7 Pitfalls of Poor Onboarding

This month we are looking at some causes of “things going south in the workplace” and bad or non-existent onboarding and training practices are right up there with 40% of poorly trained employees leaving the company in the first year and the remaining 60% performing below their capabilities resulting in significant profit seepage.  When we are onboarding and training new hires it is important to remember “You can’t teach people everything they need to know …The best you can do is position them where they can find what they need to know when they need to know it.” Seymour Papert. 

 Welcoming and onboarding a new hire is commonly overlooked, undervalued, and sometimes not even considered leaving too many new hires to sink or swim.  When this process is average or less a business compromises its employee engagement and productivity, talent retention, customer engagement and business resilience.  There are 3 stages to the Onboarding Experience – Preboarding Preparation, Active Onboarding and Post-Onboarding and here are 7 common pitfalls. 

Preboarding:

1. Underestimating the importance and power of a positive and welcoming onboarding experience. 

2. Failing to provide an Employment Contract prior to a new hire’s commencement date allowing reasonable time for them to seek professional advice.  This is best practice but also a legal requirement. 

3. Not having all legal documents and policies prepared and ready to discuss on the new hire’s first day of employment, including a document detailing the company onboarding and training processes.  Active

Onboarding: 

1. Frontline staff and co-workers failing to warmly welcome a new hire.

2. Not prioritising meeting with the new hire to take them through their job descriptions, key performance indicators, channels of reporting and all relevant company policies. 

3. Insensitivity to a new hire’s physical or mental malaise during their induction remembering that change can be stressful. 

Post-Onboarding:

1. Not conducting a 3-month performance appraisal and no opportunities for future training and development. 

 The onboarding process occurs over a minimum period of 3 months.  We are all from different walks of life with different perspectives and challenges and we need time to adjust and adapt to change so patience is critical and the key to capatalising on the investment you have made in your new hire.  Create a positive and memorable onboarding process and you will be sure to improve your retention rates and accelerate the new hires performance and productivity.  Every new hire is looking for a sense of belonging and value.  If you would like help designing your onboarding processes, reach out to us.