Hiring talent is tough. But keeping them? That’s tougher. Some organizations invest a great deal in finding and hiring employees, but many of them leave within 90 days. The SHRM report states that it costs nearly 50–60% of an employee’s annual salary to replace them. Companies with well-organized onboarding initiatives retain 50% more new hires.
The common reasons employees leave the company in the first 90 days are bad onboarding experience, vague goals, or a lack of initial guidance.
As HR professionals, you can lower the rate of early-stage turnover in your organization by drawing inspiration from recruitment firms, staffing agencies, and companies that give top priority to talent. Read more to learn the top five onboarding strategies by big corporations.
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How Effective Onboarding Reduces Employee Turnover
A bad onboarding experience can be a key reason employees leave early. According to Gallup, only 12% of employees are strongly satisfied with the onboarding their company provides. Retention can be improved by 82% with such a solid onboarding process.
Here’s why onboarding matters:
- Sets clear expectations from day one
- Builds trust and connection with team and culture
- Reduces confusion and accelerates productivity
- Demonstrates value to the new hire early on
- Aligns individual goals with business outcomes
Therefore, strong onboarding helps new employees become loyal assets for the business.
1. Get Started Before Day One
Onboarding should be started the day when employees say yes to your offer – it starts even before the first day of joining. Do you know the secret weapon the staffing agencies use to build employee trust? It is the Pre-boarding process.
Things you can do:
- Send a personalized email to new employees. Inroduce your team to them with welcoming videos.
- Send a plan for the first week with a “what to expect” video, and answer some common questions.
- Allow early access to the HRMS portal, employee policies, and learning modules.
Companies such as Smoothstack focused on IT talent security and offering in-depth pre-boarding courses. They offer training before putting people on the job and also ensure all candidates are aware of the organizational goals – lowering the possibility of disagreements and people leaving.
Takeaway: Build an emotional and logistical bridge between the offer and Day One.
2. Implement Role-based Onboarding
Nothing dampens early enthusiasm like learning from irrelevant modules or following plain checklists. Staffing firms don’t use the same training method for everyone – Why should companies then?
What works:
- Set up training for employees by their department or job role.
- Assign mentors to new employees – someone who is experienced in a similar position.
- Analyze the skills and communication report recorded during recruitment to plan early training.
In advance, HR teams can consider using candidate data collected during the hiring process. Using pre-designed resumes enables recruiters to gather standard information about applicants. This information can later be utilized in the development of your onboarding plans.
Takeaway: Rather than selling the same product to all people, start offering personalized onboarding experiences. Personalization makes employees feel acknowledged.
3. Establish What You Expect
The reason behind new hires often becoming demotivated in their early days? Misaligned expectations. If employees feel that what they do at work doesn’t match with what they were told – retention suffers.
A Glassdoor report states that the organizations preparing a structured onboarding increase their employee retention by 82%. Here the main thing is the clarity – not just the organization of a design.
Ways to approach:
- Clear up the expected roles and goals from each team and discuss the approach to review their performance.
- Conduct Q&A sessions where employees can ask about teamwork, the company’s goals, and workplace culture.
- Give managers instructions before onboarding on how to provide feedback loops.
Building this into the placement stage? It is a typical approach for staffing companies. Before people are sent overseas, they have sessions explaining their tasks, schedules, and team guidelines. Similarly, internal HR can involve team leaders and direct managers at the early stages of planning.
Takeaway: Confused roles and employees are much less likely to be involved at work. A clear message gives confidence.
4. Align Onboarding With Long-Term Plans
The main question new hires ask – if they’re just hired to fill a role or if there are opportunities to thrive and grow.
Excellent onboarding continues to guide new employees as they develop their talents over the long run. Staffing agencies often aim to increase higher chances of opportunities for candidates, thus they attract more talent. HR departments can use the same mindset to retain employees.
Strategies to build in:
- Plan for a first month “career mapping” session for new hires.
- Compose a growth plan for the next three months focused on opportunities inside the company.
- Offer them materials for future career development or promotions.
When a company does this effectively, employees can see their progress. Rather than just focusing on understanding policies, employees can picture their chances of success within the organization – to stay, grow, and lead.
Tip: Let new employees know how they can grow within the company before they question their choice.
5. Start Fostering Organizational Culture
A well-structured onboarding program lets employees know how the company works. But a great one also answers: Do I belong here?
A sense of belonging – the main reason employees continue with a company. Recent research from BetterUp found that having a sense of belonging reduced employee turnover in the first year by half.
What you can do:
- Tell people the history of your company, and the values and rituals you follow.
- Set up a lunch meeting for new hires to associate with other departments.
- Feature their onboarding on the company channels or prepare a note from management.
Even virtual companies can develop their culture using online events, networking with peers, and introducing each other over Slack. The purpose is to form emotional bonds – not just transactional ones.
Takeaway: Those who feel excluded from the team decide to leave. Use onboarding as a KPI for performance.
Recruitment To Retention is a Single Journey!
Onboarding is the first part of showing our commitment to employees – that lasts over years. HR teams can use approaches from recruitment agencies such as preboarding, clear expectations, and personal assistance – from selecting good candidates to retaining them as part of the company’s assets.
Let’s recap the five strategies:
- Launch warm pre-boarding and precise communication before the first day.
- Tailor the induction process based on the role and the team.
- Be clear with your expectations at the start. Be honest when giving and receiving feedback.
- Ensure that onboarding is connected to the future plans of the organization.
- Make belonging at the forefront, put it above getting instruction.
The results? Happier hires. Stronger retention. And, a workplace where people thrive more than just staying.
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