Onboarding is one of the most important stages for anyone joining a new company, but also for the organization itself. New hires must, as quickly as possible, settle into a new environment where they can figure out how to best utilize their skills and build collaborative, positive, and lasting relationships.
Properly engaging employees from the moment they join the company has a positive impact on the risk of turnover after hiring, on productivity, and on the retention of new hires—not to mention employer branding. Research shows that 69% of employees are less likely to leave the company if they have benefited from an effective onboarding process.
It is therefore essential to design a new employee experience that takes these changes into account and leverages the potential offered by technology, creating a new experience for new hires.
How can we use digital technology to transform onboarding from a one-time experience into a process that is fully integrated with the employee experience?
The Benefits of Digital Onboarding
Onboarding is no longer limited to in-person training sessions; it now extends to platforms, apps, and interactive experiences. This transformation offers companies an unprecedented opportunity to engage new employees from the very beginning and fully immerse them in the company culture. One of the most powerful aspects of digital onboarding is its ability to tell stories—for example, about corporate values and culture—through videos, interactive materials, quizzes, and gamification.
Furthermore, digital technology also enables a level of personalization that would not be possible with traditional methods. Employees can therefore explore the company culture at their own pace, based on what matters most to them—and this is extremely important: according to a study conducted by Gallup, employees who experience a well-structured and engaging onboarding process are 3.4 times more likely to stay with the same company for at least three years.
Finally, the digital aspect of onboarding also allows organizations to collect a wide range of data and analytics. According to research by SHRM, 73% of companies use data and feedback collected during the onboarding process to make continuous improvements. In fact, the use of digital tools makes it easy to collect data on new employees’ performance and experiences, enabling companies to identify areas for improvement and take timely action.
Viewing onboarding in this way means going beyond simply providing information about business processes to creating a truly engaging experience that directly impacts the employee experience, demonstrating a commitment to employees and showing them that they are valued and supported from their very first days. As we’ve already mentioned, this can have a significant impact on trust, onengagement , and retention.
Success Story: Digital Onboarding with hi Platform
A successful example of digital onboarding that effectively conveys corporate culture is the one we implemented with a major technology company. Using hi Platform, the company was able to convey its values of innovation, collaboration, and customer focus to new employees in an engaging and memorable way. This helped create a sense of belonging from the very first days and had a positive impacton the overallemployee experience.
Specifically:
- hi Platform drew attention to the documentation provided on the first day (from the national collective bargaining agreement to the code of ethics, from insurance to the welfare plan, from the pension fund to how to read a pay stub, and the welcome kit), ensuring that new hires actively engaged with it throughout their first month on the job;
- hi Platform organized opportunities for listening and gathering feedback through mini-surveys or quick polls, as well as providing some tips that served as reminders for certain standard activities included in the program , such as direct participation in mandatory training sessions;
- Finally, in the weeks that followed, hi Platform helped new hires get up to speed with all the tools in use at the company (Teams, the cloud, the employee portal, payroll, ticketing, etc.), guiding them on which tool to use when
In conclusion, digital onboarding presents an unprecedented opportunity to convey corporate culture in an engaging and meaningful way. Companies can create experiences that go beyond simply conveying information, directly influencing the employee experience. Investing in effective digital onboarding is not only a way to integrate new employees more quickly, but also to cultivate a corporate culture that serves as the foundation for future success.
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