The Onboarding Process and Its Link to Retention

Employee retention is a major concern for companies in all industries, but the specialized knowledge required for healthcare sales roles makes turnover a particularly salient concern in the pharmaceutical industry. After putting significant amounts of time and resources into finding and training the best candidates, you want that talent to stay with you for many years.

Building a robust new hire onboarding training program is one of the best ways to build employee loyalty. A warm and purposeful welcome addresses many of the common concerns employees have when starting a new job and helps them overcome many productivity roadblocks that keep them from performing at their best. This generates high employee retention and produces results that delight both parties.

The Emotional Stakes of a New Job

When an employee starts a new job, emotions are always running high. New employees are eager to make a good impression, feel the expectations of their new environment, and settle into their new roles. They are unaware of any pre-existing team dynamics and company culture pressures, but most are conscious of this weakness and will happily work to remedy it.

This early period is a crucial time in the employee’s tenure with your company. Their experiences at this stage frame their expectations for the job overall. If they do not receive the support and resources they need to thrive, many will assume that thriving is not possible in their role. From their perspective, this leaves them with no choice but to resign and move on. 

Delivering on Your Promises

Emotional fulfillment is not the only benefit of a well-executed onboarding period. Many companies claim that all employees are valued, integral members of the team. This is an effective mindset that promotes greater team cohesion and individual empowerment, but it means nothing without concrete action to support it.

Team members who are hired and given little to no orientation often do not feel valued. In some cases, they may not even be sure how to contribute to the team. They lack the context they need to apply their efforts to larger organizational goals and end up feeling abandoned and adrift.

This disconnected team environment is not conducive to high productivity. Even when employees decide to remain with the company, they cannot use their skills effectively for your benefit. They also have no insight into their team’s strengths or weaknesses and cannot even attempt to fill the group’s needs.

Smoothing the Transition with Onboarding

To assuage new employees' fears and help them better integrate into your organization, consider increasing your investment in onboarding training.

Onboarding training establishes an initial framework that helps both employers and employees get what they need. It helps new team members become accustomed to your company culture and expectations through a formal channel with clear and consistent messaging. When paired with a relational component like a buddy program or mentor system, a good onboarding training course can give new employees the sense of direction they crave in those critical early days. This has been shown to improve retention by up to 50%.

Onboarding training does not have to be done on a set schedule. Virtual onboarding training courses allow new employees to learn at a pace that suits their needs. If they have a large chunk of free time one afternoon, they can spend it working through the module. If other matters must be prioritized, the module can be put on hold for a while. Learning how to complete training initiatives at a self-guided pace also sets employees up for success with future training initiatives, such as account management training courses and other continuing education. 

Receive Quality Custom Onboarding Training from The Brooks Group

A well-crafted onboarding training program can mean the difference between a stable team and a revolving door of constant new hires. As a leading biotech market research and healthcare management consulting firm, The Brooks Group has developed custom onboarding training programs for countless healthcare leaders. Contact us today to discuss your organization’s training needs and get your employees off to a better start.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2022/04/onboarding-process-and-its-link-to-retention/

Effective Employee Onboarding Process for New Hires in the Post-Pandemic World

The dawn of remote work was just one of the many key workforce changes prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that hybrid work arrangements seem destined to become the norm, it is time for companies to adapt their new hire onboarding training to suit this new reality. The five tips below will help you to better welcome and integrate new hires working primarily in virtual spaces.

1. Foster Relationships Within Your Team

Relationship building is a key part of forming a cohesive team, but it can be difficult for people to bond organically when they are not in the same physical space. 

Start by scheduling a quick team meeting on your new hire’s first day and ask everyone present to introduce themselves. Then, follow it up with a series of one-on-one meetings between each of those people and the new hire. Breaking the ice in this way helps your new hire become better integrated into the group. 

2. Use a Mentor System

One of the most challenging things for new hires is understanding team processes and hierarchies. Some new hires hold back on asking questions they desperately want answers to because they do not want to bother a superior with trivial matters.

Knowing who to approach with a question like this can help new recruits feel significantly more comfortable in their new working environment. Help your new hire out by assigning them a patient and more experienced team member to answer the questions that will inevitably crop up.

3. Provide Regular Feedback

New employees also sometimes struggle with understanding what is expected of them in their new role, creating significant performance-based anxiety.

To combat this problem, schedule regular opportunities to give your new hire feedback on their performance. At first, you might do this every week or so. After the employee becomes more confident in their role, you can begin to scale this schedule back.

4. Offer Information on Your Company Culture

In a typical office environment, everything from daily schedules to team dynamics is often learned through osmosis. When a new hire is not exposed to this environment, these contextual elements do not reach them either.

To help remote hires adjust, prepare a written document that explicitly outlines these aspects of the job. Include information such as dress codes for video conferencing, the best times to contact others for meetings or collaboration, and how people on your team generally prefer to communicate. 

5. Highlight the Importance of the New Hire’s Role

Ultimately, new recruits are brought on board to fulfill a function within your team. You know how important that function is, but does your new hire?

This is a common problem for in-person hires as well, but it is even more difficult for those who work remotely. Limited contact with the rest of the team can make it seem like their work has no relation to the bigger picture, making it difficult for them to remain engaged.

Make sure your remote hire knows that what they are doing matters and how it contributes to your organization’s larger goals. Underline the fact that you and their colleagues value their input and expertise. These efforts will instill a sense of pride and confidence in your new employee that will drive them to perform even more effectively at work.

Break Down Barriers for Better Teams

Remote work is not going away anytime soon, and neither are your remote team members. It is worth your time and money to invest in creating new strategies to help these workers find their place in your organization. 

Healthcare consulting firms like The Brooks Group offer educational services such as account management training, healthcare management consulting, biotech market research, and even new hire onboarding training. Contact us today to learn how we can help you refine your onboarding processes to better match the demands of today's workforce.

This blog was originally posted on https://thebrooksgrouponline.com/2021/10/effective-employee-onboarding-process-for-new-hires-in-the-post-pandemic-world/