Talent Management - January 2009 - (Page 18)

Integrate Web 2.0 Into the On-Boarding Experience Joseph Impastato It’s not enough to get the best employees in the door. Once they’re on-board, organizations must make special efforts to ensure new hires’ ﬁrst impressions are positive and lasting ones. A good on-boarding process is vital to new-hire success and, ultimately, to the success of the company. A positive on-boarding experience will bolster morale and illustrate to new hires that they matter to the organization while simultaneously introducing them to the company’s diversity, environmental and other initiatives. Effective on-boarding also can improve time-to-productivity and retention rates and reduce the risk of noncompliance and other legal problems by ensuring all paperwork is ﬁlled out in an orderly, systemic manner. This can save the organization money by reducing paper, if a paperless process is used, and it can reduce turnover costs and increase the company’s brand cache as new hires tell others about their great experiences in their new jobs. Most companies either have or realize they need to have some kind of on-boarding process, whether it is transactional and paperwork-oriented, or acculturation-focused — with emphasis on company culture, expectations and goals — or both. But while there is a lot of buzz around the topic, talent managers do not seem to be acting on it with the same level of enthusiasm. “Awareness of the need for on-boarding is high; implementation is low,” said Todd Raphael, editor-in-chief of the Electronic Recruiting Exchange, an Internet recruiting guide. Window-treatment and covering provider Hunter Douglas got the point after suffering from a 70 percent six-month turnover rate. The company discovered its new hires never felt connected to the company. This likely was because production workers were only given a 10-minute orientation before starting their new jobs. Hunter Douglas revamped its on-boarding process and reduced its turnover rate to 6 percent. Delivery Method Is Key On-boarding is a vital element in new-hire retention and development, but these days, the method of onboarding is just as important as the program’s contents. David Lee, an author and expert in employee performance, said, “Making your new-hire orientations as 18 January 2009

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Talent Management - January 2009

Talent Management - January 2009 Editor’s Letter Contents Human Performance Leading Edge Learning Connections Integrate Web 2.0 Into the On-Boarding Experience Show ’Em the Money: Compensation Trends 2009 Transition at the Top How Hollywood Manages Talent and What You Can Learn Get the Most Bang With Limited Training Bucks Life After Layoffs Attract Specific Talent Groups Performance Management: Its Time Is Now Helping the Helpers Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources Full Potential

Talent Management - January 2009

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