Preboarding is the first phase among the 4 phases of employee onboarding. This stage occurs before the new employee’s official start date. It encompasses all the activities, interactions, and preparations made to welcome and effectively integrate a new hire into the organization. Preboarding aims to create a positive first impression and lay the groundwork for a smooth transition into the new role and company culture. If done correctly, it can shorten the duration of the onboarding process, and improve important HR metrics like attrition, time-to-fill, time-to-productivity, candidate experience, etc.
In this blog post, we’ll discuss various aspects of the preboarding process, including its importance, common preboarding activities, best practices, and the steps to implement a successful preboarding process. Let’s discuss!
Preboarding Activities
As we mentioned earlier, preboarding is a set of activities that are conducted before an employee joins the organization. While these activities may vary across different organizations, there are still some activities that tend to be universally common. For example:
- Congratulating the employees for securing the job
- Sending welcome kits
- Collecting and verifying documents like Aadhaar Card, PAN Card, Experience Letter, Marksheets, etc.
- Announcing the arrival of new joiners to the existing employees
- Virtually connecting new hires with their soon-to-be colleagues
- Assigning training programs on the Learning Management System (LMS)
- Providing employee handbook, company policies and employee code of conduct
- Coordinating with the IT team for assigning computer equipments to the employees
The Benefits of Preboarding
An effective preboarding is beneficial for the organization as well as for the new joiners. Here are some benefits from the organization’s perspective:
Preventing Dropouts:
A well-executed preboarding process can secure a new employee’s commitment from the very outset, significantly reducing the likelihood of last-minute withdrawals during the onboarding phase. Surprisingly, there have been instances of employees dropping out even during C-level hiring. However, when organizations invest in a thorough and engaging preboarding program, they lay a strong foundation of connection and commitment, making it far less probable for them to reconsider their decision. In essence, preboarding not only welcomes new joiners but also firmly anchors them to the role they’ve accepted.
Increasing HR Productivity and Accuracy:
The productivity and accuracy of the HR department rises significantly when your organization has a well defined preboarding workflow. For instance, many organizations provide a preboarding portal to the new joiners for uploading their documents. The new hire uploads each document to the portal one-by-one, and the HR managers review and approve them individually on the same portal. This approach is way more productive and error-free than collecting the documents via emails, where it is difficult to track how many employees have submitted their documents, and how many of them are valid.
Automation:
An effective preboarding process promotes automation to free up the time of HR managers. For example, some HRMS suites are integrated with UIDAI, NSDL, Banking systems, and other related institutions to automate the document verification process. The new employees can enter their Aadhaar numbers, PAN, bank account numbers, etc and the platform can check the details and verify the documents with OTPs.
Enhanced Employee Experience:
An organized and efficient preboarding process is the cornerstone of a seamless onboarding journey. By providing new hires with the necessary information, resources, and a warm welcome before their official start date, it accelerates their integration into the company and fosters a positive employee experience. This proactive approach not only saves time but also sets the stage for a productive and satisfying tenure, ensuring that employees are well-prepared and eager to contribute from day one.
Feedback Gathering:
Preboarding can include opportunities for new employees to provide feedback about the hiring and onboarding process, allowing the organization to continuously improve its procedures.
Implementing a successful Preboarding process in your organization
When you’re aiming to establish a robust preboarding process, exploring HRMS suites (Human Resource Management System) is a wise choice. These comprehensive systems offer a multitude of tools and functionalities to streamline various preboarding tasks. From sending personalized welcome emails and notifying different departments to managing document collection and verification, as well as offering self-paced training modules, HRMS suites provide a one-stop solution to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your preboarding procedures
Now, that we are aware of the many benefits of a good preboarding process, it’s time to discuss its implementation. There are no textbook rules on how to implement a successful preboarding process in you company, but you can always follow some best practices:
Begin with the goals:
Determine the main goals for your preboarding process. You can have multiple goals and they act as the guide to selecting the right activities that should be included in your employee’s preboarding journey. Improving onboarding experience, decreasing drop-outs, speeding up time-to-productivity, etc are some examples of goals you can aim for.
Develop a detailed plan:
Create a detailed preboarding plan that outlines the entire process from acceptance of the offer to the first day on the job. Specify the tasks, timelines, and responsibilities for each step. Once an ideal plan is in place, you can start gathering resources for the execution.
Gather Resources:
The preboarding plan that you outlined in the previous stage should indicate the resources needed to make your plan successful. These resources can be training materials for induction, checklists of onboarding-related tasks for HR managers, email templates, technology products like an LMS, HRMS platform, Document Management Platform, etc.
Execute and Measure:
Once you are equipped with all the resources, it’s time to start the execution. Communicate the workflow to all your team members and provide them the checklists follow. Implement the tech solutions wherever required and integrate them for seamless operation. Determine the success metrics of your onboarding process, ensure continuous measurement and keep improving the process continuously.
What’s Next?
Preboarding is undeniably a crucial first stage in the employee onboarding journey. It sets the tone for the new hire’s experience, helps them feel welcomed, and ensures they have the necessary resources and information to start their job on the right foot. However, it’s essential to recognize that preboarding is just the beginning. The true measure of success in the onboarding process lies in efficiently executing all four stages, which include preboarding, orientation, integration, and feedback.
Now that you’ve laid the groundwork through preboarding, it’s time to shift your focus toward employee orientation. This phase delves deeper into introducing the new hire to the company’s culture, values, and overall mission. It’s an opportunity to provide a comprehensive understanding of the organization’s structure, policies, and expectations. By concentrating on improving employee orientation, you can ensure that new team members not only join the company smoothly but also integrate seamlessly into its fabric, contributing to their long-term success and satisfaction within the organization.