Learn how measuring onboarding metrics can help HR teams continuously improve their onboarding process and ensure that new employees are set up for success from the very beginning.
When you embark on a road trip, you don’t just jump in the car and start driving aimlessly. You have a destination in mind, a map to guide you, plan your route, and mark key checkpoints along the way. You can keep track of your progress with a GPS or odometer and use metrics like distance, time, and fuel efficiency to ensure you stay on track and reach your destination successfully.
Similarly, when it comes to onboarding new employees, HR teams shouldn’t just rely on a one-time orientation and hope for the best. Instead, they should have a clear goal for success, a plan to guide the onboarding process, and metrics to measure progress and ensure success.
In this blog, we’ll explore why HR teams should go beyond simple orientation and how they can use metrics to improve employee onboarding success.
Why go beyond orientation?
When it comes to onboarding, many companies focus solely on orientation. They ensure new employees fill out paperwork, meet key team members, and understand company culture and policies. While this is important, it only scratches the surface of what’s needed for a successful onboarding process.
According to a study by Glassdoor, a positive onboarding experience can increase employee retention by 82%. Conversely, a poor onboarding experience can lead to high turnover rates and decreased productivity. Additionally, a thorough onboarding process can help new employees feel more confident and productive in their roles, improving job satisfaction and performance.
Metrics to track for employee onboarding success
To improve onboarding success, HR teams must track metrics beyond simple orientation. Here are some key metrics to consider:
Onboarding Timeline: Measure the time from the date of joining to the date the new employee completes all the required paperwork completion, orientation, training, and the employee’s ability to perform their duties.
Data Verification Timeline: Measure the time it takes to verify and validate data provided by the new employee. This can include measuring the time it takes to identify data errors, document them, and correct them.
Data Error Rate: Calculate the number of data errors that occurred during onboarding over a specific period (e.g., month, quarter, year) divided by the total number of data entries made during that period. Multiply the result by 100 to get the error rate as a percentage.
Time to Productivity: Measure the time new employees take to become fully productive, i.e., reach a satisfactory level of performance.
Retention Rate: Calculate the percentage of employees who remain with the organisation over time. This includes measuring the number of employees who leave within a year of employment and dividing it by the total number of employees at the start of the period.
Compliance Rate: Measure the percentage of employees who comply with company policies, procedures, and regulations. This includes measuring the number of violations or non-compliance incidents and dividing it by the total number of employees.
Cost-to-Hire: Calculate the total cost of hiring a new employee, including recruitment costs, advertising, pre-employment screening, training expenses and wages paid to the team. A lower cost-to-hire indicates that the onboarding process is efficient and cost-effective.
Employee Feedback: Identify the areas of improvement by conducting surveys or interviews to gather their feedback on the following: the quality of the onboarding process and its impact on their productivity, engagement, and retention, job satisfaction, work environment, management, training, compensation, benefits and development opportunities.
Manager Feedback: Get the hiring managers’ opinions to evaluate how quickly new employees are becoming productive, how well they fit into the team and company culture, and how effectively they communicate with coworkers and customers.
Performance Metrics: Measure employee performance against pre-defined goals, targets, and KPIs. If new employees meet or exceed performance expectations, it may indicate that the onboarding process is helping them succeed in their roles.
Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): Measure employee loyalty and willingness to recommend the organisation to others. It is calculated by subtracting the percentage of employees who are unlikely to recommend the company from those who are likely to recommend it. This gives you a score between -100 and +100.
Absenteeism Rates: Measure the number of days employees are absent due to illness, injury, or personal reasons. This includes measuring the total number of days missed by all employees and dividing it by the total number of workdays.
How to use metrics to improve onboarding success
Once HR teams have identified key metrics to track, they can use the data gathered to improve the onboarding process. Here are some ways to use metrics to enhance onboarding success:
Identify Bottlenecks: By tracking the onboarding timeline, compliance rates, and time to productivity, HR teams can identify areas where new employees may be struggling or where the onboarding process may need improvement.
Address Feedback: Gathering feedback from new employees and managers helps HR teams identify areas for improvement and adjust the onboarding process.
Provide Resources: Tracking manager satisfaction can identify areas where new employees may need additional support or training and provide resources to improve performance.
Measure Success: Calculating retention rates can measure the success of the onboarding process and identify any areas where improvements are needed.
Boost Employee Engagement: Onboarding metrics can help measure the effectiveness of the onboarding process in engaging new employees. Metrics such as compliance rates, absenteeism rates, and employee and manager feedback can help organisations identify areas for improvement in the onboarding process. By addressing these areas, organisations can help new employees feel more connected to the organisation, resulting in increased engagement and job satisfaction.
Enhance the Employer Brand: Onboarding metrics can help measure the effectiveness of the onboarding process in enhancing the employer brand. Metrics such as employee net promoter score can help organisations understand how new employees perceive the organisation. By addressing any negative perceptions or areas for improvement, organisations can improve their reputation as an employer, increasing the attraction of top talent.
Effective employee onboarding is crucial for the long-term success of any organisation. To achieve this, HR teams must use data and metrics to optimise their onboarding processes and improve the experience for new hires. Like a road trip, onboarding can be full of twists and turns, unexpected obstacles, and occasional wrong turns.
An employee onboarding solution like Wrkr Ready can act as the GPS for this journey, guiding new hires through the onboarding process with clear and concise instructions, providing valuable resources and support, and ensuring they confidently reach their destination. Let’s hit the road to success with Wrkr Ready. Book a demo today!
