Examining the Key Role of the Onboarding Process From the Perspective of HR and the Experience of Employees

Abstract

One of the greatest assets of a well-run organization is its people. However, it is not enough for an organization to find the best people. It also needs to be able to keep them. A well-run organization aims to quickly turn employees into engaged, motivated, and effective workers. One of the most important processes for achieving this is onboarding. This emerging discipline entails integrating, training, and mentoring a new employee. An effective onboarding program also helps to reduce staff turnover. This research aimed to assess 1) the focus and documentation of the onboarding process, 2) the continuous feedback generated during the onboarding process, 3) and the direct manager’s supporting role in the onboarding process. While the interviews conducted during this research suggested that only large companies have established mentoring or training programs, this was not confirmed by our analysis of the questionnaire data. Employee responses supported the facilitating role of direct colleagues in the process of onboarding and aided new employees in the process of integrating into the organizations studied. The results of this research provide suggestions for developing more effective and efficient onboarding processes.