Attracting and retaining talented people is one of the main goals for most organisations. Automating employee onboarding helps to drive retention.
Attracting and retaining talented people is one of the main goals for most organisations. Employee talent is arguably a company’s most valuable resource yet often the most demanding. People, generate lots of paperwork and repetitive tasks; email threads, spreadsheets, schedules, checklists etc, etc. However now most organisations have access to technology that can automate all of this for you and it doesn’t need to be that hard.
Automation is already prevalent in marketing, sales, engineering, customer success and many more. The recent transition to increased remote working has prompted HR to re-evaluate and rebuild some of its key processes, and the role of data, AI, and automation in HR operations, will be even more prominent in the future.
Recruiting, onboarding and training could all benefit from either partial or full automation. Automating these processes will ensure a more efficient HR department. Time and money is saved from consistency gained across operations. Fewer errors, increased accuracy to make better decisions and less repetition of the same tasks also create savings. The HR team can then have the time to do what they do best; develop their people.
Often in life, we avoid doing things that are new and seem difficult. Even though we know, if we just bit the bullet, it would make things quicker and easier for us. Automation may be one of those things. There seems to be a misconception that in order to automate something, one has to be either a software developer or a ‘techy person’. That is not always the case; many of the automation software and tools available today are simple to set up and operate. No tech support needed.
Onboarding is integrating a newly hired employee into an organisation including their role, working culture and policies. After recruitment, it is the second touchpoint between the employer and new hire. It is known to make a lasting impression and influences how long an employee will stay working for a company. Given how important it is, should this process be automated?
This applies to both parties, employers and employees. Setting up a proper onboarding process enables the employer to create a schedule that is organised, facilitates productivity of the new employee and tracks progress. In addition, automating repetitive tasks, frees up HR’s time so that they can focus on the person, making them feel valued through an engaging onboarding experience.
All the stats show that great onboarding leads to reduced employee churn and higher retention. This of course means reduced cost of time, money and other resources.
The onboarding experience impacts how the new hire perceives the company, how they feel about the new job and team and what they will tell other people about the company. If the onboarding process is disorganised, rushed and leaves the new hire feeling unsupported, this will not create a good first impression. Take the opportunity and make sure that every new hire becomes a brand ambassador.
Delivering great employee onboarding is not enough, if it’s only done once. The process needs to be consistent. Automating the processes help to eliminate human error and ensure that each new hire feels as valued as the next. However, don't aim for 100% automation. Successful employee onboarding is a personal experience for each new hire. It needs some humanity, so your new employee gets familiar with the team dynamics, the working culture and feels integrated and welcomed.
Before anything else, one should have a clear understanding of the whole onboarding process. This often varies depending on the role and department. One way to start mapping out each individual process is by breaking it down into units of time:
What can be automated is different from what should be automated. There’s no absolute. Rather, it’s good to think about what are the tedious, repetitive or time-consuming steps and which are prone to human error? Those are likely to be the tasks to automate. Conversely, which steps require more attention and engagement? Those may not be so appropriate. As time goes on, feedback from your new hires is an important step to help you decide.
For example, most of the onboarding communications should be personalised so that the new hire doesn’t feel like they are just another cog in the machine. However, the onboarding workflow could be automated, so that tasks and meetings in each stage of the process don’t have to be manually sent.
It doesn’t have to be overly technical or complicated to get started with automating employee onboarding. Finding a solution that is easy to initiate and fits your needs, enables you to streamline your workflow and allocate time for the functions that need your attention the most.
When you are ready to get started with automating employee onboarding, do some research. Try out products to see whether they help you, not create extra stress and work.
