According to a study published at CNN/Money.Com, getting employees off to a great start is even more important than ever:
Engaging employees early in their career with a new company is essential to employee satisfaction, retention, and performance, says data from the latest Human Capital Management benchmark report from Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS). Effective onboarding of new employees is so crucial that 50% of more than 600 human resources, talent management, and line of business executives surveyed and interviewed by Aberdeen in December 2008 and January 2009 for this study indicate that the current state of the economy will increase the importance their organization places on onboarding in 2009.
Aberdeen’s research found that the percentage of organizations with a formal onboarding process has grown from 62% to 68% over the past year. In addition, two-thirds of Best-in-Class organizations are now beginning the onboarding process before the new employee’s start date, nearly one-half of which are starting the process as soon as the employment offer is extended. “Best-in-Class organizations are utilizing a formal onboarding process to drive positive impact in the pre-hire and through the new employee’s first year with the company,” said Kevin Martin, vice president and principal analyst, Human Capital Management at Aberdeen. “In fact, at the majority of Best-in-Class organizations, onboarding is seamlessly integrated with both recruitment and performance management.”
I continue to be amazed at how many employers, who desparately want an engaged workforce, do such a rotten job of assimilating new employees. Let’s committ to starting the engagement process the day a person applies for a job at our company, and continue that effort relentlessly– our survival may depend on it.
(Image courtesy http://www.lumaxart.com/)
Mark Hirschfeld 
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