Retention instead of tension by using the full potential of HR Cloud

“80% of new employees decide whether or not to stay with a company within the first six months of being hired”

Source: SAP SuccessFactors Onboarding product brochure

As mentioned in our previous blog article: Create the decisive factor for employees to stay by leveraging HR Cloud technologies, the optimal employee-centric Onboarding journey consists of three phases: pre-boarding, acclimation, and belonging and performance excellence. In this article, we take a closer look at the third and final phase of the Onboarding journey: belonging and performance excellence. This phase starts after the employee’s first month in the company and ends six months after the start date. The aim of this phase is the full integration of the employee – especially in an organizational and social way. This enables the employee to act independently and reach a high level of performance.

Admin and technological layer

In relation to admin and technological aspects, the focus is on ensuring employees can independently operate relevant technical tools and use them effectively. Thus, the employee should also have a good overview of the functionalities of the relevant tools and be able to assess their proper use. This ensures that the employee is fully technically onboarded and can focus on professional development.

Professional and content-related layer

In the belonging and performance excellence phase, employees develop professional skills that enable them to work independently on professional tasks. Additionally, employees acquire expertise and embark on a steep learning curve with relevant training courses and projects that support professional development. These aspects lead directly to the realization of career development goals employees bring with them when they join the company.

HR Cloud technologies can provide a great deal of support here. For example, HR Cloud vendors, such as SAP SuccessFactors, foster the completion of training participation by tracking the current status in a dashboard (see illustration 1). This enables employees to meet career, personal development, and administrative needs.

Organizational and cultural layer

Important components of the belonging and performance phase take place primarily at the organizational and cultural level. This includes the introduction to corporate goals and strategies and the beginning of the identification with corporate values. These actions are undertaken to enable employees to act independently as brand ambassadors.

Additionally, it is essential to accompany the employee during this phase and to hold regular feedback conversations: “how are things going at the moment?” On the one hand, this shows appreciation. But on the other hand, it is possible to trigger the internalization of the company’s values and goals by the new employee, too.

HR Cloud technologies can also provide a great deal of support here, since the “continuous performance management” fosters and drives regular feedback and coaching check-ins with the lead (see illustration 1). Thus, it allows new employees to experience a positive feedback culture. Regular feedback conversations, in which employees act as feedback receivers, but also as feedback providers, make an important contribution at this stage. It is important to the development of individual employees and their overall Onboarding experience.

Social and network layer

On a social level, the aim is to achieve full team integration. For example, this can be achieved through teambuilding measures, using activities, exercises, and methods that strengthen the sense of belonging between colleagues. To build and expand their own professional network, opportunities to participate in networking events should also be offered. These events can have a thematic hanger or be tied to social groups (e.g., women’s events).

How to optimize the employee experience in Onboarding

In this series of four blogs, we covered the optimal employee-centric Onboarding journey, consisting of three phases: pre-boarding, acclimation, and belonging and performance excellence. The articles highlighted how HR Cloud technologies optimize the employee experience during all three Onboarding phases, making a significant contribution to the integration and enablement of employees in a new organization. As outlined, the use of HR cloud systems, such as Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle, and ServiceNow are indispensable in the context of Onboarding and pays off in the following ways:

• Optimized employee experience during the Onboarding process to make the employee feel welcome, appreciated, and informed
• Aligned activities across all Onboarding experience layers during each Onboarding phase, which significantly contribute to employee enablement
• Easier, more comfortable, and efficient Onboarding tool handling despite complex Onboarding processes and the involvement of several departments

By leveraging HR cloud technologies, organizations can provide an optimized employee experience and enablement in turn leading to increased employee performance, productivity, and retention.