Employee Onboarding – How to Do It Right?

Employee Onboarding – How to Do It Right?

It’s an imagined situation, yet so familiar to many companies. The employee onboarding process is rushed or even worse, there is none.

Bad onboarding or the total lack of it can in the worst case jeopardize work safety or drive away staff. Work is not going well, there are many mistakes, the stress curve is rising and no one is having fun. Poorly implemented onboarding does not boost employee satisfaction, which could hurt the company’s reputation as an employer.

A good recruitment experience can be ruined by poor or incomplete orientation. It can become really costly for a company if the hours spent on recruiting are wasted and the employee resigns. How expensive it becomes depends on many things. The costs can be many times the direct costs of recruitment.

Why is employee onboarding so important?

Many of us know how exciting the first days and weeks are when starting a new job. Feeling butterflies and everything is brand new. There will be a lot of information to digest and new things to learn in the beginning. In order for the new hire to start a new job as easily and as painlessly as possible, it is worth it for the company to invest time in planning a proper onboarding process. Well-planned onboarding helps you to be prepared for challenges and at the same time, it brings many benefits to your new recruits and your company.

A company benefits from a well thought and efficient onboarding in many ways:

• The employee receives the information and guidance needed to perform well on the job
• Affects positively the atmosphere at work
• Increase in occupational safety
• The employee knows how to act in different situations they face on the job
• New employees become familiar with the company’s culture thus adapt faster
• Engagement with the new employee from the beginning is a good foundation for the future
• It shows you care for the employees and want to support them in their work
• Positive impact on employer brand
• Commits employees to your company

Employee onboarding is the employer’s responsibility and it is also required by the Occupational Safety and Health Act. For example, the employee must know how to use the machines safely. Proper onboarding is every employee’s right, even if it is short-term employment such as a gig or summer job.

Employee onboarding is especially important for young people, who are taking their first steps in their careers. When a young person gets a good, positive experience in their first summer job or internship, it provides them with a good start and can be a very encouraging experience that enforces the feeling that they are on the right path.

Onboarding plays a big role here. The recruitment process, the first days and week of work, and onboarding define what impression the young employee gets of your company, the industry, and work-life in general. Every experience matters, for better or worse.

Successful employee onboarding is especially important now that remote work has become more common. And for those who work constantly remotely and are never present in their work community, onboarding plays a crucial role. The threshold for asking for help is often high anyway, not to mention for a new employee. Therefore it is important that they know the right channels to use when in need of help right from the start.

What is successful employee onboarding like?

Each company should have its own employee onboarding plan. Especially if working remotely, an onboarding plan is necessary and it monitors how the introduction progresses. An onboarding plan in itself does not guarantee a successful orientation experience. Sometimes the plan contains outdated information or things that for some reason can’t be implemented. Thus the plan needs to be constantly evaluated and developed.

If successful, the onboarding process will make the employee feel welcome. First impressions matter and successful onboarding is like the cherry on top of the overall recruitment process. It communicates appreciation to the new employee and gives a good start to your journey together. For example, making sure all the permits and user accounts are ready, setting up the workstation, and communicating with the new hire before the start are good foundations for hopefully a long stay with your company.

Proper employee onboarding helps your company to stand out from the rest

The employer can create a memorable and positive experience for the employee by providing a motivating and engaging onboarding. The orientation period should always be seen as an opportunity to set the new employee up for success. A company can stand out from the competition by simply investing in good onboarding.

For example, Erika Leino got a good onboarding to her new job at the Youth Academy. Getting acquainted with the new job was refreshing because it differed so much from her previous experiences.

But why was this onboarding experience so different?

Part of the onboarding was gamified with Seppo-platform.

Read more: Seppo launches a completely new kind of service for the business education market – Seppo

Right at the beginning of her employment, Erika got to play Seppo games. The Youth Academy had used Seppo to create games to be part of the onboarding process. This is how getting to know a new job was turned into a fun and engaging game -something new.

─ I got the PIN codes for the games and I was free to play them as much as I wanted. It was really nice to be able to do things at my own pace. It was more free and relaxed. This was my first time with a game-based, mobile onboarding, says Erika.

In many workplaces, onboarding is taken care of by putting people to work directly and new employees are taught as they go. Digital orientation through a game is definitely something new and different.

Erika’s onboarding was not only fun and games, but Seppo was part of the bigger onboarding entity. This different kind of onboarding and the things that were addressed in it stuck in her mind better. Specifically, Seppo helped with the onboarding so that there was no need to discuss the basics with the supervisor separately.

Erika was able to complete the tasks in Seppo at her own pace. That way, there wasn’t too much information coming at once. The level of challenge varied and with some tasks, one had to think deeper, like when thinking about goals.

─ Seppo is clear, easy to use, and fun. New tasks would pop u as I proceeded in the game, Erika describes.

Onboarding with a game

By using Seppo you can ensure that all the important points and issues are discussed during the onboarding phase. The instructor will be able to monitor the employee’s progress and thus ensure that all things get covered. It is possible to give feedback to the players and inspire them to continue.

In practice, Seppo enables new employees to be taught through a game. If there are several summer employees, even dozens, Seppo makes it much easier to get acquainted with the job.

In this case, the instructor’s own time isn’t spent going through things with everyone individually. Employee onboarding can thus be automated to an extent and you can save time (and money). At the same time, a memorable onboarding experience is created for the new personnel.

─ Seppo games are suitable for any situation, as long as you know how to make the games, Erika suggests.

The organization designs the game themselves and can utilize their existing onboarding materials. Suddenly, a boring slideshow turns into an interactive mobile game. Gamification is a powerful way to get people thinking and activate them. Onboarding becomes a new and fun experience with the help of Seppo.

Anyone can create a game, as Seppo is developed to be an easy-to-use tool. Only your imagination is the limit when it comes to designing a game. For sure you can also get help from the Seppo team if you need help with designing your own game.

In any case, a company needs to plan the onboarding properly. A company must have an onboarding process that works for the company and fits the company’s needs. Seppo is a great tool for all this, as it is completely customizable to your own needs.

─ This is an innovative way to onboard. I recommend Seppo to everyone who needs to onboard personnel, says Erika from her own experience.

A company can stand out from the competition with Seppo. Onboarding personnel with a game is a surprising and new kind of onboarding experience.

Employee onboarding with Seppo:

• Easy to use and clear
• Customizable to each company’s needs
• Automates parts of the onboarding process
• Mobile and digital onboarding is suitable for remote employees
• A new and fun way to learn and get to know the company
• Effective support

Are you interested in the benefits of gamification for employee onboarding? Read more on our website: LINK