REINVENT employee onboarding for a post-pandemic future of work

Editor notes: This blog article has been updated on February 6, 2023

Employee onboarding has changed in the wake of the global pandemic. Organizations globally are struggling to adapt their new hire processes to support remote working norms, retain recruits amidst the great resignation and encourage healthy mental health practices. 

And many are succeeding! But like every challenge, there is a big difference between getting it done, and getting it right.

Every company onboards. A few employ modern strategies to engage and inspire onboardees throughout the new hire journey. Many utilize a series of orientation activities and checkbox training modules. And 24% have no formal process in place, relying on existing staff to show new hires the ropes, which in a post-pandemic workplace is an easy way to ensure your newest hire walks right back out the door they came in.

Source: Allied Workforce Mobility Survey: Onboarding and Retention

Regardless of where your company sits - the first step towards world-class onboarding in 2023 is to REINVENT your processes for a post-pandemic future of work.

What does ‘reinvent your onboarding’ mean?

We’re talking about taking what you’ve done in the past, and turning it on its head with fresh, engaging ideas.

Start building strong onboarding stories, tailored to your new hires’ needs. Start creating journeys that are experience-based, content-driven and consistently delivered across different departments and locations.

Why reinvent?

Easy. Because the game has changed and your employees need MORE than they did in the past. And besides the positive emotional impact it will have on your employees, good onboarding makes great business sense. 

Companies with best-in-class onboarding programs retain up to 91% of first-year employees - compared to 30% at organizations with poor or informal programs.

Additionally, new hires that experience great onboarding become productive 34% faster, and are 33% more engaged than their (n)onboarded counterparts.

How do we reinvent?

When it comes to good onboarding, a digital-first, content-conscious approach that puts experience at the forefront is the best way to go in 2023.

Why? Because that’s what your new hires want:

Digital-first employee onboarding means building an onboarding process with technology at its core that will future-proof your journey, allowing all types of employees (in-office, remote, hybrid) to participate.

Being content-conscious means thinking carefully about the way communication has changed in the workplace. On average, we spend 6 hours and 37 minutes every day engaging with digital content, and when that content is poorly written or designed, users tune out. Providing your onboardees with well-crafted inspiring stories, video introductions from key company influencers and compelling testimonials from existing staff will give their role context within your organization and lend humanity to a process that can otherwise feel disconnected.

Putting experience at the forefront means treating your employee onboarding process as a journey toward personal success, rather than a series of compliance box ticks. It means thinking laterally about how your new hires will engage with your organization in their first weeks and months on the job, and exploring how HR can make that process easier and more enjoyable.

Start by taking stock. You know the saying - there’s no need to ‘reinvent the wheel’. It’s likely that many of the pieces of your onboarding puzzle already exist within your company - they may just be hidden, under-utilized or due for a face-lift.

1. Building a strong onboarding story

Think about the kind of story you want to tell your new hires and visualize how that story could be told at each stage of the onboarding journey.

Start from the ground up:

In a highly competitive market, companies are doing everything they can to attract top talent, sometimes even being less than transparent about their company culture and the nature of the role they’re offering.

It’s a short-sighted strategy that will ultimately cost you when that talent walks right back out the door - so set clear expectations and be honest.

2. Tailoring your journey

Next, we need to think about how to personalize your journey. Not every new hire needs the same things at the same time, so you need a strategy in place that can effectively deliver different information to different people at the relevant moment.

Consider the following:

Personalizing your journey ensures new hires aren’t overwhelmed with information that isn’t relevant to them, and creating a two-way dialogue will allow you to make adjustments and identify areas where you can improve.

3. Delivering consistency across different departments, locations and employee types

Lastly, it’s time to consider how you will deploy your onboarding journey across different departments, locations and employee types.

44% of HR Managers believe the biggest obstacle to effective onboarding is inconsistencies in application throughout their organization - so this one’s important!

Think of it as personalization on a bigger scale:

Consistency is the key here. You want your onboarding to be in sync across all teams and locations. So think about how you can centralize your resources and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

The takeaway?

Reinvention doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a dedicated HR team, a lot of thought and no shortage of creativity. 

It’s also only one part of the puzzle. First, you REINVENT your journey. Then you AUTOMATE your process and finally, you gather insights to ELEVATE your business.

Remember, best-in-class employee onboarding looks like this:

A digital-first, content-conscious experience that is personalized to the onboardee and consistent throughout your company.

We’ve spent more than 10 years helping the world's leading enterprise companies reinvent their employee onboarding. 

And we’re here to help you too.