Pre-onboarding - information, emotion, support, and appeal
The period between signing the employment contract and the first day of work can take (several) weeks or even months. According to our experience, organizations don't take the full advantages out of this gap. Namely, this time could be used for the orientation because a well-planned and interactive pre-onboarding benefits both the new employee and the hiring organization.
Pre-onboarding promotes commitment and reduces uncertainty
The goal of pre-onboarding is to support the new employee's transition into the new work environment, eliminate the uncertainty associated with starting a new job, and promote the employee's commitment to the employer company. At the same time, the image of employer's brand, created during the recruitment process, is reclaimed. This is why even small actions that positively affect the employee experience before the first day of work increase commitment and reduce turnover.
There are several such small actions to be performed. They typically relate to general employment matters, such as the presentation of employment benefits, data security, or the contents and practices of occupational health and training. Sending certain documents in advance to familiarize and sign them also saves time on actual boarding. In the pre-onboarding phase, it is also advisable to ask for feedback on the recruitment process when thoughts and related emotions are still fresh in mind.
Chatbots enable low-threshold pre-onboarding.
In addition to information, the new employee needs interactive activities during onboarding, whether related to learning or getting to know colleagues. One thing is sure: exceptionally few HR systems are designed for genuine interaction, so honest employee-centricity requires agile solutions that chatbots provide. And pre-onboarding is the perfect stage for utilizing bots in the employee journey: to create a positive emotional connection to the new workplace and enable "light orientation" to new tasks. Bots can provide a highly cost-effective and employee-centric automated digital orientation.
Case: Orientation of summer employees with bots
The beginning of the year is traditionally a busy time for recruiting summer employees. Competition for skilled summer employees intensifies yearly because qualified summer employees are a prerequisite for a smooth summer holiday season. But how do you keep your chosen summer employees, who are likely to have applied and been selected elsewhere? The answer is using chatbots to inform and even entertain new trainers during the pre-onboarding phase with the tone of voice they can easily recognise and get excited about.
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