If you're familiar with the onboarding process for new employees, you may have heard of preboarding. But what exactly is preboarding, and why does it matter? Preboarding refers to the period of time between when a candidate accepts a job offer and their first day on the job. It's an opportunity for employers to engage with new hires early on, build excitement for their upcoming role, and set expectations for what's to come.
In this blog, we'll dive into the importance of preboarding and how it can positively impact your organization's bottom line.
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What is preboarding? |
Preboarding is the process of engaging your new hires from the moment they accept a job offer, until their first day on the job. It aims to alleviate new hires' first-day fears, give them the tools they need to be up & running faster, and ultimately drive long-term engagement and retention.
Additionally, preboarding can help HR professionals anticipate when new hires are at risk of ‘ghosting’ - an increasingly common practice that sees new hires accept a job offer, only to no-show on the first day of work.
Similarly to onboarding, a successful preboarding strategy involves building support at each of the six critical new hire pillars: Compliance, Clarification, Connection, Confidence, Culture and Checkback.
Really good preboarding touches on all six core areas of employee onboarding:
Is your new hire legally ready to represent your company?
Compliance refers to completing all paperwork and administrative tasks involved with bringing a new employee into your organization. This step covers everything from setting up direct deposit and payroll to creating logins to the tools your new hire’s role requires.
Example activities:
Set up company email and share log-in details
Collect tax forms and direct deposit information
Ensure company privacy policy is signed
Does your new hire fully understand the job and what is expected of them?
Clarification is about expanding your new hire’s understanding of their role. The goal here is to clarify performance expectations and responsibilities both for the new hire and for their manager and team members.
Example activities:
Send through a full job description document
Schedule a ‘half-way-there’ check-in call with a direct manager
Share relevant online training modules
Will your new hire feel like a part of the family when they arrive at the office?
Connection is dedicated to helping new hires feel like a part of the family. In this step, employees begin to integrate into their new team.
Example activities:
Assign a buddy [outside of their team] and have them reach out early and often
Send a swag bag to their home address with a hand-written note
Connect them with relevant team members
Will your employee land on day 1 with the confidence to be their authentic self?
Confidence is where you build the emotional and professional self-esteem of your newest hire. This includes things like sharing diversity & inclusion resources, success stories of prior and existing staff, and giving your recruit opportunities to introduce themselves on their terms to their new colleagues.
Example activities:
Share any D&I policies and resource groups your organization has in place
Organize a ‘meet & greet’ coffee/lunch and ask your new hire to pick the spot
Ask them to record a short intro video for the company intranet
Can your new hire navigate the spoken AND unspoken aspects of your company culture?
Culture covers teaching employees the spoken and unspoken “rules of the game” at your organization. As they begin to absorb your culture, they will discover ways to navigate and successfully achieve their work objective.
Example activities:
Share the company handbook and benefit guide
Take them on a digital tour of your office
Put together a ‘first-day’ email with tips on parking, dress code, and good lunch spots
Have you circled back to ensure your new hire is thriving in their role?
As you might expect, checkback is about checking back in with your new hire to ensure they have everything they need and to gather feedback. In preboarding, this means checking in prior to their first day to ensure nothing has slipped through the cracks,
Example activities:
Set up company email and share log-in details
Give them an 'anything else' phone call the day before they start to answer any last-minute questions
As you know, preboarding helps to continue the positive feeling that HR has worked so hard to develop during the recruitment phase. And it can also help to reduce the occurrence of employees ghosting before their start date.
But good preboarding can do even more!
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Good preboarding shortens the new hire learning curve
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On average, it takes an employee five to eight months to reach full productivity in a new role. Preboarding is your chance to shorten that learning curve.
The pre-start period is the ideal time to start educating your new hire with small bite-sized pieces of content that will help them more smoothly transition into your organization. It’s also a great time to knock out any essential admin - which is always a bit of a mood killer on the first day.
By front-loading some of these more tedious tasks, your new hire can arrive fresh, ready to dive right into their new role instead of feeling lost or overwhelmed.
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Good preboarding improves employee retention |
A solid preboarding experience instills confidence in your newest team member, letting them know that your organization is thinking beyond just getting them in the door.
This confidence translates into team members who stick around longer. Just ask Manpower Group UK who experienced a 27% drop in attrition within the first 6 months of employment after deploying Talmundo’s digital preboarding software.
Their preboarding app is filled with engaging and interactive content: welcome footage from the ManpowerGroup UK Talent Director, interesting facts, ‘introduce yourself’ video activities, pulse checks, quizzes, thought leadership, and much more. All content is pushed through timely notifications throughout the individual's preboarding period and it flexes to ensure that every recruit gets the same consistent experience.
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Good preboarding gives new hires what they want
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It’s not just HR concerned about preboarding, new hires are clamoring for a more structured pre-start process too. A massive 81% of recruits want to receive more details about their new role before they land on day 1, making the preboarding investment a no-brainer.
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The Takeaway |
So you know what preboarding is and you know all the benefits your stand to gain. Now it’s time to find the right technology to support your needs.
Talmundo is an all-round HR transition management solution, helping customers effectively handle their preboarding, onboarding, offboarding, and more in one central application.
Curious? Speak to our team today and see what Talmundo can do for you!
Our onboarding software balances experience and process to deliver an engaging new hire experience to remember. Want to see how we do it? Book a no-obligation 15-minute call today with one of our team.
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