Onboarding Employeeís ñ A Necessary Evil?

By Frank Mulligan ñ Accetis International, Talent Software & Recruit China

A more professional approach to hiring and retention should include onboarding tasks and procedures, and a specified period after the onboarding date, during which time the new employee is continuously monitored and assessed. The hiring process in China doesnít end when the new employee arrives for his first day.

Onboarding as a process, as opposed to just a handshake at the office entrance, is not the norm in China but there are signs it is becoming so. The new labor law is likely to encourage companies to take a more systematic approach to hiring and retention, and a well defined onboarding process is a common tool in HRís retention arsenal in most countries. Look to the RPO companies to lead the way on this, under pressure from legal firms eager to exploit the requirements of the new labor law.

For the few companies that already view the hiring process to include onboarding, Recruiters are basically charged with ensuring that a new employeeís first few months on the job are in line with his, and the companyís, expectations. The key issue is whether there is a match between what the new employee thought he was getting himself in for, and what was actually delivered.

In this scenario hiring is an ongoing process that requires continual nurturing after the employee has joined. This can be hard to explain to Recruiters who take the easy path of seeking out talent, screening them, presenting to line managers, getting a signature on a job offer, and then walking away. For this kind of Recruiter, integrating new employees into the company culture is the line managerís problem.

If we were to improve both the hiring and the retention process we would have to train Recruiters to include onboarding in the mix. But unfortunately they currently have what they regard as a fast, efficient process that ëgets bums on seatsí. So they would want us to cite reasons why they should introduce a detailed, well thought out onboarding process.

What would these reasons be?

- The first and most obvious statement to make is that candidates in China have choices; lots of choices. A favorite lunch time game in China is to compare the number of headhunter approaches or actual job offers that each professional has received in the previous month. There is a one-upmanship to it that gets everyone hooked. Anyone not receiving calls for even a short amount of time in China tends to feel a bit left out, ëHey, why is no one calling me with potential opportunities!. Let me check my mobile againí.

- New employees have just gone through a process where they have taken what looked at the time like the best offer on the table. But the other offers have not just gone away. They are still there and the new employee cannot help but think about them occasionally. So for the first few weeks and months many new employees are still not committed fully. They are still thinking if your company is right for them. The synchronous culture in China tends to encourage this kind of behaviour because people do not commit psychologically to a process as they go through the various steps.

- In this tense environment candidates have a tendency to be a bit ëpreciousí. Your relationship with them can be damaged irreparably with relatively minor infractions or triggers. There is nothing more irritating than having high expectations dashed with a poor onboarding experience. Itís so easy to fix, and the lack of a good onboarding experience says nothing about the true situation within your company. You lose control over the perceptions that the new employee holds about his new job, and risk losing him for nothing very much.

- For many professionals in China, the decision to take a new position is not made in isolation. The new employeeís family is often heavily involved and in many cases they are still out on the decision. Not having to live with the consequences of their family memberís decision they can undermine your best onboarding efforts with comparisons of possible careers in other companies, or tales of relatives and friends who have achieved much more. You are up against a powerful opponent so the onus is on you to ensure that you fight back.

- When it is not family undermining your good work, it is his friends who are doing it. Professionals compare jobs, companies and salaries, and it is more than likely that at any given discussion, or story swapping session, there will be someone with a better story about someone else earning high salaries in a great career with a wonderful company in the city centre near shops and schools Ö This can keep your new employee from making that psychological leap and committing to you.

- A bad onboarding process often means that some of the things that were promised in a job offer, or discussed privately, are not delivered on the job. One that is often cited to me is promised training. This creates another inflection point for disappointment. Given that professionals in China are surrounded by images and data that tell them they are worth more, it is hardly surprising that sometimes they take this information at its face value, and change jobs again just because training was delayed by a month or two.

- The first few weeks and months are critical for any new employees because it is then that they begin to interact with the incumbent team. Either they fit in or they donít, and once they donít there is no going back. If they donít fit in because they were not given a full run through on the culture and procedures within your company you can only really blame the lack of an onboarding process for their quick exit.

Clearly, even a well-defined and implemented onboarding process will not solve all of your hiring and retention issues but it might make the difference when it counts. Itís straight forward to implement so itís hard to see why it is so uncommon.

Check out these Onboarding Tips for more details.

Email frank.mulligan@recruit-china.com
Frank Mulliganís blog - english.talent-software.com