Onboarding process: advantages of structured induction

Onboarding: basics for a successful process

The first days in the company are often decisive for how motivated new employees are to tackle their new tasks. A good onboarding process helps new colleagues feel comfortable quickly and work productively. In this article, we would therefore like to give you an overview of onboarding.

All about onboarding: the basics

Onboarding phases

Onboarding: concept & plan

Key figures & KPIs

Digital onboarding

Remote onboarding

Technical onboarding

Onboarding checklist

Onboarding: definition & meaning

The term onboarding is primarily known from human resources management. It is derived from the English "taking on board," which translates to something like "bringing new employees on board" or "training."

Onboarding new employees takes place on different levels. In addition to the technical level, a good onboarding process also takes into account the social and value-oriented levels. Consequently, the goal of onboarding is the systematic integration of new employees into the company on all these 3 levels. A professionally designed onboarding process makes it possible to specifically support new colleagues in every phase of onboarding in order to optimally integrate them into the company and make them productive as quickly as possible.

In contrast to onboarding, offboarding involves the professional handling of employees who are leaving the company.

Why is a good onboarding process so important?

In times of an increasing shortage of skilled workers and ever fiercer competition for the best talent, companies need to ask themselves how they can set themselves apart from the competition. A structured onboarding process not only conveys a professional impression of the company, but also demonstrates the company's appreciation of its employees.

At the same time, the recruiting and onboarding of new employees involves a high expenditure of time and money. Here, too, professional onboarding helps to reduce or even completely avoid direct and indirect costs in both the short and long term.

What are the benefits of good onboarding?

Setting up a professional onboarding process for new employees takes time, but pays off in the long term for every company. Once established, it offers the following advantages, among others:

Motivation

A structured and personalized onboarding process is first and foremost a sign of appreciation towards the new colleagues. Appreciation leads to higher motivation in most people, which is usually reflected in a greater willingness to perform and thus higher productivity.

Productivity

The better and faster an employee is familiarized with the company's processes, the faster he or she can work productively and add value to the company.

Error prevention

By communicating processes in detail and training employees in the use of internally used programs, errors due to ignorance can be avoided. Good training is therefore particularly important in the first few weeks so that new colleagues quickly become confident in using devices and applications.

Employee turnover

A positive first impression also has an impact on employee turnover in the company. If employees feel valued from the start, this also increases their loyalty to the company. In this respect, onboarding already plays an important role in employee retention and can help to reduce turnover.

Employer Branding

At the same time, good onboarding also contributes to employer branding. A structured induction process underlines the professionalism of the company. As a result, employees become brand ambassadors and thus contribute to a positive external perception of the company. This in turn offers long-term advantages when hiring additional employees.

Phases of onboarding

Onboarding is a long-term process. In principle, it lasts until the person in question is fully trained. The exact period that onboarding covers varies greatly and depends, among other things, on

Other factors, such as how much preliminary work has already been done on individual topics (and consequently, how many existing structures need to be learned), can also extend the duration of onboarding. As a result, onboarding can take anywhere from several weeks to several months.

Onboarding is typically divided into 3 phases. In each of these 3 phases, various administrative and organizational tasks must be completed.

The 3-phase model divides onboarding into:

1. Preparation phase (Preboarding)

The preparation phase begins with the signing of the contract and lasts until the first day of work. During this phase, it is important to prepare for the start of work. This includes, among other things, procuring the necessary equipment, such as a work laptop, desk, and other work materials, as well as preparing all documents that are important for the start.

Preboarding should be well organized, as this phase provides an opportunity to convey a professional image of the company to new employees and demonstrate that you care about employee satisfaction.

2. Orientation phase

During the orientation phase, which begins on the first day of work and typically lasts for the first 2-3 months, employees are gradually introduced to their role and their future tasks. The aim is to get to know the company, colleagues, and other departments as well as the basic processes.

3. Integration phase

If the employee settles into the company without any problems, the integration phase begins. This phase usually lasts until the end of the probationary period. Depending on the position in the company and the complexity of the area of responsibility, this phase can also last up to 12 months. During the integration phase, the employee increasingly takes the initiative and assumes more and more responsibility.

Which people are involved in onboarding?

During onboarding, several people usually accompany the new employees. The specific people involved depend primarily on the respective onboarding phase.

The preboarding phase is primarily concerned with general questions and preparing for the start of work. HR managers are therefore primarily involved here together with the head of the specialist department or team.

For the technical integration during the orientation and integration phases, the specialist colleagues with whom there are regular points of contact are added. If there is a time overlap, the predecessors in the respective position should also be integrated into the onboarding as well as possible.

In order to ensure rapid social and value-oriented integration, new employees are often assigned mentors, also known as onboarding buddies. They help them to settle in and get to know the company and general processes better. The onboarding buddy serves as the first point of contact for all kinds of questions outside of the specialist area.

Onboarding concept and onboarding plan for successful implementation

In order to ensure structured onboarding that takes all aspects into account appropriately, it is advisable to develop an onboarding concept. The HR department is usually responsible for this. The team can also be expanded to include other employees from different hierarchical levels of the company in the form of an onboarding working group. There should also be a close exchange with the specialist departments with regard to technical induction.

The onboarding concept therefore includes a wide range of information, for example on

Based on this information, the concept can now be created. The concept contains general points that are essential for the successful induction of all employees. In addition, specific information is required, depending on the position and department. The concept should always be based on the respective phase of onboarding and the individual focal points should build on each other.

Based on the created concept, an onboarding plan can then be developed. The onboarding plan is significantly more detailed than the concept and represents a precise timeline of the individual tasks that need to be completed as part of the onboarding process.

Onboarding process & digitalization

As is the case almost everywhere, digitalization has also found its way into the HR sector. A variety of software solutions support HR managers, department and team leaders with the various onboarding tasks and thus enable the automation and optimization of the onboarding process.

The Corona crisis made a significant contribution to the digitalization of onboarding in many companies. As new employees also had limited access to the office as a result of the pandemic, there was a need for ways to enable new employees to have a professional and efficient remote onboarding experience.

With LendisOS, you can equip new employees with technology and furniture for the office and home office with just a few clicks. Your new colleagues simply choose their desired equipment, and Lendis takes care of everything else.