Onboarding And Its Connection To Retention
Editor's Note: This Blog Was Researched And Composed By Nicholas Kapp.
Believe it or not, the number of Americans who voluntarily left their jobs reached a post-recession high of nearly 3.1 million workers, according to a 2015 Bureau of Labor Statistics data report. Even more staggering, a significant number of these workers were Millennials. In fact, a 2016 Gallup report reveals that 21% of Millennials say they have changed jobs within the past year, which is more than three times the number of non-Millennials.
Why are employees more likely than ever to leave their current jobs? And, why are Millennials leading this trend? The onboarding process is actually a key reason. New hires are more likely to leave their job due to an initial lack of onboarding. With this lack of investment and interest in onboarding, employee engagement falters at the outset. And, ultimately, engagement becomes a significant reason employees choose to either stay at their companies, or leave their jobs.
The Importance of Onboarding
Onboarding is the process of integrating new employees into the organization, by familiarizing them with clients, customers, products and services.
With a recent surge of poor retention rates, it is beneficial for employers to focus on onboarding practices. These practices are essential to retention, along with an overall happier culture that leads to a more productive company. According to a study by Deloitte Research, 4% of new employees leave a job after a disastrous first day and 22 % of staff turnovers occur in the first 45 days of employment. A smooth integration of new hires into a company is essential; otherwise, talent, time and money are lost.
Another form of engagement is to provide company/logo merchandise for new hires (and employees, in general). It is an effective way to excite and engage a new employee in the company. It not only makes the employee feel motivated, excited and enthusiastic for the new job, but it also increases marketing for the company among his or her sphere of influence. The new hire feels the company’s investment in them, which creates a positive ripple effect going forward.
A more thorough tactic is creating a mentoring program, as an effective method to improve the onboarding process. Mentoring is an attractive concept for new hires and even for recruitment, as well. Mentoring helps new hires feel more comfortable, understand company values, as well as develop necessary skills for their new roles.
How Can Mobile Help?
Mobile is truly a must to engage and retain the workforce. By incorporating mobile tools and concepts, for instance, it greatly increases the Millennial generation’s interest and, thus retention in their jobs. Now more than ever, Millennials want portability and flexibility, which is exactly what mobile offers.
By incorporating gamification into the process of onboarding, it also creates a huge impact. The different concepts of gamification, including leaderboards, competency levels and rewards, eases nerves for new hires and makes the job integration process both enjoyable and beneficial. For example, according to the Forbes article, Future Of Work: Using Gamification For Human Resources, Walmart implemented bursts of gamification to reinforce safety training and the results showed an impressive 54% decrease in incidents among distribution centers using gamification.
Conclusion
To ensure employee retention, it really starts with the onboarding process. Millennials also play a key role, as they continue to make up the majority of the workforce population. And, they are the population with a high turnover rate. However, there are various techniques to assist with onboarding to make it engaging, fun, educational and effective. Likewise, when it comes to training and onboarding, it is vital to remember the genuine benefits of mobile and gamification, as well.
For More Information on how the Scrimmage Mobile Learning Platform supports Onboarding, please click here.
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Nicholas Kapp is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management and Marketing, along with a Minor degree in Leadership Studies at University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business. Nicholas has also been active in the University’s Student Government, as a Freshman Council Member, Vice President's Chief of Staff, and Pillars For Carolina Orientation Mentor. In the Fall, he will take on the role of University 101 Peer Leader, co-instructing a class of first year students. Nicholas is currently a member of the Scrimmage Internship Program, as he aspires to work as a business professional with interests in Human Resources, Training and Development, as well as Marketing.
About the author:
Sharon Steeley
Sharon is Vice President, Marketing and Communications located in the Philadelphia office.