SaaS | Onboard and Retain NEW EMPLOYEES
We have spent the last six long weeks doing resume reviews, setting up competency tests and different interviews between the Line Manager and prospective candidates, for several open Developers and Engineer roles. Finally, we found the most suitable ones and their first day is just around the corner.
Personally, we perceive that onboarding a new employee is as equally important as a new customer. The probationary period, introductory period, on-boarding, whatever you call it, although it is at the end of the recruiting funnel, this is the last but not least phase. Effective onboarding programs aim specifically to get new hires up to speed as soon as possible so they can begin to contribute their personal talents to the business.
Effective onboarding programs not only improve productivity but also raise employee retention so not investing enough efforts in this phase may cause a detrimental impact on the business, says simply, low employer brand and high quit-rate
(Yes, many employees even search for new job opportunities even before their probationary period ends?!).
The core of any business is human so we always try the best to offer each new candidate a professional but personalized and well-cared on-boarding process so that every new employee can clearly understand responsibility guidelines and measurable performance metrics, effectively integrate into the new company in order to become a full member of the workforce after the probation.
Our Challenges— Throughout our experience and personal observations, we know that a starter is the most vulnerable in the first 1-2 months before they make some noticeable progress in the third and fourth month and finally reaching one’s full potential within 6–8 months. Despite that fact, most Vietnamese companies, including ours at the moment, choose to follow the 60 days probation period. It means that we need to create a more comprehensive and richer program so that a new hire can develop three main key dimensions during their probation period: the organizational, the technical, and the social.
Starting from zero, the next questions are: who will do what? AND how to do (Or with which tool can I do/track it?)
Our Solution — We decided to use Trello to create an onboarding program — 60 days of success. Within our organizational context and budget, this system is optimal as we already used it and be familiar with using it for daily task management. However, it can be further deployed for some HR tasks such as: creating a digital handbook for employees, managing recruiting pipeline, interview process as well as on-boarding planning. There are three key parties involve in the on-boarding process of a new hire: HR & Administration, Direct Manager, and a Work Buddy.
Actionable lists created. You can insert a checklist and other attachments such as reading materials or a photo into each task card. To allocate a task to a team member, we only need to add that specific person to a task card to indicate that person is responsible for completing the task before the set deadline. Even if a responsible person is sick for several days, other colleagues can easier follow up and help to continue the process.
The on-boarding process may be different case by case, for instance, between the managerial and non-managerial positions. Every time we have a new hire we definitely must run through the whole process again and again. Some weekly professional tasks may be changed in consultation with Line Managers or Team Leaders. There is also an Activity Log in each Task card so that all joined members can start a conversation or questioning.
If you want to use the same template for another new hire, go to “Show Menu” on the top right corner, choose “Copy Board”, fill in the board’s “Tittle” (Ex: Starter’s Name — Start & End Date) and then click “Create” to make another new intact one.
(**) This is a simplified 3 days version of an original detailed program and some information were hidden/removed due to confidentiality
(***) Information in the Description was removed due to confidentiality
Written By Hung & Alice
