Is your company considering purchasing digital onboarding software? Are you in charge of justifying the purchase?
We’ve done the hard work for you and put together your business case. Throughout this blog we’ll discuss six reasons why digital onboarding software is crucial in modern businesses and the immediate advantages you’ll received from implementing an efficient and online onboarding system.
We’ve even designed an aesthetic infographic to add to insert in your case…
(1) Reduce Time & Money Spent on Recruitment
An end-to-end digital onboarding software, such as My Recruitment Plus, automatically collects and carries data from and between all phases of recruiting a new employee. By this, I mean all data is automatically carried from documents that were processed during:
- Requisition
- Recruitment
- Onboarding
- Payroll
Due to this data flow, e-forms and documents are automatically generated! Data that has previously been input into forms is used to create new forms that are included in the employees onboarding pack. This data can include:
- Terms and conditions
- Pay and leave
- Position roles and responsibilities
- Starting date
This data is spread over a variety of documents, such as; letter of offer, welcome and induction documents, read and sign e-forms, bank e-forms, tax e-forms and contracts.
Your onboarding software generates these for you, meaning recruiters and HR don’t have to spend time reading over different documents and copy and pasting the same information multiple times. Instead, they can edit the automatically generated contracts and e-forms, and send the onboarding packs within minutes!
Before onboarding packs are sent to the new employees, the HR must check and approve the documents. They must review and approve the details provided regarding their employment and the expectations the company has of the new employee. With a paper based onboarding system, this process could take days. It takes time to read and check multiple documents, and then sign and scan back the documents. This lengthy process is unnecessary and avoidable. With digital onboarding software, this internal approval and signing step can be completed within minutes!
Since the e-forms are online and accessible anywhere, the HR managers have the flexibility to view and digitally approve and sign the documents on the go! Whether they’re on the train, in the car, or taking their dog for a walk… the opportunities are limitless! The digital onboarding software enables the documentation generation, internal approval, and signing to be quick, effortless and efficient. This reduces the money spent on recruitment by at least 50% by reducing the time HR managers and recruiters have to devote to hiring and onboarding.
It’s true; onboarding is swiftly completed with digital software. However, what you might not know is that the advantages don’t end once the new hire is on boarded. Digital onboarding software allows you to cross board and offboard employees with the SAME SYSTEM. The software allows variations so it can be utilized as a multipurpose tool. The completed contracts are saved to your personalized onboarding platform, which allows you to search through key words and phrases.
Imagine a scenario arises at work and you want to confirm or edit the responsibilities of a new employee that was outlined in their contract. No problems! Simply search their name, or their position, and all data that is relevant will appear on your screen in seconds! All the data is calibrated to one platform that assists you in overcoming the dilemma of spending excessive time searching through paper documents and files.
As well as being efficient in locating documentation and signed contracts, your digital onboarding system also partakes in activates that support the success of employee onboarding! Once the onboarding pack has been completed by the employee and sent back to the employer, the relevant stakeholders are immediately notified. These stakeholders are decided by the recruiter or HR management and can include; IT, managers, colleagues etc.
The notifications are automated, and remind you of the new hire’s start date… they might notify you at; 2 weeks, 1 week, 3 days etc. You can customize this to suit your preferences! We’ll touch upon the significance of these notifications a bit later on.
(2) Increase Onboarding Completion Rate
Processes that are hard and time consuming are extremely off-putting. We can’t help it, we’re human and we can be lazy. So, if your onboarding process is difficult and requires printing, signing, scanning and sending, it’s fair to assume the new hire won’t
return their onboarding documents for a few days, and when they do hand in their documentation, there will be sections missing required details.
This is a domino affect as incomplete paperwork results in HR chasing the employee in order to gather all the details they need. This could lead to new employees working without having cemented their contracts and been properly informed about their position.
These errors result in more work for HR, and can also lead to backlash with new hires…A common example of this is a new hire’s pay being delayed due to their incomplete paperwork that cant be processed in the HR systems and put into Payroll. An easy solution? Implement a more efficient onboarding system!
Improve and increase the completion rate.
(3) Fast-track Onboarding Completion
Acquiring onboarding software has many benefits for the company AND the employees! One of these benefits is the flexibility and accessibility of the onboarding packs. The onboarding pack, as discussed, is generated and sent with a few clicks and within minutes. The link is generated and easily sent via text or email. This link can be accessed on mobile phones, which means new hires can easily fill out the forms wherever they are! The same way HR can approve the onboarding packs wherever they are!
The onboarding packs are composed of e-forms. Just to clarify, an e-form is an online document that can be completed without having to print it. You can digitally sign and fill in the blank spaces… COMPLETELY DIGITALLY.
The result? Quicker onboarding completion rates.
How? By enabling new candidates to complete and send back their forms within minutes. It doesn’t matter where they are, or what they’re doing, they have access to the forms and can save their progress if they don’t get the chance to completely finish them in one sitting.
The quicker the employee completes their documentation, the more time the company has to prepare for their arrival! Their new managers have more time to;
- Set up their log in details to the platforms utilized by the company
- To purchase the necessary equipment…
- Organize a work space for them..
- Inform their colleagues of their arrival
And so on. These processes require time and effort, which can’t be given all at once. It’s a procedure and can’t be rushed. Thus, the faster the employee completes their documents, the more time they give their employers’ to prepare a positive employee experience.
(4) Reduce Candidate Drop-Off and Ghosting
As well as ensuring the documentation is completed in a timely manner, by installing a a simple procedure with clear instructions you also reduce the likelihood of being ghosted by candidates and losing them during the final stage of recruitment. We’ve already talked about the lengthy process of printing, scanning, signing and sending being off-putting and a deterrent for candidates to complete theirdocumentation…
So, what happens if another company offers them a similar position but their onboarding is efficient and easy, clear and straightforward? Their onboarding document can be completed in a few minutes, but yours requires more time and effort? It’s likely they’ll sign with the other company.
Why? Because the onboarding process offers insight into the efficacy of the company; a company that has onboarding software that is energy saving and systematic allows the new hire to assume the same can be said for the communication and work environment at the company.
Thus, to prevent losing valuable new employees and being ghosted we have to ensure their onboarding is flawless. How do we do this? By utilizing onboarding software that does the hard work. Technology is powerful…make sure you use it to your advantage.
(5) Save Money by Reducing Time Spent ‘Sitting on the Bench’
Imagine this scenario.
You see your new employee arriving and realize you completely forgot today was their first day. You rush to IT to gather their details and they inform you that they aren’t ready because they didn’t know today was the deadline… you also realize you haven’t picked up their work laptop and stationary. You have no real tasks for them and there’s no way for them to complete any tasks since you don’t have their equipment. What now?! You see your new hire looking at you with excitement and sit them down whilst you try and sort out what to do with them today.
Unfortunately these events regularly occur in business’, and results in money lost from people sitting on the bench because they don’t have the appropriate tools to begin working. It’s not anyone’s fault, every worker has countess tasks and situations always arise that require attention and time.. which sometimes means other tasks are forgotten about.
I couldn’t count the number of times I begun working on a task from my to-do list and it’s taken me ten times as long as it should have because my attention was needed elsewhere. These things happen! But it’s how we plan and combat them that matters.
Your onboarding system should support you, and provide you with efficiencies that modern technology can provide. The automated notification feature, as previously discussed, combats this scenario and eliminates money wasted by not being ready for a new employee’s arrival.
The notifications of their start date are sent to all stakeholders (IT, management, payroll, colleagues etc) and remind them to get organized! This efficiency is a lifesaver. Life can get hectic, (when COVID-19 doesn’t keep us locked up inside our house), so its crucial to receive all the support you can when it comes to important deadlines. What good is a planner if you don’t have the time to review it?
(6) Ensure Positive Employee Experience for New Hires
Let’s pretend you’re a new employee and it’s our first day on the job.
We arrive at the office and tell the first person we see who we are and that it’s our first day. They introduce themselves and leave to find someone responsible for you to get you started and show you are. You see a familiar face and the person who hired you approaches you. You’re excited and ready to start, but they inform you that your equipment hasn’t arrived, and they haven’t generated your logins to give you access to their networks. They sit you down and tell you to wait whilst they get themselves sorted before showing you around.
How disappointing. As a new employee on your first day you want to feel welcomed, you want to feel as though your presence is important and you’re joining a supportive team and company. Being sat on the bench, waiting for someone to make some time for you, does the EXACT opposite. This may lead you questioning if you made the right decision about starting with this company….
New employees are extremely impressionable, kind of like young children. What they see is what they do, and they need nurturing and guidance. They need to feel comfortable in their work environment, and be made to feel as though they belong to a team. It’s daunting starting a new job and it’s your job to ensure they are confident about their decision to work for you and confident that they’re working for a progressive company.
There’s many tips and tricks to create a positive employee experience, but the key to ensuring their first experiences with you and your business are positive is to treat them with respect and welcome them to the work family. And whether or not you’re completely prepared for their first day plays a huge role on their first impression… (ps. First impressions are lasting impressions and guide later thoughts and feelings)
These are the six points for your business case to show your boss and justify your digital onboarding software purchase. To keep things simple, here’s the bottom line regarding onboarding software:
- Impressing new hires and making them feel welcome
- Training new hires
- Reducing costs and redirecting recruiters time
- Reducing (and eliminating) the time employees spend on the bench
These outcomes are successfully achieved by business’ with end-to-end digital onboarding software’s, such as My Recruitment Plus. Good luck with your boss, and here’s the features you should ensure your onboarding software contains before spending any money!
Work smarter, and not harder!
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