You know that employee onboarding can make or break the success of your firm. But just because it's a critical component for recruiting and retaining top talent doesn't mean you have to approach onboarding the same way as every other business.
Instead, it's time to take a step back and rethink how you welcome new employees, using proven best practices to create an engaging experience tailored specifically for your team. In this post, we'll explore those key strategies and why incorporating them into your program could be the difference between surviving and thriving in today's competitive hiring environment.
Why effective onboarding is mission critical
An effective employee onboarding program is critical to the success of an accounting firm for several reasons. First, it helps to ensure that new employees are properly oriented to the firm and its culture. This is important because it can be difficult for new employees to feel like they belong if they don't have a good understanding of the company's values and expectations.
Second, onboarding helps to ease the transition for new employees by providing them with the tools and resources they need to succeed. You can help employees hit the ground running and avoid feeling overwhelmed in their new role by giving them access support systems like peer mentoring programs or training resources.
Finally, an effective onboarding program can help to boost employee engagement and retention rates. A study by the Brandon Hall Group found that companies with solid employee onboarding processes improved new hire retention by 82%. This can have a huge impact on the bottom line, saving you time and money in the long run.
Employee onboarding best practices
Now that you understand the importance of onboarding, let's look at some strategies for building an effective program.
Consider pre-onboarding tasks
Pre-onboarding tasks are an essential part of creating a successful onboarding program. Before a new employee arrives, you should take care of certain tasks to ensure the onboarding process runs smoothly.
Having the necessary technology and login credentials set up for remote employees before their first day is essential. For in-person employees, it's important to have their office set up.
It's also helpful to communicate with them a week or two before their start date to share useful information about the company dress code and their schedule for their first few days on the job. Whenever possible, send new hire paperwork ahead of time so they don't have to spend their first day filling out dozens of forms.
Taking the time to check off these items before their official start date can save a lot of hassle down the road.
Leverage an HRIS system
A Human Resources Information System (HRIS) is a powerful tool your firm can use to help streamline and automate the employee onboarding process. With an HRIS, organizations can easily store and manage employee data from pre-hiring to post-employment. This system can also provide valuable analytics on recruitment and onboarding performance.
At Boomer Consulting, we use BambooHR, but there are several alternatives to choose from to meet your firm's needs and budget.
Appoint a quarterback
It is essential for an organization to have one person responsible for employee onboarding to ensure a smooth and successful transition for new employees. This doesn't mean one person is responsible for handling all the onboarding tasks, but for ensuring that everyone involved in onboarding a new employee knows their role and is doing what they need to do.
Having one dedicated person responsible for onboarding helps to ensure that the necessary steps are taken to ensure the success of each new hire. This person should have a thorough understanding of the organization's goals and objectives, as well as an in-depth knowledge of the onboarding process.
Provide a buddy or mentor
It is essential for any successful onboarding program to assign a buddy or mentor to new employees. A buddy or mentor can help new employees navigate the organization by providing them with an experienced and knowledgeable resource they can turn to when they have questions or need advice. Having this kind of support system in place can be beneficial in terms of helping the new employee feel more comfortable and confident in their new role.
Get the team involved
Onboarding is a great time to introduce new team members to their new coworkers across the company.
If your new employee is remote, schedule short meetings between them and multiple people from different departments and levels. If they're in person, have several coworkers take them out to lunch so they integrate into the team and company culture.
Taking the time and effort to create an effective onboarding process for new employees is undoubtedly worth it. Onboarding not only helps new employees acclimate to the firm culture faster, but it also helps prevent turnover, thus saving the company precious resources over time. Overall, onboarding plays an invaluable role in the success of any organization and its staff. So the best way to get off on the right foot with your newest hires is to ensure they have everything they need to succeed in their new job - starting on day one.
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As a Project Manager for Boomer Consulting, Inc., Jacqueline plans, executes and manages the people, resources and scope of many of our firm’s projects, programs and events. Her primary focus is on managing projects for IT Consulting, Strategic Planning and Talent Consulting. In addition, Jacqueline works closely with leadership to oversee the company’s human resources by managing hiring, onboarding, training and development and overseeing our Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS). She also supports our Allyship for Diversity commitment at BCI, which seeks to strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion within Boomer Consulting and the accounting profession. Jacqueline also works on the strategy and development of our eLearning initiatives.