Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Employee Onboarding

In a study by analyst firm Aberdeen Group, 86 percent of respondents agreed that a new hire’s decision to stay with a company long-term is made within the first six months on the job, and about 33 percent of those new hires will decide to leave their new employer.  

Employee turnover in the commercial cleaning industry is especially high, averaging around 200 percent, and sometimes reaching as high as 400 percent annually. To put it in “dollar” perspective, if it costs $1000 to hire someone new, at a 200 percent turnover rate, a company must hire 200 new workers each year, which adds $200,000 to their annual costs. That’s not only inconvenient, it’s staggeringly expensive.

That means it’s just as important for a company to make a good first impression as it is for an employee to wow his or her boss. A comprehensive onboarding process can be the difference between a new hire who becomes an engaged and committed employee and one who jumps ship.

“Onboarding is the perfect opportunity to make a positive, lasting impression on a new hire,” says Ben Eubanks, a blogger at Upstart. “It really is the honeymoon phase for new employees.  They’ve just agreed to come work for a new company, and they are prepared to be wowed. But the employer must deliver.” 

Unfortunately, many companies drastically underestimate the value of proper onboarding procedures. In fact, 22 percent of companies have no formal onboarding program at all, and only 49 percent have a somewhat successful process. Many companies confuse onboarding with “orientation day,” when new employees are just given a mountain of information to read and paperwork to sift through and fill out. Actual onboarding includes employee performance acceleration, setting performance objectives and instilling company culture. 

Effective onboarding is a process that successfully integrates new hires into an organization transforming them into highly productive, engaged employees. 

The onboarding process often begins before an employee’s start date and can extend for months as employees learn their new role. However, proper onboarding gets employees up to speed much more quickly, reducing the time it takes them to become a productive member of the team. Without onboarding, it can take 8-12 months for new employees to reach their full productivity level. It also relieves new hires’ stress by taking the guesswork out of what is expected of them, how they can deliver on those expectations, and how and when they will be evaluated. 

In a study by Urban bound, an estimated $37 billion dollars is spent annually to keep unproductive employees who do not understand their jobs. Proper onboarding ensures that they fully understand their role and how that role connects to the overall mission, vision, values and culture of the organization. Frequent follow-ups and check-ins ensure both employee and employer are on the same page and advancing toward the same goals. 

Research shows that when done correctly, new employee onboarding leads to higher job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, decreased turnover (69 percent were more likely to remain at a company up to three years), increased performance levels, career effectiveness and reduced stress. 

Clearly, the advantages of embracing the onboarding process are significant for a company. At 4M, we make sure our employees are integrated fully into the 4M family from Day One and continue the dialogue and integration throughout their career with us. We value our Team Members and invest in them every day. That’s just another reason why we deliver the best, innovative, safe and sustainable cleaning service solutions for your business. To learn more, give us a call or CLICK HERE to contact us.