EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING
Issues and Recommendations
Human Resources Management
Ngoc H. Vu, UČO: 495670 | Enrique T. Palazuelos, UČO: 497742
Nara C. S. Silva, UČO: 497471 | María L. Barberá, UČO: 497585
Davit Hovhannisyan, UČO: 495675

Table of Contents
uIntroduction
uDefinition of employee onboarding
uImportance of employee onboarding
uOnboarding Issues
uLack of preparation on first day
uLack of role clarity
uInformative isolation
uDifficulty in navigating the culture
uUnfriendly environment at work
uInefficient training program
uConclusion
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What is employee onboarding?
uOnboarding is
uthe process of introducing a new employee into his or her new job;
uacquainting that employee with the organization’s goals, values, rules and policies, and
processes;
usocializing the employee into an organizational culture (Watkins, 2016)
uTimeframe
uFrom accepted offer to end of first year
u
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Circles with arrows Cycle with people

Effectively incorporating new employees can be a challenging task for HR and managers alike. With
the expectation that the majority of new hires were there to stay for the long haul, traditional
orientation programs consisted of a brief introduction to the company and a lot of paperwork.
However, this task has become even more difficult with the entrance of a new generation of workers.
Today’s top talent are looking for more than just a job and are not afraid to job hop until they
find the right fit. In a recent survey by Korn Ferry, 90% of executives said retaining new hires
was an issue in their company with turnover rates of 10-25% within the first 6 months alone.
Shockingly, a survey by Bamboo HR found that only 9% of HR managers don’t think their onboarding
processes need to be improved. In fact, 43% went so far as to agree that “time and money are wasted
because of ineffective onboarding processes.” A further 45% believe this could add up to over
$10,000 per year.
https://blog.impraise.com/360-feedback/top-3-new-employee-onboarding-challenges
TinyPulse reports that:
91% of employees stick around for at least a year when organizations have efficient onboarding
processes
69% of them stick around for at least three years when companies have well-structured onboarding
programs
https://www.edgepointlearning.com/blog/how-to-train-new-employees/

Why onboarding is important?
uUp to 20% of staff turnover occurring within the first 45 days of employment (Llarena, 2013)
uCEOs are concerned about the retention rate, yet spent very little time on onboarding
uThe most effective organizations onboard new hires for the duration of their first year — their
most vulnerable period (Carucci, 2018)
uOne research suggested that onboarding maybe the most critical process that has long-lasting
influence on engagement, performance, and retention (Cable et al, 2013 and Cadwell, 2016)
u
Plant Plant
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Issues
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Lack of preparation on first days
uProblem
uNew employees could feel totally disoriented or not being trained to do certain tasks in their
first days
uNew hires know how important it is to make a good first impression early in their tenure, but it’s
also important for companies to put their best foot forward for their newest team members. (Lavoie,
A. 2014)
uConsequences
uBlocked interaction within the company
uMistrust towards the new worker
u
uSolution
uCompanies should generate motivation to the new employee.
uFor example: a welcome card signed by the Human Resources Manager or deliver a welcome pack with
the company policies, code of behavior, and so on
uThe new employee must have quick access to work documents, thus facilitating his task
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Problem
Sometimes new employees could feel totally disoriented or not being trained to do certain tasks in
their first days
New hires know how important it is to make a good first impression early in their tenure, but it’s
also important for companies to put their best foot forward for their newest team members. (Lavoie,
A. 2014)
Consequences
Blocked interaction within the company
Mistrust towards the new worker
Solution
Companies should generate motivation to the new employee. For example, a welcome card signed by the
Human Resources Manager or deliver a welcome pack with the company policies, code of behavior, and
so on
The new employee must have quick access to work documents, thus facilitating his task

Lack of role clarity
uProblem
uExpectations and objectives are not clear to new employees
u60% of companies report that they do not set short-term goals for new hires (Rollag et al, 2005)
uConsequences:
ulow productivity
uabsenteeism
upoor performance
u
uSolution
uSet up early wins
uAssign tasks with an expectation that new hires to complete at the three, six, and nine-month
milestones (Carucci, 2018)
uGradually increase the level of responsibility associated with each task
uDiscuss about the gap between the expectation and reality
7

Informative isolation
uProblem
uWhen an employee feels like a stranger in the team, because of unfriendly staff, no confidence in
newcomer, lack of communication.
uConsequence: decreased productivity and negative morale.
uDifference between Informative isolation and workplace bullying: Just because someone feels
informative isolated doesn’t necessarily mean that bullying is taking place
uEmployees aren’t getting what they need, their work suffers.
u
u
u
uSolution
uEngage in face-to-face conversations with your team members throughout the office.
uCreate a common database.
uMake a welcoming events for the whole team.
uKeep in touch with remote workers (employees who work offsite).
uRedesign office, make boards with daily or monthly activities.
u
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We often are facing this problem, when an employee feels him like a stranger in the team, because
of unfriendly staff, no confidence in newcomer, lack of communication. All these problems can lead
to decreased productivity and negative morale.
It’s important to recognize the difference between Informative isolation and workplace bullying.
Just because someone feels informative isolated doesn’t necessarily mean that bullying is taking
place.
Employees aren’t getting what they need, their work suffers.

Difficulty in navigating the culture
uProblem
uNew employees likely fail at their new jobs because of a poor culture fit.
u"Creating a cultural onboarding experience helps new employees understand the unique culture they
have become a part of and the challenges they will face" (Hillebregt, 2019).
uConsequences
uNot fitting into the company culture
Ø
u
uSolution
uOffer assistance to integrate them as quickly as possible - Assign a buddy (Klinghoffer et al,
2019)
uIntensive multiple day program
uEngage them into activities that captures your company’s culture (team lunches, happy hour, etc)
(Llarena 2013)
9

Unfriendly/hostile environment at work
uProblem
u"A hostile work environment is created by a boss or coworker whose actions, communication or
behavior make doing your job impossible." (Susan M. Heathfield, 2019) uCan discourage, chase away
and depress your new employee
u
uSolution
uMake new employees feel comfortable and part of the project by:
uWelcome the new employee to your team
uOffer flexible schedules
uPerform activities outside the office
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Microsoft has been working to improve its onboarding process. At the outset, we learned that a
seemingly simple action — managers having one-on-one meetings with their new hires during their
first week on the job — has outsized benefits. Through our continued research, we’ve also come to
another conclusion: Onboarding buddies play an important role in ensuring a successful onboarding
experience. While this may seem obvious, much like our findings on one-on-ones, it’s often missing
in a new employee’s introduction to a brand new company. After piloting a buddy program involving
600 employees across the organization, we found that onboarding buddies help our hires in three key
ways:
Bringing a new employee onboard is both an exciting and stressful time. And while managers play a
critical role in shaping a new employees’ first weeks and months, a broader team effort can ensure
the experience is both positive and productive.
Over the last few years, Microsoft has been working to improve its onboarding process. At the
outset, we learned that a seemingly simple action — managers having one-on-one meetings with their
new hires during their first week on the job — has outsized benefits. Through our continued
research, we’ve also come to another conclusion: Onboarding buddies play an important role in
ensuring a successful onboarding experience. While this may seem obvious, much like our findings on
one-on-ones, it’s often missing in a new employee’s introduction to a brand new company. After
piloting a buddy program involving 600 employees across the organization, we found that onboarding
buddies help our hires in three key ways:
Onboarding buddies provide context. For tenured employees, the context surrounding most of their
work has been so well established, it’s in the folds of every email written, every meeting
attended, and every PowerPoint presented. For new hires, context is a precious commodity. Without
it, a new hire will likely struggle to fully understand their role or how to contribute to their
team’s success. Onboarding buddies can give the type of context you won’t find in the employee
handbook. For instance, knowledgeable onboarding buddies can help new hires determine who relevant
stakeholders are, how to navigate the matrix of different organizations, and think strategically
when problem solving. They can also shed light on cultural norms and any unspoken rules that exist,
which could lead to a much smoother transition into the organization.
Onboarding buddies boost productivity. Speed to productivity is often a concern for both the
company and the new hire. By filling the position, the company satisfied the need for a certain
skillset and now wants to see a quick return on its investment. Meanwhile, the new hire is likely
experiencing the tension between wanting to ramp up quickly but also needing to take time to learn
the job. At Microsoft, we found the more the onboarding buddy met with the new hire, the greater
the new hire’s perception of their own speed to productivity: 56% of new hires who met with their
onboarding buddy at least once in their first 90 days indicated that their buddy helped them to
quickly become productive in their role. That percentage increased to 73% for those who met two to
three times with their buddy, 86% for those who met four to eight times, and 97% for those who met
more than eight times in their first 90 days. Clearly, that additional layer of support is critical
to a new hire’s success.
Onboarding buddies improve new employee satisfaction. With over 120,000 employees, it’s not hard to
imagine the overwhelming challenges one might face entering such a large and complex organization.
In order to truly understand the value of onboarding buddies, we looked at the difference in hires
who were assigned onboarding buddies versus those who were not. Our research found that after their
first week on the job, new hires with buddies were 23% more satisfied with their overall onboarding
experience compared to those without buddies. This trend continued at 90 days with a 36% increase
in satisfaction. Those with buddies also reported receiving more active support from both their
manager and the broader team.

Inefficient training programs
uProblem
uBoring orientation program with overload of paperwork and information (Brown, 2019)
uNew hires have to go sit through lectures about health insurance, paid time-off, and company
policy.
uLengthy presentations and instructions
uTime consuming for both trainers and trainees
u
u
u
uSolution
uReview training materials, make sure to keep only essential information and remove unnecessary one
uMake your training interactive (Nornberg, 2013)
uQuizzes
uHand—on experiences
uVideo interaction
uInvolve robots (Davis, 2017)
u
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Developing a solid new hire training program is an important management skill. More than just
showing new employees where the coffee maker is and how to get their parking permit, training new
employees procedures helps employees settle into the rhythm of the company to focus on the most
important thing: their job.
How to train new employees effectively
Developing a solid new hire training program is an important management skill. More than just
showing new employees where the coffee maker is and how to get their parking permit, training new
employees procedures helps employees settle into the rhythm of the company to focus on the most
important thing: their job.
While your exact onboarding tasks may differ, these best practices for employee onboarding help you
get your employees up-to-speed, whether they’re hourly, C-suite, or anywhere in between. And,
they’re just as useful for in-office and remote employees. This is how to put together your new
hire training program:
Establish your new employee procedures, beforehand
Ensure that all managers use a new hire training checklist
Start onboarding before day one
Include onboarding best practices into your procedures
Train for culture, not just topics
Build in regular reviews and adjustments to your training program
Let’s look at each of these in more detail.
http://www.yourtrainingprovider.com/blog_main/training-new-employees-the-challenges-and-solutions

Example of involvement of robots
Diagram: Involvement of robot in onboarding process
Source: Automation Edge
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Inefficient training programs
uProblem
uInconsistent training materials and styles (Lightfoot, 2019)
uDifferent trainers are involved
uDifficult to ensures these trainers follow the same teaching styles and agenda
u
u
uSolution
uFollow an agenda and mandate use of the same materials
uCreate online training where possible. This will minimalize the inconsistency
uCreate trainer guidelines, briefing ground rules and desire styles, mandate the same lengths,
templates
uCreate trainer checklist
uImplement outcome tests on trainees to identify knowledge gap
u
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Conclusion
u
u
u
u
u
uOnboarding is an important process, yet underestimated in many enterprises uEffective onboarding
program helps increase retention rate, productivity, and cultural integration uCurrently, there are
certain weaknesses in onboarding program that hinder employees from committing to the organization
uHR should be aware of these problems and be creative when designing onboarding program, engaging
technology such as HR software, robot, or AI to reduce burden
Puzzle pieces Lightbulb and gear
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THANK YOU!
u
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