Onboarding and offboarding receive insufficient attention within organizations
The corona pandemic has contributed to employees having different wants and needs. Online, home and hybrid working are unthinkable concepts in 2023. The employee journey experience has changed and demands more attention from HR Netherlands. Onboarding, as well as offboarding, is more important than ever. Organizations need to be more mindful of new, existing and departing employees. Especially in these times of huge personnel shortages. This is according to our research on the employee journey experience.
“Employers who still think everything will go back to the way it was before corona will be deceived in the coming years. Employees definitely have changed needs. Think of hybrid working, work-life balance and the increasing need for development and deployment,” says Arjen Maliepaard, director at Integron. “On top of that, there has been strong economic growth over the past year and a half. Labor market tightness broke all records in the first half of this year. According to CBS, there were 133 vacancies for every 100 unemployed. So almost every employer in the Netherlands is facing the number-one challenge: How do I retain my employees and manage to attract new ones?”
“Employers who still think everything will go back to the way it was before corona will be disappointed in the coming years.”
26% employees note different image of employer than previously outlined
According to Maliepaard, the onboarding phase, or: the moment an employee starts within the company, is hugely important. “Not only for him or her, but also for the organization. This certainly does not always go well. Currently, as many as 26% of employees indicate that their pre-sketched image about the employer does not match the current reality. Among other things, employees feel that advancement opportunities, the culture and working conditions are different than they were presented with.” On average, the onboarding experience scores even slightly worse than in 2021. Only the degree to which the employee feels included in the team scores more positively (+16%). Arjen continues: “Employers therefore really need to do more work on onboarding. For example, by making it clear why they specifically chose the new employee. They can also organize an onboarding day and make it clear to the manager that it is about sincere attention to the employee.”
Only 9% offboarders recommend employer
Offboarding could also be a lot better, according to the survey. Just over a third (36%) experience a good offboarding process. And only 9% of employees recommend their previous employer. Arjen: “As difficult as it is for both parties; paying attention to proper offboarding is essential. Employers should listen more and better to their employees and ask them for feedback more often. Then they can better act on wants and needs and probably keep people on board. Employees who leave in a good way can also be ambassadors for their previous employer. That weighs and plays into how an organization differentiates itself. On a positive note, 44% of employees will have had an exit interview by 2022. That’s up from 2021. Also, the overall experience with the offboarding process came out a little better, but certainly has room for improvement.”
“Employees who leave in a good way can also be ambassadors for their previous employer. That weighs and plays into how an organization differentiates itself.”
Slight decrease in enthusiasm employees
On- and off-boarding trends seem to translate into enthusiasm, calculated via the so-called employee Net Promoter Score(eNPS). It was +12 in 2021 and is +11 in 2022. So that’s not progress. Indeed, one in five employees report little to no enthusiasm. Overall, the average satisfaction of Dutch employees is 7.4. Same level as last year.
"There are issues at play right now that take priority over collecting feedback from employees and customers. 'Too big an investment'. SME organizations are not always willing to commission employee and customer surveys. Yet fortunately, there are quite a few organizations that do collect feedback from employees and customers, see the value of it and reap the benefits. And that is more than justified. It's absolutely valuable to gain insight into what's going on and what resonates with employees and customers.
Turnover and absenteeism still play a major role in many organizations. High absenteeism rates put extra pressure on those colleagues who do still attend, leaving little room to catch their breath. This leads to a vicious cycle of even more workload, turnover and absenteeism. To get back into calmer waters as an organization, it is smart to invest in a healthy workload and enthusing employees.
At a time when the job market is constantly evolving and competition for talent is high, a well-structured onboarding process plays a crucial role in attracting and retaining valuable employees. In this article, we dive into why thoughtful onboarding is crucial, what it entails and some strategies to achieve an optimal onboarding experience.