In a world full of evolving technology, the accessibility of software’s and systems available to relieve unnecessary pressures placed on HR employees is greater than ever before. The increasing competitiveness of the candidate poole presents businesses with not only the challenge of acquiring the finest candidates, but also the battle to retain them. The onboarding process provides businesses with apt opportunity to favourably market themselves to sought candidates in order to be successful in these areas.

In a survey conducted by Cezanne HR, 30% of employees admitted to refusing an initial job offer as a result of poor follow-up activity or an overall poor experience (1). This demonstrates that onboarding is effectively as much of a part of the recruitment process as attracting candidates. Turnover is hugely impacted by the onboard experience, as evidenced by SHRM who state that 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for 3 years, post offer, should they experience a good onboarding process (2).

It is arguable as to what the main onboarding challenges are, however, the general consensus of the most prevalent downfalls include;

Lack of role clarity – this can have an outcome of misinterpreted expectations

Inefficient time management and communication – candidates, especially in the millennial era, are impatient and when response times and communication is slow, consequently affecting their perception of the business

Poor cultural fit – when employees lack understanding of company culture and values.

With previous technological and IT resources, it was not uncommon for businesses to follow through a disjointed process. Through the power of digital transformation, Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 for Talent is the perfect one stop shop solution to a seamless onboarding process that streamlines paperwork, improves engagement and accelerates time-to-impact. Incentivised to engage, enrich and empower employees, Talent provides east integration and access on an interface that is widely used and accepted by society.

The features afford continuous communication between new employees and employers, personalised tasks, activities and checklists to be issued, completed, assessed and tracked as well as the opening of a portal into the businesses core values, environment and overall culture. Ultimately, all of which creates value for the employees and enhances the opportunity for cross functional collaboration and communication.

(1) https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/voices/comment/poor-onboarding-costs-businesses-millions

(2) https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/dont-underestimate-the-importance-of-effective-onboarding.aspx