7 Onboarding Mistakes to Avoid if You Want to Retain Staff

New hire onboarding can make or break your employees' time with your company. A positive experience helps employees adapt to your workflow while motivating them to keep improving their productivity. However, a negative experience can push high-quality professionals away and lead to employee turnover. 

With so many variables and potential mistakes, onboarding new employees can get complicated. Nevertheless, your orientation plans should be customized to each new hire's needs and flexible enough to change as you go. 

Below are the seven biggest onboarding mistakes to avoid when hiring new employees.

1. Underestimating Employee Turnover

Employee turnover includes any type of separation between employees and employers, though it primarily consists of employees quitting. The average employee turnover rate in 2023 was 3.8% – with 2.5% attributed to quitting. These statistics are rather consistent with recent years, especially as employees expect better treatment and healthier work cultures. 

Many new hires can gauge within their first few days whether or not their job is a right fit for them. Remembering the importance of each employee's experience should help you plan a positive and motivational onboarding process. 

2. Overbooking the Itinerary

Many employers aim to save time during the hiring process by combining multiple steps. Unfortunately, merging your orientation and onboarding processes can overwhelm new hires with too much information. Many people simply won't be able to retain names, procedures, and details while simultaneously remembering all their onboarding steps. This is often even more complex in remote and hybrid workplaces that rely on technology. 

Instead, your orientation schedule for new employees should be gradual and customized to their needs. First, focus on your basic company information, such as policies, login processes, and names. Depending on the job and company size, this step alone may require a few days. Next, move into the specific responsibilities and operations of their position. Always plan extra space to answer questions and address workshop obstacles. 

3. Using Bulk Onboarding

Bulk hiring is an often effective process that can introduce various new hires to your company at once. However, onboarding employees in bulk can restrict your focus, impair engagement, and create other problems during hiring. 

New hires' onboarding steps should be personalized to their individual needs. Multiple employees can easily participate in certain onboarding steps, such as orientation, training videos, policy discussions, and meet-and-greets. However, their overall schedule should be individualized to them. This one-on-one approach guarantees you can get to know each employee while giving them time to ask questions and learn things their way.

4. Isolating New Employees

On the other side of the scale, making your onboarding steps entirely one-on-one can isolate them from the rest of your company. Learning the names, faces, and titles of other employees within your business is just as important as learning its policies and procedures. This is especially important in hybrid and remote environments, as some employees' first impressions could be their only impressions of one another.

Consider onboarding steps and activities that will get your employees acquainted with one another. Examples include:

• Job shadowing
• Group discussions
• Group activities
• Message board introductions
• Virtual break rooms
   

5. Assuming Every Employee Will Adapt the Same Way

Every person operates and learns new information differently. A previous employee adapting quickly doesn't mean a new hire will adjust in the same timeframe. So, you shouldn't put too much emphasis on expectations or schedules. Instead, your onboarding plan should be loose and customizable to each person's needs. 

Paying attention to employees' abilities and learning styles lets you better customize their orientation experiences. For example, a new hire who held the same title at a previous company will likely understand many of the job's operations. So, your orientation should instead focus on your company's unique protocols and workflows. Alternatively, an employee who previously worked for your company may only need to learn about their job specifics. 

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6. Expecting Onboarding to End After Orientation

Setting realistic expectations is critical for both you and your new employee. In today's competitive culture, many new employees may feel pressured to complete every task perfectly. Unfortunately, this mindset can impair their self-confidence and engagement if they make mistakes – which is not a great foot to start on. 

According to experts, a new employee may need three to 12 months to be fully onboarded and comfortable in their position. So, no matter how long you take during orientation, you can't expect employees to hit 100% productivity in their second week. 

Establish early on that your employee has time to learn the ropes without pressure or judgment. Then, consider setting up regular check-ins or additional onboarding steps so you can follow their transition long-term. In doing so, you can make them feel more comfortable and establish a more constructive company culture. 

7. Overlooking Transferable Skills

The modern job market is fast-paced and competitive, which sometimes causes applicants to overlook details. Even in a "normal" job market, many employees underestimate their skills or their jobs' expectations when accepting positions. This often leads to employee turnover and lost resources on both ends – but it doesn't always have to.

Amid industry shifts, many companies' best employees are those who can adapt between different positions. So, if you hire a valuable new employee who ultimately doesn't quite fit their position, your professional relationship doesn't have to end there. Keep an eye on each employee's skills and abilities throughout their onboarding process. As a result, you may identify better opportunities for them immediately or down the road. 

Strategize Your New Hire Onboarding and Orientation Process

An employee's first week at a job may feel stressful and high-stakes. Overloading them with too much information, various tasks, and unreasonable expectations can easily deter their focus from your onboarding steps. This can negatively impact their orientation and their overall time with your company. 

Today, employers must understand the importance of new hire onboarding. Staying atop the latest hiring trends can help you establish the best orientation plan possible for your future team. Explore iHire's onboarding resource center to learn the best practices for onboarding new employees.