First impressions: How to avoid damaging onboarding mistakes

A recent survey found that nearly four in 10 new employees questioned their decision to join a company during their onboarding process. And the dissatisfaction is even worse for Gen Z employees, as nearly half of that age group reported having second thoughts about taking the job before finishing onboarding. So, what are employers doing wrong, and how can they get it right?

Purpose of onboarding

Onboarding, when done right, gets new hires off to a strong start. Done wrong, it leaves them feeling overwhelmed and longing for a different employment situation.

HR software platform BambooHR identifies two key parts to onboarding: (1) transitioning new employees into the company culture and helping them learn the values, goals, and expectations of the employer and (2) familiarizing new employees with the tools and resources that will make them productive.

In a January blog post, BambooHR lists five central purposes of the onboarding process:

• Validating the new hire’s decision;
• Immersing the new hire into the organization;
• Providing clear expectations;
• Providing training; and
• Providing resources.

Problems and solutions