles and create peer opportunities for development
• May shine a light on slow time-to-productivity
• Creates communities that extend across multiple functions
• Establishes feedback loops for better recruiting and hiring efforts going forward
• Reflects itself in improved retention and engagement scores
• Must account for employees with different needs: Executives, Managers, Professionals,
Etc.
Which statement is false about upgraded Day-1 orientations? An upgraded orientation program creates…
a. Faster productivity
b. Fewer engaged business functions
c. New employee channels and portals
d. A stronger sense of belonging
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Question #5
Tips for Implementation
• Start by listening and observing. Often groups within your organization have
created some stop-gap solutions. Look for best practices and positive deviance
first. Use what’s working as a starting point in order to shrink the change.
• Identify key stakeholders for change by function, hierarchy, involvement and
influence. There tend to be a lot of hidden stakeholders in the orientation and
onboarding process: Legal/Compliance HR, Security, IT, Facilities, Payroll, and
more.
• Pilot the changes, get success to build momentum and then continue to
improve the offering.
A Good Orientation Upgrade Often Creates:• A better and faster intake process between acceptance of the position and Day 1
Orientation
• Faster time-to-productivity starting day 1 at work
• A streamlined and more inspirational orientation event (staggered training and education
to spread it out over the first month of hire)
• Better alignment between orientation stakeholders
• Better defined roles for managers and senior leaders per their responsibilities for
onboarding new employees
• New portals, sites, or other channels to cater to the specific needs of new hires
• Ambassador creation and story capture to build better profiles of successful employees
for use in future recruiting and marketing efforts
• A sense of belonging to an “incoming class” of new hires – more formalized mentor and
peer support
Next Steps: Orientation & OnboardingDay 1 Orientation
• Identify and interview key stakeholders in the orientation process to identify current and
best practices already within the organization
• Coordinate with stakeholders to streamline processing of materials between acceptance
and Day 1 Orientation -- Establish clear protocols for the processing of employees
starting with Day 1 orientation with defined roles for managers and more
• Develop enhanced Day 1 orientation experience tailored to the specifics of the
organization (workforce demographics, volumes, available channels, etc.)
• Customize “new hire” campaigns – create New Hire page & automate milestone
customized friendly notices for employees and managers through end year 1
• Create template celebration events to cement hired employees as part of an “incoming
class”
• Establish surveys to identify and profile high performing new hires for feedback loops
• A new hire intranet site or similar as a centralized resource to support onboarding
Next Steps: Orientation & OnboardingContinuous Onboarding
• Identify and interview key stakeholders in the onboarding process to identify current and
best practices – focus groups with highest volume hiring managers
• Coordinate with IT, Payroll/Finance, HR, and Facility/Security to identify and then hasten
time to productivity for employees
• Automate milestone generation for new hires and managers with customized friendly
notices through end of year 1
• Template celebrations to cement hired employees as part of an “incoming class”
• Survey and profile work to identify high performing new hires; feedback loop to recruiting
to help identify similar candidates for similar positions
• Customized “new hire” campaigns to supplement organization’s annual calendar of
events – new hire intranet site or similar as a centralized resource to support onboarding
Thank you for your time!
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Thank you for your time!