Organizations invest abundantly in recruiting top candidates. They also need to invest in keeping employees once they’re hired, which is why they need good employee onboarding and training/development programs.
Around 68% of new hires leave within their first three months, and 90% of employees continue to explore new opportunities, even if they are not actively looking for a new job. A good employee onboarding experience is the best way to make new hires feel engaged and part of the team, making them more likely to stay with your company.
A Gallup study shows that 70% of employees who had a good onboarding experience feel positive about their job and their company. Devlin Peck reports that 69% of employees who have an exceptional onboarding experience are likely to stay with their company for at least three years. A BambooHR survey found that 89% of employees who had an effective onboarding process felt more engaged at work.
Why Employee Onboarding Is Important
Employee onboarding refers to welcoming new hires and integrating them into your organization. It allows new employees to get to know your company, understand its culture, and meet team members and key stakeholders.
Employee onboarding can last a day or two or even several months or a year and normally includes both structured and informal activities. A good onboarding program allows new employees to feel welcome and supported, ensures they understand their responsibilities, and educates them about company policies and procedures.
Why Do Organizations Need Employee Assessment Solutions?
One of the biggest problems HR teams struggle with is that their “tried and true” hiring practices are no longer effective. They would post a job, review resumes, interview candidates, and extend an offer to the best-qualified one.
This approach is not effective because over 85% of candidates lie on their resumes and during interviews. So, a candidate who sounds perfect during an interview could end up being a hiring mistake that costs the company thousands in lost productivity and possibly damaged customer relationships.
Another problem is that overt and unconscious bias can influence hiring decisions. An example of overt bias is when a hiring team refuses to consider a candidate because of who they are—like refusing to hire someone due to race or gender even though the person is the best-qualified candidate. Unconscious bias occurs when a hiring team member favors a candidate because they share common experiences, hobbies, or interests.
Organizations that have implemented an employee assessment solution can easily address these problems. When you require applicants to complete and submit skills tests, you can review the results and see which candidates really do have the right skills and experience, regardless of what their resume says. You can also use behavioral assessments to ensure candidates are a good fit for a job and their company culture.
Employee assessment solutions also minimize the risk of bias influencing hiring decisions. All applicants are presented with the same questions in the same order, and their answers are automatically scored. Video questions are response only, which means applicants listen to the question and record and upload their answers. Candidates have no direct contact with hiring teams, so there is no opportunity for crosstalk and side conversations. Many employers even disable the video so hiring team members cannot see applicants and can only listen to their answers.
How Do Assessments Help with Employee Onboarding?
Organizations implement an employee assessment solution to hire top-quality employees. They also find they can use it to onboard new hires and manage employee training and development.
There is no such thing as a perfect candidate. Each new hire most certainly has strengths and weaknesses, and you can determine what they are by reviewing the skills assessment the employee submitted during the interview process. Then, you can create a personalized training program that skips areas the new hire has already mastered and focuses training on areas where they need more help. This will expedite training and help the new employee succeed in their new job and assimilate into your company faster.
Many organizations use assessments to proactively manage training and identify rising stars. For instance, if you are planning to introduce a new product, penetrate a new market, or deploy new technology, skills test results can help you identify employees with the right knowledge, experience, and aptitude, helping you identify the training they will need to assume their new responsibilities.
Get Started with Employee Onboarding
A well-designed and managed onboarding and training program makes hires feel welcome and helps them assimilate more easily into your company culture. They also promote better communication between managers and employees so they can agree on job responsibilities and duties and avoid misunderstandings about performance expectations.
Do you want to learn how to develop an employee onboarding program to optimize the new-hire experience and improve employee retention? Contact eSkill to request a demo.