Onboarding is a term used to describe the process of introducing a new recruit into a business. Onboarding plays an important role in helping individuals understand their new position and role requirements. An onboarding process helps to integrate people seamlessly with the rest of the business.
Onboarding new employees effectively improves a company’s employee retention. If individuals do not receive enough attention or instruction, it can lead to a drop off, resulting in a huge loss for a company as they must repeat a costly hiring process.
How long does onboarding take
Onboarding can last anywhere from a day to a few weeks, but the most effective onboarding process usually takes a couple of months. The end goal is that employees should feel confident in their job role once the onboarding process is complete.
What are the phases of onboarding?
Regardless of how a new recruit is onboarded, remote or in person onboarding, the process usually remains the same:
- Pre onboarding starts after the individuals accepts the job offer and ends on their first day of work
- Orientation, starts on the employees first day and involves introducing them to the companies policies, procedures and benefits etc
- Training, this usually lasts the first three months. It gives the new employee the skills, knowledge and resources they need to do their job correctly
- Integration, the final phases of onboarding and helps the new recruit be an engaged member of the team by giving them constant support, feedback and learning opportunities.
What are onboarding activities
An onboarding process includes of multiple different activities and processes, the most common include:
- Job offer
- Salary negotiation
- New hire paperwork
- Policy and culture training
- Job training
- Employee handbook training
- Contracts and policy signing
- Team introductions
Common challenges in onboarding processes
Not every challenge can be prevented, but it’s crucial to fix issues to ensure your onboarding process is as efficient as possible. See the most common concerns that negatively impact the onboarding process:
Too much paperwork
From contracts to resources, onboarding has a lot of resources. A great way to combat this is to take away the hassle by sharing documentation not all at once and by using software to automate this. For example, Wise, is an onboarding, payments and compliance platform that creates a digital onboarding journey for applicants, who can:
- Upload documents and policies directly, allowing the employer to view immediately
- Sign contracts and policies in the Wise app
- Upload payment information ahead of their first pay day
No role clarity
It’s very easy for new recruits to become confused within their new role, leaving them with little to no clarity.
This can quickly spiral leading to feelings of inadequacy. Make sure to correctly and clearly document the role and set clear expectations from the first day.
Onboarding content access
It’s important to keep everything you are given throughout the onboarding process. Set up your new recruit for success by giving them an easy way to access all the important information they may need to refer to. For example, Wise provides unlimited document storage enabling businesses to store all documentation digitally such as policies, contracts etc they can be quickly accessed and downloaded.
Manual onboarding process
With a manual onboarding process, it’s extremely easy for both parties to lose track on what stage the new recruit is at. Most manual workflows don’t convert the onboarding data into usable information. This means taking advantage of onboarding technology that streamline and simplify processes.
The Wise Platform enables businesses to onboard users in as little as 10 minutes, through:
- Unlimited document storage – Each document and policy that has been submitted and signed through the Wise app is stored indefinitely on the Wise Platform, to be accessed whenever needed
- Bespoke onboarding – We can customise your user onboarding journeys based on specific requirements your business needs for new recruits, such as defining steps, tasks and documents.
- Set jobs roles and employment journeys – Nearly all business consist of more than one role, whether you work with self-employed or/and employed individuals, Wise can collect specific evidence specifically for that role
We also have a mobile app, where drivers are able to submit and sign documents, policies and contracts digitally – no matter where they are!
We’re here to simplify the onboarding and management process. If you’re looking for more information, contact us here.
