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By Adam Slone
10/09/07
Onboarding: A Tool for Increasing Productivity and Retention in Labs
Adam Slone and Jeff Smith, Slone & Associates
You reviewed dozens of résumés, you phone-screened the top 10,
you personally interviewed the top three candidates, and you were finally able
to offer the job to the ideal candidate. In 30 days or so, you are going to
have a new superstar on your team that will make substantial contributions
to your laboratory. Well, you may want to stop right there. The time from when
a candidate accepts an offer and to when he/she begins with a new employer
is critical as this is the point where the candidate can either get a head
start or show up on day one with no real plan. The new employee without a plan
ends up wasting valuable ramp-up time and losing the confidence of his/her
team. According to a recent Right Management Consultants survey, 64% of executives
hired externally fail within the first 18 months!
What are some of the reasons that a new hire does not work out?
•
Vague or unrealistic expectations
• Not understanding the culture of the new organization
• Trying to make too many changes too soon
• Not investing time to build relationships with key stakeholders
• Misreading how things get done at the organization
• Not respecting the processes and history of the organization
• Not handling personal transition well
Wow, that can be an overwhelming list! It is even more daunting when you consider
it may cost your laboratory up to five times the annual salary to
replace a lost employee. How do you avoid this scenario?
Consider what
onboarding can do for your laboratory when recruiting top talent.
• By implementing a cohesive, structured, and consistent onboarding process,
the success rate of new executives, new managers, and promoted talent should
rise to more than 90%.*
• New hires should learn 17% to 25%** faster than the normal hire. Why not
take advantage of the top talent you just recruited?
• A recent Ceridian study of several organizations that implemented a structured
onboarding program found that Hunter Douglas was able to lower its turnover
rate from 70% to 16%. Designer Blinds also saw its annual turnover drop from
200% to 1%.
• To replace a $100,000 operations manager, it would cost between $100,000
and $500,000 for each new hire. Onboarding will dramatically reduce the need
to fill these roles.
So, what is “onboarding”? Is it the same as orientation? According
to Wikipedia, onboarding is the process of interviewing, hiring, orienting,
and successfully integrating new hires into your organization's culture. The
best onboarding strategies provide a fast track to meaningful, productive work
and strong employee relationships.
Onboarding activities begin pre-hire through effective and accurate recruitment
communications followed by an interviewing and screening process that increases
the success rate of position acceptance. The onboarding of new hires then starts
prior to the employee's start date and usually is extended through the first
six months of employment (at least). The difference between onboarding and
orientation is in the scope. Onboarding is more comprehensive while orientation
generally focuses on the tactical part of the role and on things like benefits,
harassment training, and the other mandatory information that must be shared.
Orientation covers these items but onboarding goes much further.
The following chart outlines the key buckets of work done in onboarding:
Onboarding can be a great tool for your organization if designed well, supported
by executives, and organized by HR. Keep up the great work
on recruiting new talent but also make sure you invest your time and energy
into a well-planned onboarding program to ensure long-term success for your
new hires and the laboratory.
References:
*The
New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan by Bradt, Check and Pedraza,
Wiley
**The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins, Harvard Business Press
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