Talented people that can support and help grow your business are not easy to find. And when you do find them, it’s even more difficult to keep them attached to your company without a proper growth plan. 

But this can be difficult for a small business, regardless of its development state. Still, this doesn’t mean you can’t find ingenious ways to retain your talent and keep growing. It just may take a bit of ingenuity to find the proper systems that work for you. 

So why not start with the onboarding process?

According to a study performed by Glassdoor, a strong onboarding process can improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by 70%. In addition, proper onboarding is something that’s accessible to all types of businesses, regardless of size and number of employees. 

Therefore, in today’s article, we are going to mention the top three steps a business needs to take to improve onboarding and make their new hires feel welcome and happy. 

Use Smart Technologies for Automation

The conventional onboarding process is rather dry and can make a newcomer feel even more stressed due to the multitude of forms and information they need to take in. Luckily, you can make things smoother and even a bit more fun by automating the routine processes. 

You may have to ask your HR representatives to take a few Machine Learning courses in order to better understand the process, but it will worth it since the future is all about smart technologies and automated processes. In addition, the information is not highly technical and anyone can get an idea of how Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can improve life at the office. 

Overall, smart technologies can be used to create intelligent forms and use the data in the system to fill in everything. This way, the employee and HR representatives only have to check everything for accuracy, which reduces the time spent with forms and tedious tasks to a minimum.

Make Them Part of the Team

The first days (and weeks for that matter) are tough as it takes a while to get accommodated with the new office and colleagues. As a result, new hires need some time until they can feel like they belong. 

But you can shorten this awkward period by making sure the newcomers are being noticed and treated friendly by current employees. Also, it helps to provide them with their own access keys and accounts to company data, so they can get everything they need without feeling like they’re accommodating others. 

Be Specific

Most new employees feel overwhelmed by the amount of information that is being thrown at them during the first days. Therefore, while it’s true that there is a lot to assimilate and understand, it’s best to do it gradually. 

So, instead of dumping a ton of files in their inbox or shared Google Drive space, focus on providing them with specific information on what’s expected of them in the first month. Then, as they warm up to the projects and the team, you can dive in deeper and discuss a longer time segment. 

Wrap Up

The way you approach onboarding and employees, in general, is crucial for your business’s success. Therefore, it’s important to make positive onboarding and employee retention a priority, just like reaching your sales goal or pushing that marketing strategy.