Most new hires feel a natural sense of anxiety about their first day at a job and often wonder whether they’ll fit in at the organization. If left unaddressed, this apprehension can lead to unenthusiasm from their early days on the job or, worse, make them reconsider the role. Thus, hiring managers must create a conducive environment for the recruits before they begin work, and preboarding is a great way to achieve this.
With preboarding, you can promote a positive employee experience and ensure a smooth transition period for the new hires. Dive in as we discover what preboarding means, how it can benefit you, and the best preboarding practices.
What is preboarding?
Preboarding is the period between a candidate’s acceptance of a job offer and their first official day in the organization. During this period, hiring managers welcome employees and introduce them to the company’s culture and work environment. This allows recruits to familiarize themselves with the company’s basic information before they arrive, thus lessening their initial anxiety.
General preboarding activities cut across welcome messages, introduction to company culture, and documentation. Doing these will keep your new hires engaged and excited to join your firm. This guarantees higher interest in the job and, eventually, general productivity, according to a 2023 SHRM guide.
Why is preboarding important?
Preboarding fosters maximum engagement and retention among your new employees while shortening their overall adjustment period. A 2021 study by Indeed noted increased ghosting from job seekers, with one-quarter of employers reporting new hires “no-showing” on their first day of work. To avoid this, good hiring managers should aim to improve communication and relationship with the new employee, and preboarding effortlessly achieves this goal.
Below, we’ll see five ways preboarding can benefit your organization and why it should be an integral part of your hiring process.
1. Enhances employee engagement and retention
Preboarding gets employees acquainted with your organization before they start work, reducing first-day anxiety. As a result, they can engage more and readily contribute to your organization, leading to more productivity.
Additionally, as a hiring manager, you want new team members to feel seen and connected to your organization. By taking them through a preboarding process, you can familiarize them with your company’s culture and show that you value their presence in your team. When employees feel appreciated, they’re more likely to remain and put in their best, lessening chances of quiet quitting later on.
2. Easier transition
Having recruits onboard is demanding, considering the number of administrative activities and documentation required to get them settled in the organization. Preboarding takes some of this pressure off, allowing you to file important employee information and set up basic resources beforehand.
This prevents training overload when they arrive and ensures a smoother, faster transition process for both you and the employees, making you feel more organized and in control.
3. Increases onboarding and job efficiency
Preboarding takes care of administrative details that can hinder the onboarding process early, leaving you ample time to focus on proper job training. Rather than spending time on documentation or introducing basic work tools, you can dive into the day-to-day requirements of the job from day one.
Hence, your employees get a clear picture of your expectations and can begin putting in the work early. This leads to higher productivity and efficiency during onboarding and throughout the employee’s stay with your firm.
4. Lower employee turnover and rehiring costs
Rehiring costs are high, especially with the recent rise of no-shows and employee ghosting. By engaging and interacting with new hires, you encourage them to remain with your company and make them trust that you’re the right employer for them.
This boosts their confidence in your organization and reduces the possibility of them leaving after a short while. The higher your employee retention, the less you’ll need to source and hire new candidates continually.
Where does preboarding end and onboarding begin?
Several HR circles frequently discuss preboarding and onboarding in relation to each other, and while they’re related, they have different activities and timelines. Understanding what each means and where they should come into play helps you harness their strengths for better results. Furthermore, you must know the difference between both stages of the hiring process and the typical activities in each.
While preboarding takes place before the recruit’s first day, the onboarding process starts on that day and continues for however long the company deems necessary. In essence, the employee’s first day on the job separates preboarding from onboarding, with preboarding taking place before, whereas onboarding happens on that day and subsequently. Preboarding usually spans 1-4 weeks, unlike onboarding, which can last anywhere between 3 and 12 months.
Next, we’ll examine common preboarding activities. Note that preboarding is mostly for initial preparation, and job-specific training shouldn’t occur here.
- Welcome messages: These can be emails or messages on your company’s communication channel. You can also include introductory videos of associated team members or company values like mission and vision statements. Adding these values acquaints the new hires with your company’s culture and helps them visualize their role in your team.
- Administrative documentation: Here, the employee provides important documents like a signed offer letter, tax forms, bank details, or certifications. Moreover, if your company has a guidebook or instruction manual, this is a good time to share it with the new hires.
- Setting up their company account: Most companies have an intranet or internal communication system. Before the recruits officially begin their role, you can provide IT assistance to set up their accounts and communication channels. This will expose them to your organization’s method of communication and let them get acquainted with it early.
- Scheduling: No employee wants to look out of place on their first day. So, providing schedules for their first few weeks, along with the preboarding instructions, is a good way to avoid this. Through their newly provided communication channels, you can share calendar schedules, timetables, and locations of company events to keep them updated about their first-day activities beforehand.
On the other hand, during onboarding, the new hire undergoes detailed training and skill development that they’ll need for their job. Excellent employee onboarding involves orientation on company policies and regulations, employee benefits, job expectations, and hands-on workflow training.
Best practices when preboarding
Preboarding has two main goals — increasing employee retention and hiring efficiency — but achieving these requires implementing certain practices. Without these tips, you may have a faster hiring process but fail to connect emotionally with the new hire. This is inevitably detrimental to your company because although you technically had preboarding sessions, outside offers could still attract your new hires.
In this section, we’ll list some best practices for excellent preboarding and turnover reduction.
1. Personalized welcome packs
Welcome messages are a staple in most organizations, but you can improve on this trend with personalization. This leaves a lasting impression on the new hire and makes them truly feel seen and welcomed. In addition to emails, send a welcome pack with company swag to your employees, whether it’s a branded notebook or coffee mug. For an extra touch, you could include a note or letter from the hiring team or company executives.
2. Announcements
It’s not enough to send a private welcome message to your new hires; you also want to acknowledge them publicly. To achieve this, write a message to your team, introducing the new hire and their role in the organization. You can also arrange a brief virtual or in-person meetup to allow older team members to meet the new employees before they start work.
3. Social invites
Social events are another avenue for introducing your new employees to the rest of your team. Invite them to any formal or informal company get-togethers, whether it’s conferences or laid-back hangouts, and encourage them to attend. By socializing, they can get to know their colleagues before their first day, no doubt reducing the overwhelming newcomer feeling.
4. Communication and feedback
Before, throughout, and after the preboarding process, recruits should be able to communicate with you. This is a simple strategy that elevates their experience with your company. To this end, establish an open communication channel through constant check-ins, asking about their preboarding journey, questions, or concerns, and ensure you address these.
You can also include surveys in their welcome packages and encourage them to share their opinions on your preboarding process. Remember to add your contact information so they can reach you if necessary.
5. Buddy or mentorship system
People tend to learn faster when paired with someone else. Although your recruit hasn’t officially begun working, you want to give them access to their peers or senior team members. This gives them someone they can easily turn to for answers and explanations. Also, the one-on-one strategy allows the employee to feel more comfortable voicing their issues as opposed to asking questions in bigger team meetings.
Before you preboard, here’s how you can find the best candidates
Preboarding can work wonders for retaining your new employees, but first, you must find skilled candidates fit for the open role. Although this is no easy task, Vervoe is a one-stop solution for solving your hiring challenges.
Vervoe is a recruitment software solution that helps you determine the best candidate for a job and reduce hiring biases. Our objective tests and job simulations give you a detailed report of how each candidate is likely to perform on the job.
One of Vervoe’s key features is the massive assessment library, with 300+ validated assessments and over 300,000 test questions. Besides ready-made assessments, this library offers a custom builder if you’d rather create a version that better represents the role.
On these tests, you can ask questions that simulate everyday tasks the candidate is likely to experience on the job and see their response to the situation. Our software also comes with in-built anti-cheating features like question randomizers and geolocation detection that prevent candidates from copying.
Even more, you can leverage and train Vervoe’s AI optimization tool to identify suitable responses for you depending on your specific needs and requirements. This feature, combined with our powerful assessments, will help you single out the best candidates and drastically reduce hiring mistakes.
Other notable features are employer branding — which lets you customize tests and videos to showcase your company’s brand — and automatic detailed reports. From these reports, you’ll spot the best performer quickly and without stress so that you can proceed with your employment offer and preboarding plans.
Enhance your hiring success with Vervoe and preboarding
Efficient, productive employees are the foundation for any successful organization. However, to get amazing hires on your team, you must combine an effective screening and employment process with preboarding.
Vervoe’s assessments and job simulations are easy to implement, fast, and engaging for both you and the candidates. These qualities, along with an outstanding assessment library, AI optimization, anti-cheating features, and customization, make it a perfect recruitment solution for screening and selecting ideal candidates.
So, take advantage of our premium hiring solution for more strategic recruiting. Register for Vervoe’s free trial and start building your dream team today!
