Move over, “onboarding” and “culture” standing alone, there’s a new kid on the block. “Cultureboarding” is the latest word to hit the human resources scene, and it is the one to know if you want to improve your workplace culture as well as the effectiveness of your onboarding efforts.
We like to think of cultureboarding like chocolate-and-vanilla swirl frozen yogurt or zonkeys: the best of two worlds (in this case, company culture and onboarding) coming together. Introduce this incredible combination to your workplace by learning all about cultureboarding below, including why your company needs to start doing it right now.
HRBartender defines cultureboarding as the onboarding process, but more focused on instilling workplace culture.
Most companies understand the power of building a strong and engaged workplace, and many of these same organizations attempt to help their new hires succeed with onboarding strategies like mentoring or team building activities. Cultureboarding takes things one step further by thoroughly integrating cultural elements into onboarding, for a comprehensive approach to employee retention, engagement, and productivity.
Some examples of this include:
Psst! If you need ideas for team building activities that don’t suck, find 7 of them here. And just because we like you so much, here are 10 more team building exercises that your crew will actually enjoy.
It’s nearly impossible to overstate the importance of employee onboarding in developing a fantastic company culture buoyed by productive, engaged employees. Consider these statistics: 33% of new employees quit within their first six months and 16-17% leave between the first week and third month of starting their role (learn more in “7 Undeniable Reasons Why New Hires Jump Ship in the First Year”). Other employees stay but become toxic, disengaged team members who damage productivity.
This rapid turnover/disengagement typically occurs because employees feel undervalued, aren’t positioned for success, or don’t have a reason to turn down a better offer. Sometimes it’s a combination of all three.
Cultureboarding is your company’s secret weapon to combat these turnover-causing calamities. By prioritizing company culture in your onboarding process, you demonstrate that you value employees and want them to feel connected to your organization, which can stop them from heading toward the door.
Most importantly, cultureboarding can significantly cut down time-to-competency by matching new hires with the resources and training they need to succeed, while also providing the right kinds of motivation and support to keep them engaged. In fact, greater productivity and engagement tend to go hand-in-hand.
In a survey of nearly 200 organizations across 49 industries and 34 countries, Gallup found that highly engaged employees were 21% more productive than disengaged, bottom-quartile team members. These top performers also produced 22% greater profits than their poor performing counterparts.
Tip: Interested in helping your new hires become more productive, faster? Check out these 6 employee orientation secrets from top companies.
Cultureboarding is more than the latest hyped term like FOMO or selfie; it’s the path toward happier employees and a more profitable company. With that in mind, get senior leadership involved in the new hire training process, put your company’s mission front and center during onboarding, and make time to demonstrate how much you value employees. Before you know it, you’ll have an organization of top performers on your hands.
Learn more about how onboarding affects your people and your bottom line. Grab our free white paper about the business case for strategic onboarding!