The Importance of an effective Candidate Onboarding Experience

Have you considered the effect that a positive onboarding experience has on new recruits? It is easy to get caught up in the interview process and getting your favoured candidate to accept your letter of offer, but often it is when the candidate begins that often gets overlooked.

Leaving new hires to fend for themselves is essentially a shot in the dark. It is imperative that businesses put the time and effort into creating and maintaining a positive onboarding experience to set the new member of staff up on the right track. The importance of this is in the numbers:

• More than two-thirds of new hires are more likely to stick around for 3 years or more if they enjoy the onboarding experience.

• Candidate onboarding can boost talent retention by around 82 percent, according to a Glassdoor research.

• 72 percent of candidates are more likely to be productive after a great onboarding experience.

• Studies show roughly 40 percent of Australians feel lonely and disconnected at work, and candidate onboarding can provide a greater sense of an inclusive team environment.

• Companies with a well-structured candidate onboarding process experience 50 percent better candidate retention

However you look at it, a positive candidate onboarding experience can have tremendous benefits for the company. Deeply engaged new hires are more loyal, more passionate, less disconnected, and more productive once they get the hang of their roles, and long after that.

You would think every workplace would want to ensure they have a great onboarding experience? And yet, recent surveys show that more than a third (approx. 35%) of companies spend zero dollars on it. The reason behind this boils down to the fact that organisations don’t know how to do it properly, or they like to cut corners and reduce costs where they can.

How to Improve Candidate Experience through Onboarding

Make sure to communicate purpose: From day 1, inform candidates about the company values. Include new hires in your nurture track mailing list, so they can receive company culture tips and insights regularly.

Consistency, consistency, consistency: Any lag in communication can be detrimental to the candidate experience. Ensure that a consistent experience is maintained across all aspects of the onboarding process.

Stay on top of candidate engagement: One of the most effective aspects of great candidate onboarding is proactive engagement. Again, new hire engagement results in many positives, including lower turnover, better candidate retention, and higher productivity.

Set clear expectations and introduce objectives: Employees will make better decisions if they know what is expected of them earlier rather than later. This includes outlining the goals to the wider team to improve transparency.

Make it both professional and personal: It’s important that the candidate brings their A-game to the whole process, so make onboarding a holistic experience by keeping it personal and professional at the same time.

The most loyal and productive hires are the ones that get nurtured right out of the gate. There are certainly some organisational and cultural barriers to improving the candidate experience, but nothing that a good onboarding strategy can’t overcome. Be consistent, communicate purpose, and prioritise engagement to ensure onboarding success.