The Singleton Argus

How businesses can improve their employee onboarding process

How businesses can improve their employee onboarding process
How businesses can improve their employee onboarding process

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Business processes have transformed exponentially over the last few years in particular, and especially so in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A growing push to digitalisation has dramatically altered the way businesses handle their day-to-day operations, including the recruitment of new employees.

As zero contact processes continue to play a vital role in our 'new normal', it's absolutely essential that organisations revisit their employee onboarding process to ensure that these processes are well-equipped to handle both the unique challenges of our post-lockdown economy as well as the rapidly digitising nature of modern business.

Here are just some ways employers may be able to streamline their organisational hiring and training processes.

Utilise employee onboarding software

With paperless procedures set to become the norm in the majority of workplaces across the globe, employee onboarding software is likely to play a crucial role in the growth and development of modern businesses over the next few decades at the absolute minimum.

Equipping your business with the ability to process new employee profiles digitally will effectively streamline your hiring process, position your business as an established player in your wider industry, and minimise your need to store paper documents in the office.

Of course, there are some documents that you must retain physical copies of for the sake of maintaining staff records, however, a surprising amount of documents that accompany an applicant's induction paperwork, don't really need to be kept in physical form.

Having applicants independently handle and upload documents like police checks, their RSA certification, and other qualifications, remove the need for these items to be brought directly to your business.

Invest in digital training initiatives

Channels for conducting digital training are becoming more utilised by a myriad of different industries, but especially so in sales and retail.

The primary reason for this is to ensure that part-time or casual employees can stay up-to-date with mandatory training modules without having to physically come to their workplace on days they may not be rostered for.

Digital training initiatives also limit the need for routine formal in-house training, or for scheduling training sessions for just one or two employees at a time.

With digital training systems in place, smaller-scale training sessions can be handled remotely and independently, ensuring that larger in-person training sessions are spent covering more vital, universal, or time-sensitive materials.

Introduce induction training procedures

Although technology is well and truly transforming modern organisational processes, a reassessment of your organisation's employee onboarding process won't just focus on digitalisation alone.

The methods that you use to train your employees should also be revisited regularly to ensure that all training materials are up-to-date and are consistently reflective of the nature of your employee's day-to-day responsibilities.

You can achieve this by curating a dedicated induction training process that has separate content to your routine training procedures. Ensure that your induction materials are as thorough in their detail as possible so that new employees won't walk away from their first few days at work with more questions than answers.

Encourage peer-to-peer learning

Unsurprisingly, job shadowing is practised unofficially in a wealth of workplaces, and the benefits of this age-old, low-cost training process absolutely cannot be understated.

The casual nature of job shadowing encourages new employees to build relationships with their colleagues, and ask questions from a selection of sources rather than having to rely on just one workplace guru.

On a larger scale, peer-to-peer learning as a model for skills development in the workplace can be a highly valuable tool in itself, as it takes the burden off you as the employer to provide training, alongside boosting the quality of interpersonal relationships across your workforce.

A work environment where people feel encouraged to share their knowledge and skills is likely to be a positive place for employment. In this regard, peer-to-peer learning may play an intrinsic role in minimising your organisation's employee turnover rate too!

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Employee onboarding is a process that we may not consider to be a top priority, given that it's certainly rare for any organisation to induct new employees on a daily basis.

Even if you won't use your employee onboarding processes every day, however, they still form the foundation of your new employee's first impressions of your organisation.

Ensuring that your employee onboarding processes are strong, clearly defined, and respectful towards fresh applicants, will support employee satisfaction rates, and ultimately improve the way your organisation operates on a daily basis.