How to get onboarding right?

Did you know that 91% of new hires consider quitting their job within the first 90 days, and 28% actually do so? (According to the latest survey by Robert Half)

New hires leaving early and the reasons for doing so seem to be a major concern for HR leaders in organisations. According to another study by Forbes, some of the main reasons are:

• Poor onboarding: 88% of employees report receiving inadequate onboarding.
• Job expectations: 44% of employees state that the job was misrepresented during the recruitment process.

Reflecting on some of the conversations I’ve had recently while coaching professionals, one of the main reasons seems to be that they feel overwhelmed and unprepared because they are suddenly facing realities and challenges in their new job that nobody had mentioned or prepared them for during the interview process. Some of the challenges they face include a very heavy workload and the realisation that previous employees did not stay long in the role.

Other frustrations mentioned were that the job was advertised and discussed in interviews as one where they could have impact and autonomy; however, upon starting, they feel micromanaged.

Reflecting on my 18 years of experience within talent acquisition in tech, I must say that the tech companies I worked for had a very structured onboarding process with an onboarding manager and team who were on top of things. However, I still experienced some professionals leaving after a couple of months as they felt lost and without guidance. In some cases, this was due to their manager being unavailable because they were managing a very large team, which did not leave enough time for one-to-ones. In one instance, I remember the problem was that the hiring manager was on extended leave shortly after the new hire started.

Thinking about my own onboarding, I must say I’ve been fortunate as, so far, during most of my career, I’ve had very experienced leaders and professionals around me who were welcoming and willing to support me.

Much of it seems to come down to transparency during the interview process and the commitment of leaders to invest time into the people they are managing, and to maintain this over time.

Does this resonate with you? What has been your experience when starting a new job recently?

#transparency, #onboarding, #hiring, #careercoaching, #leadershipcoaching