Employee onboarding refers to the process of integrating and acclimating new employees into an organization. It involves providing them with the necessary tools, resources, and information to become productive members of the team while familiarizing them with the organization’s culture, values, policies, and procedures.
As per the report, 88% of organizations don’t onboard well, and almost 58% of organizations say that their onboarding process is focused on processes and paperwork. After investing countless hours in sourcing, identifying, interviewing, and hiring the perfect candidate, it can be incredibly disheartening and frustrating when they unexpectedly decide to leave for better opportunities.
Let’s deep dive into this vlog and discover more about the employee onboarding challenges and how this process can be streamlined with automation technologies.
Challenges with Employee Onboarding
While dealing with new hires, enterprises often deal with a number of challenges. And some of these are-
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Information Overload
The initial day of a new job can be overwhelming, filled with a deluge of information and introductions to numerous individuals. Management often anticipates new hires to quickly become productive, thus they aim to expedite the onboarding process. Nonetheless, the initial days should prioritize fostering a sense of comfort and enabling new employees to grasp their responsibilities in a manner that will endure throughout their tenure.
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Lack of Employee Engagement
Picture yourself beginning a new job, being directed to your desk, and then left alone without any guidance or clear instructions for what to do. This scenario, regrettably, occurs more frequently than one might expect and can have an adverse effect on the employee-company relationship right from the start.
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Unstructured Onboarding Process
It is widely recognized that thrusting new hires into unfamiliar territory without proper support is detrimental to all parties involved. Even if they manage to navigate the challenges, they will likely encounter numerous gaps in their knowledge that they must fill on their own. Ultimately, this approach can have detrimental effects on their productivity, such as handling data and creating centralized data access.
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High Volume Paperwork
Onboarding involves disseminating important information to new hires. Some of the most important documents in the HR process include employment offer letters, risk management policies, employee consent documents, health insurance document, and many others. As per the report, 58% of organizations say that their onboarding process involves a lot of paperwork only.
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Lack of Follow-Up & Support
Once the initial onboarding process is complete, ongoing support and follow-up are essential to ensure a smooth transition and integration into the organization. Without regular check-ins and support, new employees may struggle to address challenges or seek guidance, leading to dissatisfaction and disengagement.
Resolving Queries Instantly Through RPA Chatbot
A well-designed chatbot can significantly reduce the workload of HR teams by addressing common queries promptly. New hires can get answers to their questions about benefits, policies, IT setup, and more, without having to wait for a human representative. This not only improves employee satisfaction but also frees up HR professionals to focus on more strategic tasks.
With the advancement in technology, Robotic process automation, or RPA helps in programming to sort out and robotize the onboarding procedure. Enhancing the onboarding experience for new hires. The adequacy of your onboarding procedure is impacted by recruiting professionals, who are the first point of contact for any organization. All the documents during the recruiting process can be a part of the onboarding documentation using automation. For instance, a functional RPA can help in the following:
- Accumulation and storing data from resumes of potential candidates for future or to improve the onboarding procedure.
- Accumulation and distribution of data from candidate surveys to accelerate the hiring procedure.
New joiners don’t need to spend an initial couple of days of work rounding out on documentation. (Form filling, personal documents, etc.) Instead focus, on essential onboarding assignments which are overseen. Through a robotized procedure these can be quickly finished so they can hop right in on other tasks. It is conceivable to mechanize the absolute most tedious and minimum connecting with things on the new hires agenda.
HR Employee Onboarding with WhatsApp and MS Teams
Unlike humans handling employee onboarding tasks, multiple organizations are using
Automation technologies like RPA and AI to create autonomous HR processes. HR automation is indeed helping organizations to create better employee onboarding experiences.
However, communication technologies like WhatsApp and MS Teams could be of greater help in creating a better employee onboarding process. By integrating WhatsApp and MS Teams Chabot, businesses can-
- Easily use the chatbot to extract employee onboarding files
- Enable employees to raise service tickets and FAQs
- Initiate resolution through MS Teams and WhatsApp
- Send messages to employees for the joining date one day prior
A Seamless Onboarding Experience
Take for example, a new employee, Sarah, joining a tech company. As soon as she accepts the job offer, she receives a welcome email with a link to a chatbot. The chatbot guides her through the pre-boarding process, collecting necessary information and scheduling a virtual orientation.
On her first day, Sarah logs into MS Teams, where she finds a dedicated onboarding channel with all the essential resources. She can access company policies, meet her team virtually, and complete online training modules at her own pace. The chatbot continues to assist her by providing reminders, answering questions, and connecting her with the right people.
Within a week, Sarah feels confident in her new role and has already started building relationships with her colleagues. The entire onboarding process was smooth, efficient, and engaging, thanks to the effective use of automation and technology.
By implementing employee onboarding automation, organizations can create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for new hires. It helps to build trust, improve employee satisfaction, and ultimately enhance retention rates. By focusing on the employee experience, companies can differentiate themselves in a competitive job market and attract top talent.
Benefits of Using WhatsApp and MS Teams in Employee Onboarding
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Instant Communication and Collaboration
WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams offer instant communication and collaboration capabilities that can expedite the onboarding process. Using these platforms, HR managers can connect with new hires, answer their queries, and provide important information in real time. This immediacy fosters a sense of belonging and inclusion, making new employees feel supported and valued from day one.
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Document and Information Sharing
During the onboarding process, there is a significant amount of documentation and information exchange. WhatsApp and Teams provide a secure environment for sharing crucial documents such as employment contracts, employee handbooks, and training materials. This eliminates the need for physical paperwork, reducing administrative burdens and enabling efficient access to essential information.
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Virtual Training and Orientation
WhatsApp and Teams can facilitate virtual training and orientation sessions for new employees. With the ability to conduct video calls, webinars, and screen sharing, trainers can deliver interactive sessions, ensuring that new hires understand company policies, procedures, and culture. Additionally, pre-recorded training videos and documents can be shared via these platforms, allowing employees to revisit them for reference at any time.
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Integration with Existing Systems
Both WhatsApp and Teams offer seamless integration with various other tools and systems. This integration enables HR departments to connect onboarding processes with existing HR management systems, intranets, or employee databases. By automating tasks such as employee data collection and integration, the onboarding process becomes more efficient, reducing manual efforts and potential errors.
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Support and Mentoring
Onboarding is not just about providing information, it’s also about fostering connections and relationships. WhatsApp and Teams can serve as platforms for mentors and supervisors to provide ongoing support to new employees. Through group chats, individual messaging, or virtual meetings, mentors can offer guidance, answer questions, and ensure that new hires feel comfortable reaching out for assistance.
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Building a Sense of Community
One of the challenges of remote onboarding is creating a sense of community and belonging. WhatsApp and Teams can facilitate this by creating dedicated employee groups or channels. These spaces allow new hires to connect with their colleagues, ask questions on payroll, share experiences, and participate in team-building activities. By nurturing a virtual community, employees can feel connected and engaged, despite not being physically present.
Conclusion
The digital revolution has transformed the HR employee onboarding process, and leveraging tools like Microsoft Teams and WhatsApp can revolutionize the experience. These platforms enable centralized communication, real-time support, seamless document sharing, virtual meetings and training sessions, personalized resources, and ongoing engagement. By harnessing the power of these communication tools effectively, HR departments can enhance engagement, promote collaboration, and set new employees on a path to long-term success within the organization.
FAQs
Employee onboarding automation is the use of technology to streamline and digitize the process of integrating new hires into an organization. It involves using software, chatbots, and other digital tools to automate routine tasks, provide information, and guide new employees through their initial days and weeks at the company.
Automated onboarding creates a more seamless, efficient, and engaging experience for new hires by providing instant access to information and resources. It reduces waiting times, eliminates paperwork, and allows new employees to focus on learning their roles and integrating into the company culture more quickly.
The main benefits include increased efficiency, reduced administrative burden on HR teams, and improved consistency in the onboarding process. It also leads to higher employee engagement, faster time-to-productivity, and better retention rates as new hires feel more supported and informed from day one.