As every small business owner knows only too well, their company’s success often depends on its employees, and not the business idea, product or service. The recruitment process itself can go a long way towards determining whether an employee is going to be fit for the role they’re applying for, and ensuring that they not only understand the role, but the company and its goals.
The best way of getting off on the right foot with an employee, and being successful at retaining the top talent, involves a formalized onboarding process.
What is onboarding?
Simply put, onboarding is the process of making new employees familiar with the policies, procedures and ethos of the organization they’re about to, or have just, joined. The process also involves helping them to understand their role within the company.
Why is onboarding so important for small businesses?
In order to employ individuals who are a good fit for a business, and who are likely to give their best efforts to the role, a formalized onboarding process is essential, and here’s why:
Employee turnover can cost small businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars
According to research, the average small business owner spends as much as $4,000 on each new employee, and hiring and onboarding them can take almost a month in many cases. If you’re going to invest this much time and money on an employee, you want to do your best to retain them, right?
Formalized onboarding can increase productivity
Research has consistently shown that those small businesses with a formalized onboarding process, show as much as a 60% improvement in productivity, year on year.
How to create a successful employee onboarding program
Ideally started before you begin the hiring process, a new onboarding program should begin when your new hire receives their offer of employment. Engaging positively with them right from the outset, will make the entire onboarding process, simpler and more effective.
Your onboarding program should also be strategic, and focus on the people working within your business. An effective strategy should focus on the following 3 areas:
- Assimilation and Socialization
- Documents and Tasks
- Education and Training
It’s then important to think about setting milestones in the process, so that you can accurately judge the program’s success, and identify areas that may need improving upon.
When a new employee starts working for you, be sure to connect with them at the end of their first day, and then schedule regular check-ins throughout their first month. This will help you assess their progress, while giving the new employee the opportunity to ask questions or raise any concerns that they might have about their role. How long you continue to schedule check-ins for, is entirely up to you, and a lot will depend upon the employee and their role within your business.
A formalized onboarding process doesn’t just help you retain the best talent, but can help you attract them, too, by showing that you’re serious about the role they’re about to play in your business, and that you value them enough to check on their progress and assess their growth.
If you need help formalizing your onboarding process, or with any aspect of recruitment and retaining employees, reach out to a professional company in your locality that offer an onboarding service.