03 Aug, 2020 | Blogs
The adage “first impression is the last impression, is apt for employee onboarding since it is the new hire’s first interaction with the organization. Creating a memorable onboarding experience is critical to make the employee feel welcomed and comfortable in their new organizational family. This is also the opportunity for HR managers to imprint the company’s values and employee relationships. But all this is easier said than done since HR managers are burdened with over-hyped tech software solutions that don’t speak with one another. The good news is that this creaky, impersonal, and templatized onboarding is gradually making way for a beautifully orchestrated process. Onboarding with RPA is helping HR managers create a memorable experience which is not only personal but also customized according to each candidate.
What is Employee Onboarding?
Employee onboarding is a common HR process that introduces new employees to the company’s culture and business. While some companies believe onboarding to be a one-day event, others stretch it over weeks and, in some cases, even months! The onboarding process starts soon after the offer is made to the future employee.
Why onboarding matters?
The need to improve onboarding with RPA can be well understood if you realize the importance of a smooth employee onboarding experience. This process is critical for any company’s success since it can greatly impact the employee’s perception of your company, ultimately causing them to quit early. The below diagram explains the impact of disjointed onboarding experience.
On the other hand, a smooth onboarding helps new hires settle down faster and get to know the processes as well as the process better. It allows them to know about their department, job objectives, and meet their peers without any inhibitions. The other advantage of having an automated onboarding process is that it reduces manual work. Onboarding requires a lot of paperwork when done manually. This means that it is time-consuming and highly prone to error. Therefore, there is a need to streamline the onboarding process to not only impress newbies but also decrease the workload of your HR staff.
Improving onboarding with RPA
A streamlined onboarding with RPA includes various steps and workflows. The most common process includes:
- Making the Offer
- Offer Acceptance
- Waiting Period and Joining
- Inter-departments coordinating
- Training and orientation
Here’s how the bot can help in all these steps to improve the overall experience.
1. Making the offer
The employee onboarding process begins soon after the interview and selection process is over. Once the candidate is decided, an email is triggered by the bot to send a warm welcome note, along with the offer letter, and all the necessary onboarding and policy documents.
2. Offer Acceptance
After the employee accepts the offer, the bot notifies the department, allowing them to either have a quick call to review the forms and set expectations or program the bot to send personalized communication, review the forms and revert in case of missing information. This is a step towards creating an emotional connection between the employee and the company.
3. Waiting Period and Joining
Accepting the offer letter is just a formality and does not confirm if the employee will join. During the waiting period, the bot can build a good rapport with the future employee by checking on them regularly. During the day of joining, these bots can assist the HR managers to create a welcoming and comfortable environment by gathering all the information in the employee onboarding checklist.
4. Inter-department Coordinating
The bots can send notifications to various departments, including the IT and finance, about the start date of the new hire and required actions to be taken. It can also schedule an orientation session of the new hire with various teams and peers.
5. Training and orientation
The bot can block calendars of the required employees for a smoother orientation process. It allows the manager to set role-based goals and assign relevant training for the new employees. It can also send a list of training that the employee needs to finish to complete their orientation and keep sending regular reminders until they are complete.
Advantages of Onboarding with RPA
There are several advantages of onboarding with RPA, and below are the top 5 benefits of a streamlined employee onboarding process:
- Reduces the chaos associated by paperwork
- Minimizes the onboarding lifecycle
- Eliminates human errors
- Ensures higher compliance with changing regulations
- Offers consistent experiences to all new hires
Read other uses cases of RPA in HR
Conclusion
Improving employee onboarding with RPA provides a data-driven approach to the HR department. While providing a memorable onboarding experience to the new hire, it can also help the HR department by collecting employee information in a centralized location. With RPA handling this process, organizations can avoid hefty fines and reputational damage by creating a flawless compliance program amid the frantically changing labor laws. In a world where employee attrition is set to reach almost 20%, RPA is a necessity. It is reinventing and repivoting the onboarding process towards a learning context rather than a transactional one. If you’d like to create a new onboarding experience with RPA, then contact us today.
Let’s create a profound impact on the values of your business, today and tomorrow!