The employee onboarding process of any business plays an essential role in its growth. Whether you’re running a start-up or an established business the recruitment process is essential. This is when your employees will get a feel of your company’s culture and brand.
This is the first time they will be interacting with your company and its work culture. Their first experience will determine their relationship with your company. Hence, it’s essential to automate your onboarding process using onboarding software.
That’s because the software will ensure a good experience for all your recruits. So what is employee onboarding software, and why do you need it? Read on below to find out:
What Is Employee Onboarding Software?
Onboarding software is defined as any digital or online platform that helps companies organize and streamline the hiring and training of recruits. These software tools help businesses make the recruitment process simpler and manageable.
The recruitment process involves tasks such as filling out the paperwork for the new employees. It also includes monitoring training progress and ensuring that they complete the module.
Any good onboarding tool should have features geared towards optimizing the hiring process. It should also ease the management of recruits, and completely digitize onboarding tasks.
Other essential features of good onboarding software include:
- Tracking employee training process and monitoring their progress
- Creating a course module for training new employees
- Assigning each employee different tasks and mentors for guidance
- Signature and digital verification during document uploads
- Cloud-based storage for keeping files and other documents safe and secure
- Employee portals
Before getting an onboarding software, ensure it has all the above features. These features help you streamline your hiring process. They also help you offer new employees an immersive experience whether they’re working at the office or remotely.
Why Do You Need Onboarding Software?
In the past two years, the world has experienced many changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything has changed, from how we work to how we socialize with friends and family members.
It has been quite challenging for people to adapt to these changes. However, there are some good things we can take away from experience.
One great adaptation is the widely accepted norm of remote working. Unfortunately, onboarding remote workers isn’t a walk in the park. In the past, onboarding involved a lot of in-person interactions and communication.
Today, however, HR teams all over the world are forced to do the process remotely. Thankfully, there are numerous employee onboarding software tools in the market to help.
This software helps you reduce most of the onboarding workload. It also offers employees a smooth transition into their new duties and responsibilities.
There are many essential reasons you should buy onboarding software. These include:
It Promotes Uniformity and Standardization
Getting an employee onboarding software means reduced pressure on the HR team. Your human resource department can now focus on other essential management tasks. Most times, the HR department spends time preparing new onboarding programs, new employees
They need to share, check, track and file the employee’s paperwork before officially welcoming them to the team. But thanks to automation, the team will set up the process once and use it again in the following recruiting process.
The software leads to uniform details and standardized processes. It will also ensure distinctive and clear job roles for each employee’s respective position. You will have little to no chance of misinformation about employee background and data.
This helps you avoid confusion when assigning them their responsibilities and job description. Hence, every business should get onboarding software as soon as possible.
It’s Great for Transferred Employees Too
Did you know that you can use your onboarding software for both new employees and transferred ones? Most companies transfer employees to different departments to offer them career opportunities and optimize their growth. However, moving from one department of the company to another isn’t an easy process.
The HR department will need to prepare the onboarding process again, unlike when they hire a new employee. But with the onboarding software, the transferred employees will have a list of new responsibilities, and the tool will guide them through their new roles.
They will automatically get access to the new department’s organizational structure. This helps them quickly identify their managers and ranking officers, which is essential if they have a question and need clarification. Knowing your hire-ups is also essential because you will know who to answer to when your supervisor is on leave.
It Improves New Employees Productivity
During the onboarding process, some recruits never pay attention when they are being trained or given instruction. Some may not even finish the entire training. However, using onboarding software, you can assess who completed their training modules and who didn’t.
You will also be able to know the progress of each new employee. The software helps you effectively simplify the recruits’ transition. Through your onboarding program, the employee will have access to their roles and responsibilities ahead of them.
Another great advantage of using the software is the ability to refer back to the training modules. When the employees require any clarifications, they can click back and refer to their videos and guides. This improves their efficiency and enhances their ability to perform the tasks at hand.
It Guarantees Compliance
Ensuring employment compliance during the hiring process can be pretty tricky. But with an onboarding software tool, you can ensure that your company’s data collection methods and file management and storage are compliant with government regulations.
The app will ensure that your business is up-to-date on the latest legal requirements. That’s because it’s the software provider’s job to ensure their tools are compliant. The software can also offer you a step-by-step explanation and guidance on how to stay compliant.
It will also guide employers on data collection and employee information storage. Any recruit should fulfill the below six compliance data before starting a new job at any company:
- Fill in their employee information forms
- Tax return forms, including the W-4 AND I-9
- Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)
- Veteran and disability information
- Signoff sheet and employee handbook
- E-Verify
Without the above information, your company won’t be employment compliant. Fortunately, the best onboarding software, such as https://WorkBright.com/employee-onboarding-software/ will ensure your business is compliant.
It Saves You Time
Do you remember your first day at your current job? Do you recall how many hours or even days you spent going through documents, filling forms, and signing them? How long did it take you to set up your workspace?
You probably used days to complete all these processes that could have otherwise taken one day. An onboarding software will save your new employees a lot of time to spend on other essential tasks.
It automates form-filing, data collection, and training processes. It thus, ensures your recruits spend more time on meaningful activities instead of other simple things.
It Reduces Cost
An automated onboarding process will reduce your business’s operational costs. Thanks to the software, your employees can get back to work in the shortest time possible. That’s because it reduces their training time and ensures they learn as fast as possible.
Managers and the recruits can instead use their time to handle activities that will generate revenue for your business. According to a study, the loss of productivity caused by an employee’s learning curve can cost your business from 1% to 2.5% of the business’s total revenues. But if you maximize employees’ productivity, you will be increasing your revenues.
Additionally, the onboarding system will also directly reduce the company’s operational costs. It will do this by improving the retention rate and reducing employee turnaround time. Replacing one employee is pretty costly, making retention a better alternative.
According to a study, an organization can spend around $3,000 to $18,000 to replace one employee. The research also shows that you can increase employee retention in your company by up to 50% with a great onboarding process. Additionally, your retention rate can also increase by 16% if your onboarding process is automatic.
Best Practices for Automated Employee Onboarding
Today, there is an increase in the popularity of remote work and the evolution of digital workplaces. And because of these factors, the employee onboarding process has significantly changed. Thanks to this shift, companies can now handle large-scale hiring processes and remotely.
Below are some best practices you shouldn’t forget during the automated onboarding employee process:
Don’t Forget the Human Touch
An onboarding software will automate, streamline, and automate your recruiting process. This ensures that you get the best results. However, this doesn’t eliminate the human factor of the process.
This is especially essential for people working remotely. In some cases, the new employees will initially be hesitant and uncomfortable reaching out to their colleagues. In such a case, a gentle nudge is needed.
Remember to talk to the recruits and keep an open line of communication. Introduce them to the other team members and ensure they feel welcomed and comfortable. The first few days of employment are pretty tough, and employees are highly likely to leave.
In fact, according to a study, over 64% of employees are likely to quit a job within the first year if they had a negative onboarding experience.
Tailor their Processes and Track their Progress
Everyone has a different learning curve. Hence, a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t recommended during the onboarding process. Use the system to keep track of each new member of the team. Remember also to give individual assessments and assistance whenever they need it.
Ensure they aren’t encountering any issues and don’t put too much pressure on them to perform. Everyone has their way of learning and understanding concepts. Ensure you try to be considerate to all.
On top of this, remember to measure the overall efficiency of the onboarding program. How long did the employees take to complete their onboarding processes? Did they meet any challenges during the procedure?
After completing the program, how well were they prepared for the task at hand? Is your company facing low employee retention rates because of the onboarding program? Answering these questions will help you adjust your program accordingly.
Integrate the Onboarding System With Other Existing Business Software Tools
Remember to integrate your onboarding software with the rest of the business software. This helps your new employees get started immediately after completing the onboarding process. It also helps them get a feel of how things are done in your company.
Additionally, it helps them avoid the annoying process of jumping from one software to the other trying to figure things out. You can also leverage other essential business tools like the service desk and knowledge base. These business tools will help you streamline your business.
It also gives your new employees access to everything they need to settle into their new environment.
Are You Ready to Buy an Onboarding Software?
With onboarding software, your recruits will have a stress-free and smooth-sailing transition. You can also take advantage of the system to streamline and automate your business’s process.
Thanks to this software, your HR department doesn’t need to manually collect employee data. You also won’t need to rely on too many people to help with hiring, training, and onboarding. The system will handle most of the tasks involved in the process.
This allows your HR team to focus on more important things. Did you like this article? Check out other posts on our site for more informative tips.
