Pic: IMAGESBAZAAR

If you are bored of inductions, fret not as a new exercise is being introduced to acquaint new hires with the company policies/culture. The process of onboarding tries to achieve this very objective

Onboarding has today become a more personalised version of an ‘employee orientation programme' and works fervently to enable employees to understand their roles in the company. So, what are the advantages of an onboarding programme? Anurag Poddar, CEO, Presto Wonders answers, "A proper onboarding process helps the employee to clearly understand his/her role, thus leading to better productivity for the company. The process is also aimed at making the employee understand what he/she is capable of, i.e. they must believe that they can successfully complete a job at hand. Most importantly, onboarding provides ample support to the employee in welcoming them and helping them cope with a new, unfamiliar work atmosphere. An employee must know the core values, principles and work atmosphere of a company, so that they can adapt quickly to the new environment."

Onboarding aids employees in giving a good performance from day one. Raj Kejriwal, director, KISWOK Industries Ltd explains, "Onboarding is a mechanism where we make new employees feel important and wanted from the very first day. It helps in developing a healthy employee-employer relationship from the onset, achieve job satisfaction, have clarity in terms of job profile, better team work - all of which directly affect the productivity level in any organisation." Prashant Bhatnagar, director - hiring, Sapient India adds, "On-boarding is the process of integrating new hires into the organisation by supporting them with adequate information, tools, and other resources, thus making their stay and journey with the company as rewarding as possible. It focuses on improving the productivity of new hires as they find themselves in an unfamiliar setting."

Chandra Ganjoo, GM HR of Trivitron Healthcare Pvt Ltd explains its conduction, "Before joining, we need to smoothen the process. Give the new employee one point of contact for all queries like a buddy/mentor. If you are hiring in large numbers, especially through campus recruitments, then create an online group, where they can discuss and the moderator can be a current high-performing employee who is a couple of years senior. On the day of joining, provide an orientation, which should cover almost all the departments and clearly explain the company policies and processes. The new employee should be guided at least for a month. The HR and reporting manager should follow up with the employee from time to time (read: 1st day, end of 1st week and end of one month). Furthermore,  KRAs should be set and the appraisal process and expectations explained. After three months, feedback should be sought."

Ashish Arora, founder & MD, HR Anexi concludes, "Onboarding has become a necessity today, since it provides a much longer and an ongoing ramp to employee success. In a recent research conducted by us where we interviewed over 65 HR heads and conducted several focus groups with new hires, we found over 32 per cent employees leave within the     first six–twelve months of joining the organisation. Despite companies acquainting their employees through an orientation programme, on-line self-service system and innovatively crafted organisational videos and presentations, many new hires stumble through their first 90 days in a virtual haze, piecing together what the organisation needs and guessing how to deliver it."

- Palak Bhatia