The first months of a new job can be an inflection point for everyone involved. Even for highly motivated employees, questions about training systems, company culture and day-to-day challenges abound. Meanwhile, the employer must wonder whether or not the new hire will become a productive and loyal asset to the company, or, for whatever reason, become a ship passing in the night. Preventing the shift from a committed employee to a transient one is why quality employee onboarding specialists are so sought after.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, millennials will make up 50 percent of the workforce in 2021 and 75 percent of the workforce by 2030. Yet Gallup reports that they are three times more likely than previous generations to say they’ve changed jobs in the past year. What’s more, replacing a salaried worker and hiring a new one is an expensive proposition, with costs ranging from 16 to 213 percent of the departing employee’s annual salary, according to a study by the Center for American Progress. Despite these statistics, successful onboarding specialists can mitigate churn, integrate employees, produce long-term loyalty and save time and money in the process.
We sat down with Bridget Acosta of LA’s Golden Hippo, a direct-to-consumer health and wellness brand, to discuss exactly what a typical day of onboarding new employees is like. We learned that by providing critical early support systems, specifically in the form of thorough orientations and an extensive buddy program, employees can be made to feel comfortable and integrated, and are more likely to commit to the company for the long term.
Bridget Acosta, senior talent acquisition and development coordinator at Golden Hippo, understands that the key to quality employee onboarding is providing everything an employee needs to integrate with the company and learn new systems up front. Importantly, new employees also need human connection and support, which come in the form of buddy systems and open-ended meetings in which employees feel free to be themselves, and thus integrate with the company even further.
Walk us through a typical day for you as an onboarding specialist at your company.
The first couple of items that need to be checked off the list include ensuring that the new employees have picked up their computer equipment or are scheduled to pick it up and to have all of the online paperwork new employees complete on their first day. We also provide new employees with welcome kits, which they receive on their first week of employment with us, so we need to ensure we have that ready to go.
Another important item on my to-do list is to coordinate the Hippo Buddy Program. This program allows the hiring managers to pick a Hippo who embodies the values of Golden Hippo, and then pair them up with a new hire! The Hippo Buddy then meets with the new employee on a regular basis to help them acclimate to the Golden Hippo culture.
Tell us a bit about your onboarding process. What are some of the most important touch points along the way?
We’re currently working remotely for the time being, so our onboarding process is completely online. The day before an employee starts, they receive their credentials to our HRIS system and on their first day, they complete all of the required paperwork. Once they have completed their new employee paperwork, then they begin learning about the company and our systems and processes through their online orientation.
During the employee’s first couple of days, we host a thorough orientation with other new hires. Leaders from each department at Golden Hippo speak to everyone about what their team works on, which gives new employees a great glimpse of who they’ll be working with and a deeper understanding of how Golden Hippo runs as a whole.
Leaders from each department at Golden Hippo speak to everyone about what their team works on...”
What’s one thing you do to establish strong relationships with your employees from the start?
I try to always start the meetings with an icebreaker and get to know more about them and their background experience. I feel like if you allow individuals to open up on a more personal level, they are more likely to remain engaged during the various topics that we cover on their first day orientation and beyond.
