Onboarding is a very popular process within companies, its purpose is to welcome, integrate and support new employees. In this article, we will look at how the onboarding process can contribute to strengthening the company culture, as well as the key points to consider when measuring the effectiveness of your onboarding strategy.
Corporate culture: what is it?
“Corporate culture” refers to the policy of a company or a public or private organisation. It represents a set of diverse and varied criteria (principle, mission, value, belief, norm, procedure, etc.) that determines the organisation or general functioning of a company. A committed, coherent and structured corporate culture helps to build a brand’s identity and reinforce its uniqueness, thus differentiating it from the competition.
In 2023, the world is constantly changing and the work market is no exception (technological innovation, economic trends, social and cultural evolution…). The new generation of workers no longer places the financial aspect at the centre of their priorities. They are looking for a company that shares a vision and common values in which they can identify. As a result, this allows companies to attract, recruit and retain employees who feel concerned, involved and committed through common goals.
On the other hand, a strong and coherent corporate culture has a significant impact on performance and profitability through rigorous and well-defined procedures, thus ensuring cohesion between the various departments of the company.
Each company culture is unique and is reflected in different aspects such as the working environment, recruitment policy or employee and customer satisfaction.
Onboarding: how does it contribute to strengthening the corporate culture?
Onboarding is an integration process (face-to-face or remote) aimed at welcoming new employees who have just joined the company. The goal? Make easier for the candidate to take up their position, to allow them to get familiar with their new working environment and learn about the challenges of their new role within the company.
Changes in the world of work, coupled with technological advances, have contributed to the rise of the onboarding process. Many successful companies, such as Sarenza, Showroom Privé, SeLoger and Zappos, have adopted it.
The implementation of an onboarding process has become a key element that can strongly contribute to the reinforcement of the company’s culture, through :
- A coherent and supervised onboarding procedure: this is a crucial step in the integration process. A warm welcome for your new recruit takes place in several steps, starting with a tour of the premises, a meeting with the team members, the installation of the candidate in his or her new office or a meeting to present the company’s vision, expectations, missions and objectives. This allows your new employee to become familiar with the company’s culture, policies and procedures more quickly.
- A fun and immersive integration experience: offering an original, fun and immersive onboarding experience to your new employee is an interesting initiative to allow him or her to discover the history of your company, its culture, its values and its global vision. You can achieve this experience through games (board games, role-playing games, videos, quizzes, simulations, serious games, etc.). Implementing a gamified onboarding experience helps to strengthen employee commitment to the company.
- The implementation of team building activities: space games, treasure hunts, physical, sporting or artistic activities… team building activities offer the opportunity for new employees to immerse themselves more deeply in the company’s culture, while encouraging communication, exchange and sharing between the different members of the team. In addition, group activities reinforce trust and sense of belonging.
- Regular one-to-one meetings between the employee and the manager: the onboarding process is not limited to the first day of employment, but usually continues for several months after the new recruit has joined the company. Scheduling regular meetings ensures that he or she fits in with your company’s culture. On the other hand, it allows you to monitor their development and make any necessary adjustments (training, support, mentoring, etc.).
- Open, clear and transparent communication: Communication is an essential element for the successful management of your company’s projects. Open, clear and transparent communication between the employee and the manager contributes to a positive, healthy and productive working environment. In addition, it encourages employees to be a source of ideas for the success of company projects. The quality of communication will also influence the perception or image that the company reflects in the eyes of your new recruit.
How to measure the effectiveness of the onboarding strategy?
The integration of a new member into your team is an important moment that can have repercussions at all levels (productivity, satisfaction, retention rate, etc.). In order to measure the effectiveness of your induction strategy and make the necessary adjustments, you need to take into account certain performance indicators such as:
1. General satisfaction of new employees
In 2023, the new generation of employees is looking for fulfilling work, where they feel really useful and involved. Companies that do not pay attention to the well-being of their employees usually pay a high price with repeated absenteeism and high turnover, which leads to significant financial costs.
To ensure the success of your induction strategy, gather feedback from your employees through a satisfaction survey or a personal interview. You need to ask clear and strategic questions in order to gather the desired information:
- What did you think of your first day on the job?
- Do you think that our onboarding policy reflects the company’s culture?
- Do you feel fully integrated into the team?
This action will allow you to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of your onboarding strategy.
2. The turnover rate of employees at the facility
The turnover rate is a good indicator for measuring the effectiveness of your onboarding strategy. If the turnover rate is abnormally high, there are certainly important areas for improvement.
The departure of an employee can have significant consequences for the company: disruption of productivity in current projects, cost of replacement, impact on the company culture, etc.
When such a situation arises, you can set up exit interviews to discuss with the employee who is leaving. The aim is to understand the reasons for leaving the company. Is it a problem of integration or an inadequate company culture? Depending on the feedback, act accordingly.
3. Productivity in the management of company projects
Integrating new employees into the company culture and getting them up and running as quickly as possible is one of the main objectives of the onboarding process. To measure this, you can set up project progress monitoring (using analysis tools) or compare the performance of your new recruits with current employees.
A review with the manager or team leader is an effective way to ensure that you are aware of the new candidate’s adaptation path, level of skills or level of involvement in company projects. It is also important to ensure that your employees have all the tools they need to be productive and carry out their work.
To get more information, you can also set up 360-degree feedback, an evaluation method that consists of collecting testimonies from managers, supervisors or employees about the new recruit’s performance in the company.
4. Financial profitability or return on investment (ROI)
Analysing the financial health of one’s company is an essential part of the onboarding process. A recruitment campaign has a certain cost, between the advertising, the selection process and the cost of training the new employee.
To measure effectively your onboarding strategy, you can conduct a financial business case. This will allow you to take into account the total costs of recruitment regarding the benefits to your business.
On the other hand, it helps you to identify areas for improvement in your onboarding process. For example, if you notice low employee turnover and increased productivity among trained new members, you may decide to invest in the employee experience through engaging, fun and innovative training programmes.
In conclusion, onboarding is a key process
In conclusion, onboarding is a key process that has proven to be very powerful in reinforcing the corporate culture. Implementing an onboarding strategy allows employees to understand the company’s mission, vision and values. As a result, they are more likely to feel involved and committed to their work. However, to ensure the success of your onboarding strategy, it is essential to measure the actions taken to ensure a positive experience for newcomers and to highlight areas for improvement in order and refine your strategy if needed.
