Dive Brief:
- A long, manual onboarding process for holiday seasonal workers is stressful for HR and new hires, according to a survey by Adobe. The poll of 250 HR professionals and 1,000 U.S. consumers cited holiday seasonal hiring as the most stressful recruiting period.
- Nearly 80% of HR respondents reported the time required to onboard staff is a challenge, while 72% said onboarding paperwork is a struggle.
- The survey found that onboarding seasonal workers can take employers more than a day, and that the inputting of paperwork online can take up to an hour. Eighty-six percent of seasonal hires said switching from a paper-based process to online signatures would make the onboarding process faster and more efficient, with 93% of HR respondents agreeing.
Dive Insight:
Onboarding remains a pain point, as Adobe's findings confirmed.
Nearly 40% of employees in an Accountemps survey said their technology wasn't properly set up on their first day of work. And although respondents called the onboarding process "somewhat effective" overall, there is room to improve the process.
Employers need to pay attention to the most minute details in onboarding plans, Michael Steinitz, senior executive director for Accountemps, said of the research. "In today's market, where employees are in the driver's seat, it's especially important for companies to make a good first impression," he added.
That's why some experts have said the onboarding process should start before a new hire's first day; employers should make the recruiting experience positive for all applicants and assure selected candidates that working for them would be the right choice.
Marc Solow, managing director of human capital at Deloitte Consulting, told HR Dive that employers risk losing valuable talent to competitors by failing to communicate regularly with and engage the chosen candidate.
Loni Freeman, vice president of HR for SSPR, told HR Dive that new hires should be given a thorough introduction to their role, fellow workers, and the company's culture and policies as a part of onboarding. At SSPR, candidates are assigned a mentor in the first week, and after meeting the CEO, they meet with colleagues for an informal breakfast and lunch.