The Importance of Onboarding, and How to Get It Right
Onboarding is a process often lost in the rush of a new hire, particularly with SMEs, where employers are commonly eager for their new hire to hit the ground running. Data indicates that a vigorous onboarding programme is a key factor in staff retention. According to Brandon Hall Group research, conducted for Glassdoor, strong onboarding can improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by more than 70%. Strong onboarding also supports longer term loyalty, with employees who experience a structured onboarding programme reported to be 69% more likely to stay with a company for three years.
We spoke with Emily Perry, Managing Director of The People Consultancy, an HR partner for SME owners that works to build resilient cultures within their clients’ businesses. Emily highlighted the mismatch between the initial intention behind a new hire and the reality of their onboarding:
“It is a bit of an afterthought for lots of employers. They work really hard on the recruitment side, they spend a lot of money, a lot of time doing that recruitment process, and then the onboarding is almost forgotten about.”
Emily was quick to note that it is not that employers lack care for their new hire. In fact, with SMEs, each new employee is a significant investment. However, there is a lack of understanding of how crucial the onboarding process is.
Industry data suggests that around 20% of staff turnover happens within the first 45 days of employment if onboarding is poor. While this reflects the earliest weeks in a role, it points to a wider pattern, suggesting that the time between offer and start date matters just as much for new employees as their first weeks on the job. When asked about this period, Emily highlighted the lack of communication that regularly takes place:
“There’s no communication between the offer and when that person starts. If it’s a month, that can feel like a really long time, if it’s three months, that’s a really long time to go from your final interview to when you start.”
Once an offer is accepted, that can feel like a complete process for an employer, especially when they have many other responsibilities. But when there’s a lack of touchpoints, uncertainty for new hires begins to grow, often leading them to enter their role feeling unconfident.
So, what does a strong onboarding process look like? Emily laid out the following:
“Get yourself a checklist together of all the key things to work out and get arranged. Who are the key stakeholders in the business that they need to meet? How can they set up calls or meetings with them to get a bit of structure and planning around that?”
Emily also stressed the importance of regular, diarised checkpoints, where employers can iron out small, yet key details before the start date:
“Even down to things like this is our dress code, this is what we do for lunch, all those tiny things that actually, when you’re starting in a new business, can feel really scary. It’s just that basic human connection, so that the person knows that yes, it’s all still going ahead as planned, they know what they’re doing on their first day, everything is in place.”
Another factor that Emily introduced was a buddy system, when feasible. If SMEs have the capacity to assign an experienced employee to a new hire, even if founders themselves can’t be hands on, their new starters still have someone to rely on for support and guidance.
“Having somebody that is going to be assigned to look after that person can again just make the experience a lot smoother and nicer for them.”
When asked what The People Consultancy has done to implement stronger onboarding processes, Emily spoke on how she’s currently helping an SME build out their onboarding:
“We’re supporting on the recruitment, but then we’re also literally building out an onboarding process, and we’re using Copilot and workflows to automate a lot of that as well.”
Emily made clear that onboarding is not a process that must be undertaken as an individual responsibility. In fact, having support from businesses like Emily’s can help you build the most rigorous and practical process possible.
Research suggests companies with effective onboarding see employees reach full productivity up to 50% faster. So, onboarding is not a nice to have, but a process that can truly add to your business long term, with both retention and productivity.
Visit Jackson Barnes Recruitment’s website www.jbrecruitment.co.uk to learn more about how we connect top commercial talent with world-class media and events organisations.
About Jackson Barnes Recruitment
Jackson Barnes Recruitment delivers international recruitment solutions within the events, media, and publishing sectors. Jackson Barnes recruits Graduate to MD level in the following positions:
• Sales – delegate, sponsorship & Business Development
• Editor
We recruit for organisations in the UK and overseas, with success in London, Dubai, New York, Singapore and Australia.