Onboarding is the process of integrating a new employee into a company. Also referred to as organizational socialization, onboarding processes should be designed to familiarize new employees with the organization’s culture, values and behavioral expectations. Onboarding should help new employees adapt to the operating environment and, specifically, provide new employees with the connections, information and tools to be successful.To quote a SHRM effective practice guidelines publication, “After effective recruitment and selection, one of the most important ways that organizations can improve the effectiveness of their talent management systems is through the strategic use of onboarding.”^[1]

As stated in Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, effective onboarding is associated with higher levels of employee job satisfaction, lower turnover, better performance and lowered stress. This is particularly important given that 90% of new employees make the decision to stay or go within the first six months.^[2] For hourly workers, the decision timeframe is shorter: 50% leave new jobs within 120 days. The statistic for management: 50% of external senior management hires fail within 18 months.^[3] Critical disconnect: less than 25% of organizations have a formal onboarding process. Worst case: new employees are greeting with some variation on “Oh, you’re here…we better find you a workspace.”

Amber Hyatt, director of product marketing at talent management solutions company Silk Road observes that “organizations that don’t focus on acclimating new employees to their corporate culture are at a significant disadvantage. Employees who know what to expect from their company’s culture and work environment make better decisions that are more aligned with the accepted practices of the company.”^[4] Peterson said., CEO of human resources SaS provider BambooHR, Ben Peterson seconds that, warning employers that “If you aren’t communicating what new hires are supposed to be doing and arming them with the tools to do it properly, you’re setting them up to fail.”^[5]