New hires not getting what they need from onboarding

There’s a significant gap between employees want from onboarding and what HR thinks they need, according to a study by HR tech company Talmundo.

While all HR professionals surveyed said they thought onboarding was important, more than a third (34%) of employees said they had not witnessed any onboarding programme at their organisation.

More than half (52%) of employees said that onboarding finished after their first month in a role, despite the fact that 48% of HR professionals felt it was important to continue inducting an employee for at least the first three months at a company.

Where respondents experienced onboarding, 51% said it halved the time it took them to become proficient at their role. HR professionals clearly see this as important, with 74% saying “speeding up employees’ time to contribution” was something they expected from the onboarding process.

According to Talmundo’s research among more than 250 HR professionals, only 5% said onboarding was an ongoing process. Furthermore, 47% said they did nothing to evaluate how effective their onboarding process was.

Few organisations tailor their onboarding process depending on role – nine out of 10 approach it as a one-size-fits-all solution, according to Talmundo. Employees with more experience were more likely to demand more help in settling in – yet for 42% it took more than a week to get basic workstation logistics in place.

HR’s perceptions of what employees need from the process also differ from those of new hires. Sixty-one percent of HR professionals thought getting to know company culture was important, while 66% of new employees want to know what the job duties and expectations are, and 64% lack clarity around their new role.

According to Talmundo’s research, the key things new hires think are missing from the onboarding process are:

• Clear job duties and expectations
• Sufficient time for training
• Socialisation with colleagues
• Guidance and involvement of a manager
• Feedback and follow-up
• Overview of company structure
• A mentor
• Access to IT systems

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Separately, a new study published today by recruitment company Michael Page has found that even before they apply for roles, candidates are confused about what’s expected of them.

It found that more than a third (36%) were put off applying for a job because they did not understand the skills required, and a tenth would not know how to check what was expected of them.