How Long Should Onboarding a New Employee Take?

The employee onboarding process can feel overwhelming, especially when it takes time away from your business's critical tasks. Hiring new employees is a job in and of itself, which is why many companies leave it to the Human Resources (HR) department. But if your recruiting firm doesn't have HR staff, or you can't commit the necessary time to the onboarding process, an excellent alternative is using an Employer of Record (EOR). EORs can shorten your company's onboarding time to as little as 24-72 hours.

The Onboarding Process

Hiring authorities must know what the onboarding process entails. Onboarding is a management buzzword created in the 1970s. Industries use it as a strategy to help new employees develop any necessary skills or company knowledge before starting their jobs. It also includes tasks such as drug screens, background checks, I-9 verification, and other paperwork. Subsequently, it helps to build a smooth and repeatable process that makes new hires feel comfortable, so that they can get off to a quick start.

The onboarding process can include many different mechanisms to allow hiring authorities the ability to get the proper information. Those tools can consist of meetings, training, videos, software packages, paperwork and more. Reading that list might make you wonder how much time you need to achieve employee onboarding properly. Using all those activities would take a long time, sometimes days to weeks. But to start, it's essential to focus on the goals and vital aspects.

The Goals of Onboarding

Committing to a strong employee onboarding strategy will help you reach the goals of job performance, job satisfaction, and job longevity. A new hire who feels welcomed and supported from the start, and set with the tools, skills, and knowledge they need to succeed, will most likely perform better, enjoy their job more, and stay longer at the company. These outcomes translate into higher profits for you, better company morale, and less hiring and future onboarding.

At the very least, after an onboarding experience, your new hire should walk away with any necessary company knowledge, skills, or tools to help them perform their job as soon as they start. You don't need extravagant motivational speakers or lengthy lectures to accomplish that. What's more important is to focus on the vital aspects that make your employees feel supported. The below activities are ones that FoxHire deems essential, and performs on each new hire. The process to complete this usually takes between 24-72 hours on average.

• Employment Contract
• W-4 Form for taxes
• I-9 for Employment Authorization
• Background Authorization Form
• Employee Information Sheet
• Payroll Information Sheet
• Direct Deposit Authorization
• Benefits Election/Waiver
• Employee Handbook Acknowledgement
• Submitting a Timesheet

Additionally, it helps to add in a social event. Starting a new job can seem intimidating, so mingling with future coworkers in a more relaxed setting will help new employees feel more comfortable.

Using an EOR to Shorten Onboarding Time

The truth is, however, that new employee onboarding takes time. Many companies, especially those who lack the time or an HR department, opt to use contract staffing agencies to help with the onboarding process. Whether you are a corporate HR leader or a staffing firm, EORs like FoxHire can help mitigate your risk, and increase your profits, all the while improving your on-boarding process. Taking the process off your plate allows you to focus your time on what really matters to you and your firm.