Employee Lifecycle Model Stage Three: Onboarding

Stage Three of the Employee Lifecycle Model series is Onboarding. As a reminder, the Employee Lifecycle Model is an organizational method used to visualize how an employee engages with the company they are a part of. There are six stages involved in this model: Attraction, Recruitment, Onboarding, Development, Retention, and Separation. 

This is where the cycle can break down for many companies.  A lot of onboarding is bad.  Really, really bad.  And yes, good onboarding can take a significant time investment that frankly, not all organizations have at their disposal.  However, instead of looking at this as a luxury, you need to consider it a necessity.

A winning onboarding strategy pays back ten-fold. Less time is spent fixing mistakes and more time is spent on creating opportunities. This will also shorten any learning curve and increase productivity, build trust and reduce management and staff stress.  Incoming employees feel supported, while long-time employees get to mentor and enjoy leadership positions.  As a result, new employees become valuable team members, instead of liabilities.

Considering that the cost of losing an employee in the first year could be up to three times that employee’s salary, it’s clear that onboarding is a crucial stage.   Here are a few pieces of advice to keep in mind during your design phase. Your onboarding strategy should consider and be able to do all this, and more!

• Have a plan and be ready

Most employees will decide within the first 90 days whether they see a long-term future or want to remain at a company. Do not make it all about the paperwork, limit this as much as possible.  Your plan should include preparing colleagues for the new employee, training, relationship building, and, above all, focus on making the individual feel supported.

• Set expectations early

The job description will carry some of the detail, but we all know this doesn’t tell the full story. It’s critical to present the goals and expectations you have for your new hire. Help them understand what success looks like in this role and at your organization. This is your opportunity to immerse the new employee in your culture, something crucial for retention.

• Link talent with talent

Part of the onboarding process should be spent linking new talent to the existing talent, or the right mentors. New hires can learn what’s been done in the past, what’s working well, and what could use improvement—something a written handbook or a welcome video would never communicate. What’s more, face-to-face time with a mentor sets the tone, encourages and facilitates a collaborative company culture.

• Think long-term

Onboarding doesn’t stop after the first day or week; managers should take the time to set goals for the first 30 days, the first 60 days, the first 90 days and so on. Regular check-ins help build employee confidence and offers real-time feedback to maximize potential.

• Ask for and listen to feedback

Essentially, when hired, employees join the feedback loop. Utilize technology to make it simple to collect their views across the employee lifecycle. For example, employee training and onboarding surveys can be used to collect their feedback but do make sure you act on it. Use this new insight to improve the employee journey.

Be consistent in your approach and do not allow anyone to fall through the cracks due to lack of time or urgent priorities.  It takes more time than you think you might have, but a truly great onboarding process will result in more confident employees who are more likely to stick around for the long haul. Make the investment!

Need help implementing a winning strategy?  This is where E78 can be a game changer for you. 

E78 works with you to define what success looks like for your business and turns that into a compelling story to attract game-changing talent. We create a consistent measurement / evaluation framework for assessing candidates and aligning your stakeholders. THIS is the kind of support and guidance you need to identify and land game changers and fully take advantage of the Employee Lifecycle Model.

E78 Partners is your trusted resource for interim, project and direct-hire game changers that maximize the capabilities and capacity of your accounting and finance department through challenges and change.