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Australian financial software company MYOB conducted a survey of small to medium businesses (SME), revealing that poor onboarding at a company is a “deal breaker” for 71 per cent of candidates, while 79 per cent believe it is essential to get right.
MYOB CEO, Helen Lea said that onboarding can affect the longevity of employees, citing data from Brandon Hall Group which revealed that strong onboarding can improve hire retention by 82 per cent and productivity by 70 per cent.
“Our research indicates how people are more willing to move around in a hot market, so it’s imperative that businesses take time to consider how they onboard new hires, as this could help retain good people,” said Ms Lea.
“There are currently more jobs available than people to fill the roles, and according to the National Skills Commission, recruitment has been consistently more difficult this year compared with 2021. So, when you find the right talent, you want to do everything you can to keep them in your business,” she explained.
MYOB’s study found that 78 per cent of those surveyed believe their onboarding process could be improved. However, only 51 per cent said they were making progress in addressing issues with onboarding.
Ms Lea said: “There are several stages of the onboarding process, meaning there are plenty of opportunities to make tweaks and improvements.”
She continued: “This could be assessing how to make a new hire’s first few days more interactive, or simply making sure you catch up with them on an informal basis to get to know them better. Or it could be providing clarity on achievable goals aligned to your business objectives, so they have clear direction and impact from the start.”
With the tight labour market creating issues with hiring, 85 per cent of respondents said they have “increased their focus on employee experience,” with nine out of 10 employees noting it as a key consideration when applying for a job.
Ms Lea said: “When MYOB considers employee experience, it encompasses everything someone encounters and feels while at work – from the job application to the first day, the work culture and environment, employee engagement, benefits on offer, business leadership and so much more.”
“It’s wonderful to see SMEs giving employee experience the attention it deserves. We should all be continuously assessing this, regardless of circumstances or business size. The good news is 83 per cent of people we surveyed think their workplace offers a good employee experience, so this heightened attention is clearly paying off,” said Ms Lea.
MYOB acquired financial services platform Flare in September. Co-founder and co-CEO of Flare, James Windon commented on the data: “Investing time to plan your onboarding program can have a positive ripple effect on the business, and putting new employees first makes them feel like they made the right choice by joining the team. Remember onboarding isn’t a race, it’s a journey, so pace and spread out the information over time.”
Mr Windon continued: “Another consideration is how you ‘pre-board’ someone. Streamlining how employees share their details with the business can really help improve this experience. Swapping endless paper forms for a digital onboarding tool is not only easier and faster for the new hire, but for you too, and can improve your efficiency by up to 85 per cent.”
MYOB surveyed 1,002 SME operators, and 1,000 employees at SME’s.
RELATED TERMS
Employee engagement is the level of commitment people have to the company, how enthusiastic they are about their work, and how much free time they devote to it.
Onboarding is the process of integrating new hires into the company, guiding them through the offer and acceptance stages, induction, and activities including payroll, tax and superannuation compliance, as well as other basic training. Companies with efficient onboarding processes benefit from new workers integrating seamlessly into the workforce and spending less time on administrative tasks.
The practice of actively seeking, locating, and employing people for a certain position or career in a corporation is known as recruitment.
Jack Campbell
Jack is the editor at HR Leader.
