Employee Onboarding and Retention During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted virtually every area of our lives, and it has changed the face of employee onboarding for a long time to come. Now that vaccines are available, employers across the United States are bringing staff back to offices and other worksites. The resumption of in-person work comes amid great uncertainty, some of which involves contemplating the process of bringing on new hires during this return to a somewhat-normal world.

Employee retention strategies must also be revisited and revised to include considerations for maintaining a safe and healthy workforce. The well-being of employees, as well as the minimization of potential liability issues, demands that human resources team members give this serious attention. Any new policies must be balanced with privacy protections and sensitivity to employees’ concerns. It’s all a lot to keep organized.

Ideally, an organization’s candidate screening process aligns seamlessly with onboarding, which makes it more vital than ever to consider using integrated, cloud-based software that facilitates doing this. Choosing the appropriate system can also streamline how the organization brings on new employees during challenging times. The ultimate goal should be to improve employee retention while ensuring workplace safety and reducing legal and regulatory risks to the organization.

Why Employee Retention Is Important

Simply put, having to hire and train a new employee is expensive. Gallup conservatively estimates that replacing an employee who leaves can cost as much as two times that former employee’s yearly salary. An organization also loses productivity and knowledge when an employee walks out the door.

Interestingly, the Work Institute’s 2019 Retention Report revealed that 22 percent of employees cited the lack of career development as their principal reason for voluntarily quitting their previous job. This was the most frequent reason given.

Effective employee retention strategies that also benefit employers include

• Providing a comprehensive orientation with information about job expectations, organizational values and culture, and how employees can contribute and grow;
• Offering ongoing professional development opportunities in the forms of workplace training and continuing education to keep employees current with important skills, conference attendance, tuition reimbursement and career path guidance;
• Conducting performance reviews that incorporate regular discussions of the employee’s short- and long-term career goals;
• Offering mentorship programs so employees can access career guidance from a knowledgeable senior colleague who volunteers to answer questions and address concerns;
• Providing an attractive compensation package that includes perks such as financial guidance and wellness services in addition to paid time off, health benefits and retirement plans;
• Delivering feedback and encouraging teamwork while respecting different working styles and letting employees know that their opinions and ideas are valued;
• Handling big changes such as layoffs gracefully and keeping staff informed and supported throughout;
• Acknowledging accomplishments and milestones
• Promoting a healthy work-life balance by expanding flex work and telecommuting options; and
• Committing to social and environmental responsibility since many employees (and customers) place great importance on an organization’s commitment to the local community and its environmental stewardship.

What to Include in Employee Onboarding

Nearly 30 percent of new hires quit within their first 90 days. Consequently, efforts to improve employee retention should begin before people even start working. To get a sense of how essential robust employee onboarding is, understand that a study commissioned by Glassdoor showed that a strong onboarding program improved the retention of new hires by 82 percent and increased productivity by more than 70 percent.

The four phases of employee onboarding that impact long-term retention are orientation, training, transition to productivity and ongoing development, and retention. It is also important to include steps designed to drive home organizational values.

Along with ensuring that new staff learn the organization’s values, procedures and policies, there are new COVID-19 considerations. Following CDC guidelines for workplace safety should be a baseline.

Some organizations may require staff to get the vaccine before returning to in-person duties. Others will require antibody testing on a periodic basis to ensure continued immunity. The frequency of testing and possible revaccination requirements will depend on the as-yet unknown length of protection vaccines confer.

How to Improve the Onboarding Experience

Integrating services and ensuring transparency are key to providing a more satisfying onboarding experience and fostering greater employee engagement. There is enough confusion, uncertainty and fear regarding starting a new job, and the changes to the process necessitated by the pandemic make things even more difficult.

An employer should take responsibility for ensuring that staff members feel safe and know that managers and supervisors have their best interests in mind. Currently, one of the best ways to convey this is to be upfront about COVID-19 risks in the workplace, mitigation efforts and policy changes due to the pandemic. Sharing such information with current employees should also improve retention.

Employers Must Decide How to Handle COVID-19 Screenings and Vaccinations

Employers should consider CDC, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state health department guidelines when determining their COVID-19 policies. Then, in addition to updating employee manuals, organizations must make it clear to customers, suppliers and anyone else employees come in contact with how the workplace environment has changed and which precautions are being taken to protect team members. Specific rules will depend on what an organization does and whether its employees interact directly with the public.

Requiring a coronavirus vaccine will be a delicate issue. The EEOC has recognized the novel coronavirus as a direct threat that justifies the adoption of more stringent medical inquiries and requirements by employers. The commission has also made it clear that no federal laws prohibit employers from requiring vaccines. However, an employee may be exempt if they have a disability recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act. There can also be an exemption due to religious beliefs under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Adopt Today’s Technology to Build the Workforce of Tomorrow

Much of what we thought we knew about onboarding and employee retention strategies must now be viewed in a new light. Most of the old rules for onboarding new team members and encouraging employee engagement and productivity still apply, but protecting staff members’ health and well-being has become paramount. In particular managers and supervisors must allay employees’ fears so that they can work with confidence.

Fortunately, there are comprehensive online tools that enable managers and HR professionals to automate much of the onboarding process while ensuring new hires and returning employees complete robust occupational health assessments. Using such tools will bring peace of mind to the employees and employer alike. These next-generation tools also allow for seamless candidate-to-employee transitions, making the onboarding process smoother and more convenient for everyone.