Dr Cosgrave’s research with rural professionals found they often experience longer than expected delays during onboarding and rural employers describe losing their preferred candidates when the onboarding processes is lengthy.
Regular and clear communication during onboarding will help prevent your preferred candidate forming a bad impression of your business and planting seeds of turnover intention before they even begin! Remember that Dr Cosgrave’s retention improvement framework identified an important aspect of an individual’s job satisfaction involving the businesses being managed efficiently and strategically’[link to table in fundamentals]).
TIPS: Here are some tips for a smooth and effective onboarding process:
- Ensure the preferred candidate is advised by phone or in-person by the line-manager ASAP after interview. At that time, the onboarding steps and any mandatory checks should be explained, and a realistic time estimate given — and remember to be realistic!
- If onboarding is estimated to take longer than 2 weeks, the line manager should organise at time to catch-up by phone at least weekly* to provide onboarding updates.
- Ensure your HR processes are streamlined, and preferred candidates are provided with onboarding documentation by email ASAP and if documents are needing to be submitted confirmation receipts are provided.
A side benefit of regular communication between a future line manager and the preferred candidate, is they have the opportunity to get to know each other better and deepen their relationship.
Remember, Dr Cosgrave’s retention improvement framework identifies the importance of having ‘high quality workplace relationships with the line manager.’
