Four tasks your employee onboarding software can help with

Hiring can be a time-consuming and expensive process, and having finally selected the best candidate, all you want is to have them in post and performing to expectations as soon as possible. However, you also don’t want to skimp on the employee onboarding process (if you do, you’re putting that goal of “performing to expectations” at risk). This is where your HRMS’ onboarding software can help you cut that time-to-value metric by automating some of the following onboarding issues.

1. Paperwork

We all remember our first day in a job and the volume of paperwork required before we could get down to any actual work. Worse, completing multiple forms, signing on multiple dotted lines are usually tedious tasks that serve to demotivate and disengage a new employee as soon as they’ve walked through the door. To use the US as an example, most new employees have to complete the following as a minimum:

• Employee demographics form
• IRS W‐4
• INS I‐9
• IRS 8850 (Work Opportunity Tax Credit)
• State W‐4’s or equivalent
• Policy acknowledgements and acceptances
• Benefits, including group health and voluntary benefits

Good onboarding software will automate much or all of this paperwork, collecting the data that has already been inputted during the hiring process and facilitating an e-signature instead of  the old-fashioned ink and paper.

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2. Socialization

Every organization has its own particular workplace culture and acclimatizing to that culture is a significant aspect of a new hire becoming part of the team. Part of this ‘socialization’ process requires reading and understanding various documents (your corporate mission, aim, vision and values, for example) and technology offers a chance to make the acquisition of this information more interesting by means of multimedia presentations, e-learning modules, video stories, and other easily automated communications. What’s more, by making this information available prior to the new hire’s start date, via your onboarding software’s internet-accessible web portal, you can cut down on ‘paper fatigue’ on their first day.

3. Checklists

Any manager who has inducted a new team member knows that those first few days (and even weeks) are full of small be essential tasks. A basic function of onboarding software is to automate the manager’s checklist, providing automatic notifications when the next task or milestone is due. The bonus for the new employee is that their new manager is organized and on the ball!

4. Automatic scheduling

Part of getting your new employee up to speed is to have them meet the right people: key stakeholders, senior managers, valued customers, etc. While no technology can take a meeting for them, onboarding software can coordinate everybody’s diaries and have all the important meetings and handshakes scheduled as soon as their appointment is confirmed.