Blog Post

Onboarding Process for Employees

Jonathan D. Rhyne
Illustration: Onboarding Process for Employees

The Employee Onboarding Process Matters

Employee onboarding experience varies widely between companies, especially as more workers are hired and onboarded remotely. Employees at some organizations are shown their desks, handed an employee handbook, and told what time to come every day. New hires spend a week learning about the company culture at other organizations, networking across functional areas, shadowing coworkers, and more.

According to a study from CareerBuilder, more than 30% of employers don’t even have a structured onboarding process for new hires.

What New Hires Learn During Onboarding

What an organization does for employee onboarding — and, just as importantly, what it doesn’t do — is critical for several reasons. New employee onboarding is your company’s first opportunity to give new hires a sense of:

  • What will it be like working for your company

  • How much your company respects individual contributors

  • The importance being placed on their role

  • The long-term prospects for your company

  • Socialization and networking

Employee Onboarding Workflow Facts

The numbers associated with an employee’s new job experience bear out the importance of a good employee onboarding workflow:

  • 4% of employees quit after a bad first day (Bersin by Deloitte)

  • 90% of employees decide to stay within the first six months. (Aberdeen Group)

  • 22% of turnover occurs in the first 45 days. (The Wynhurst Group)

  • Only 12% of employees strongly agree their employers onboarded them well. (Gallup)

The hiring process and employee onboarding process set the tone for an employee’s career with your company. Is the new hire onboarding process an afterthought? Or is it well-organized, consistent, and respectful? Does it produce happy employees who enter the company with a positive attitude?

You may have had a poor employee onboarding experience yourself and thought, “Did I make the right decision accepting this job?” It’s never a good sign when an excited new hire, eager to start their new position, starts second-guessing their choices on the first day or week of work.

We have a Process App for that! Get a headstart on automating employee onboarding with our process app. Just import the template, customize it, and launch your new process.

Check Out the Process App

Employee Onboarding Phases

Each phase in the employee onboarding and offboarding process should be defined and outlined to include all the people, processes, and activities involved.

Employee Onboarding

Covers the entire process of hiring, equipping, and orienting new employees.

Employee Training

Includes all the activities related to adding or sharpening the skills required for the new employee’s role.

Employee Development

consists of the activities associated with the ongoing improvement of an employee in their role or future roles.

Employee Retention

Defines an approach to ensuring employee satisfaction throughout their employment.

Building an Employee Onboarding Process Template

Fortunately, you don’t have to develop an entire new hire onboarding process plan on your own. There are excellent employee onboarding tools and software for you to use, and it’s always good to create an employee onboarding template that you and your managers can refer to for any new hire. Some ideas for information to include in a new hire onboarding plan:

  1. How much paperwork can you handle online and have completed before the employee starts their first day?

  2. Quick Reference Guides for systems the employee will be used to supplement the full training on the system.

  3. Maps of the workplace and key locations (copier, printer, cafeteria, departments, restrooms/door codes, etc.)

  4. Key features of the phone system. Not surprisingly, most employees probably don’t know how to transfer a call properly (ask someone randomly).

  5. Proper use and rules around organization-wide tools like email, instant messaging, video conferencing, etc.

  6. Assign a buddy - give them a peer to ask general questions during their orientation period.

  7. Stay in regular contact during the 2-week “notice” period - this is when people doubt their new choice and need to feel welcome/wanted.

  8. Provide a “Welcome Package” with company gear to help them identify with the company brand.

Employee Onboarding Checklist (and the Importance of Automated Employee Onboarding Software)

Using employee onboarding tools like Onboarding Checklists is helpful for small companies that don’t deal with a lot of hiring and only bring on a few new employees a month. However, larger companies, especially in the enterprise space, can find such checklists less helpful when dealing with onboarding tasks for tens or hundreds of employees globally each month. In situations like this, best practices dictate the use of automated employee onboarding software. An automated workflow system ultimately leads to more effective onboarding and a more effective employee.

onboarding worfklow best practices

Using employee onboarding software to automate the process of onboarding new employees ensures a standardized, consistent, and company-approved approach. It provides hiring managers with a much easier experience with their new hires—customized employee portals include intake forms and automated workflows route information around the organization. The same system is used by the hiring manager, the employee, and HR, ensuring everyone has access to the information they need. Manual onboarding programs may have all the right pieces for effective onboarding, but automation and process management can bring it together.

Workflow automation provides a custom employee onboarding software solution. It can be used for the entire Employee Lifecycle from pre-hire to offboarding. Using new hire onboarding tools to automate everything from the employee onboarding and offboarding process to everything in between will dramatically improve the experience, and the efficiency, of your new team members. Here are some examples of how you can use new hire onboarding automation:

| Pre-hire |   | | Position request form | checkmark | | Recruitment and application process | checkmark | | Internal referrals | checkmark | | Interview feedback and tracking | checkmark | | Offer tracking | checkmark | | Background checks | checkmark | | Security badge request | checkmark | | During Hire |   | | Business card ordering | checkmark | | New hire information gathering | checkmark | | IT Setup form (hardware, software, network/app access) | checkmark | | Policy/mission review and acknowledgment. | checkmark | | Post-Hire |   | | A survey of their onboarding | checkmark | | Employee information change | checkmark | | Personnel action | checkmark | | Hardware and software requests | checkmark | | Leave requests | checkmark | | Expense and travel requests | checkmark | | Performance reviews and acknowledgment | checkmark | | Goals tracking | checkmark | | Peer and team recognitions and awards | checkmark |

 

|

Automating Employee Onboarding

Onboarding sets the tone for the employee’s relationship with their new company. If the process is disconnected and poorly organized, the employee’s chances of success are greatly diminished while turnover increases.

Get the eBook

|   | onboarding ebook |

Automate Your Employee Onboarding Process for Improved Employee Experience

Example of an Automated Employee Onboarding

_Example of Automated Employee Onboarding process built with Nutrient Workflow (click for larger) _

_ _

Onboarding Process FAQ

  • What is the importance of an employee onboarding process?

A structured onboarding process is crucial for giving new hires a positive first impression, helping them understand their role, and integrating them into the company culture.

  • What are the phases of the employee onboarding process?

Phases include onboarding, training, development, and retention, each with specific activities and goals to support new hires throughout their journey.

  • How can automation improve the onboarding process?

Automation ensures a consistent, efficient onboarding experience by standardizing workflows, reducing manual tasks, and providing a central platform for all stakeholders.

  • What tools does Nutrient Workflow offer for onboarding?

Nutrient Workflow provides tools like process apps, automated workflows, custom forms, and a user-friendly portal to streamline the entire onboarding process.

  • What are the benefits of using Nutrient Workflow for onboarding?

Benefits include improved new hire performance, reduced turnover, compliance with company policies, and a better overall employee experience through automated processes.
 

How Nutrient Workflow Can Help With Employee Onboarding

Nutrient Workflow’s workflow automation platform gives you the tools to build an automated process for your new employee. In addition, you can automate a variety of other HR processes like offboarding, performance reviews, travel, vacation requests, etc. Really, any process that requires a form and workflow.

Plus, Nutrient Workflow gives you a user-friendly portal that everyone can access, whether it’s an employee making a request, a manager approving, or an executive checking on the performance of processes. Nutrient Workflow is one-stop shopping for all things “process”. We’ve worked with companies of all sizes to help them get more efficient with automation.

2-Minute Demo of Nutrient Workflow

Interested in Automating Your Onboarding Workflow?

We have a variety of resources to help you on your journey to an automated workflow. 

Author
Jonathan D. Rhyne Co-Founder and CEO

Jonathan joined Nutrient in 2014. As CEO, Jonathan defines the company’s vision and strategic goals, bolsters the team culture, and steers product direction. When he’s not working, he enjoys being a dad, photography, and soccer.

Explore related topics

Share post
Free trial Ready to get started?
Free trial