The onboarding process was often defined the formal process of a systematically socializing new employees by helping them become familiar with the organization, their job, and their work unit (Swift, 2022). Often times the onboarding process does not go past the first couple of days or weeks at an organization. This often leads to high turnover rates, poor quality product produced and decrease in employee morale. New research shows that spending up to year helping new employees is essential in building a strong, stable organization. According to The Harvard Business Review, on average companies lose 17% of their new hires during the first three months. Study’s found that the first three to six months are most critical (Ellis, 2017). In order to improve the socialization and onboarding process for new employees, I suggest using one of the four approaches and implement ways to make it more effective.
Four Different Approaches
There are four different approaches that I would suggest the management approach in order to improve the socialization and onboarding process for new employees. The first approach would be to group new employees together. This would help give them a sense of community and make it feel like they are not alone. Another suggestion would be to pair them up with an existing employee who can serve as a role model. Third would be to reaffirm new employees who they are as individuals to help build confidence and assurance. The last approach is to use technology to help them understand the process better. Technology might explain things better to them and be more accessible if they have questions.
Ways to Make it More Effective
- Pair New Hires with Coworker Mentors
- Provide a Realistic Job Preview
- Reinforce Organization Goals, Values, and Expectations
- Help New Employees Identify and Use Their Strengths
The onboarding socialization and socialization of new employees in the workforce can be resolved by grouping new employees together, pairing them with existing employees, reaffirming new employees who they are as individuals, and implementing the use of technology. Doing, so can help to reduce the turnover rate, increase employee morale and improve the quality of work performed.
References:
Ellis, A., Nifadkar, S., Bauer, T., and Erdogan, B. (2017). Your New Hires Won’t Succeed Unless You Onboard Them Properly (Links to an external site.), Harvard Business Review
Swift, Michele. (2022) Training and Development Lecture. https://canvas.oregonstate.edu/courses/1878136/pages/week-5-learning-materials?module_item_id=22230125
