U.S. employers are falling short when it comes to onboarding new employees, according to new research from Eagle Hill Consulting. Recent new hires indicate that their onboarding did not adequately cover many of the basics employees need to be successful including understanding relationship building (71 percent), organizational culture (62 percent), technology (54 percent), and their benefits (46 percent).

The sentiment comes as employers are experiencing an unprecedented surge in onboarding amid the Great Resignation. The number of Americans quitting their jobs continues to rise, up to 4.4 million in February according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.

The new research from Eagle Hill Consulting, From the Great Resignation to the Great Retention:
The Case for Better Hybrid Onboarding, is available here.

The research also finds that only 50 percent of workers expect to be at the same job three years from now. Also, about half (49 percent) of employees who started a new job are not getting trained in person – it’s either virtual (31 percent) or hybrid (18 percent).

“Onboarding is so much more than paperwork and checklists,” says Melissa Jezior, president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting. “What you don’t want is for your company to become ‘The Great Regret’ for new employees because of an onboarding failure. Done wrong, onboarding can damage performance and moral, which drives employees right out the door. But done right, onboarding can set employees up for success in terms of strengthening their career development, enabling them to live your culture and values, and developing strong relationships across the organization. Ultimately, strategic onboarding helps retain employees, creates and engaged workforce, and boosts organizational and individual performance.”

“What’s key for employers is to stop thinking about onboarding as a just a short-term human resources function,” Jezior explained. “Successfully folding new hires into your organization happens over time with many people involved, which is all the more complex given the growth of remote and hybrid work.”

In terms of what employees want during their first month on the job:

• 83 percent want more knowledge of how performance is measured.
• 76 percent want more information on mental and physical health resources.
• 75 percent want more opportunities to make personal connections with team members.
• 74 percent want more guidance on how to be successful in the corporate culture.
• 74 percent want more details on how workplace practices could change due to pandemic, like moving from remote to hybrid.
• 70 percent want more information on the organization’s core values.
• 69 percent want more opportunities to make personal connections with people outside their team.
• 68 percent want more tips on how to network in remote/hybrid setting.

Four ways to improve virtual and hybrid onboarding are detailed here.

The findings are based upon The Eagle Hill Onboarding Survey 2022, conducted by Ipsos during the week of February 3, 2022. The survey included 782 respondents from a random sample of employees across the U.S. who started a new job during the last eighteen months. The survey polled respondents on aspects of their onboarding experience.

Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is a woman-owned business that provides unconventional management consulting services in the areas of Strategy & Performance, Talent, and Change. The company’s expertise in delivering innovative solutions to unique challenges spans across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, from financial services to healthcare to media & entertainment. Eagle Hill has offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Boston, MA and Seattle, WA. More information is available at www.eaglehillconsulting.com.

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