The document discusses critical onboarding issues from a 2014 panel at Silkroad's Connections conference, emphasizing the importance of effective onboarding in retaining top talent. Key issues include automation, socialization, duration, and ownership, highlighting that most organizations struggle with fully automating onboarding and socialization processes. It encourages organizations to view onboarding as an evolving practice that requires ongoing improvement and collaboration across functions.

1. 4 Critical
Onboarding
Issues in 2014
Featuring insights from
SilkRoad Connections

2. As organizations struggle to
retain top talent, the relative
effectiveness of onboarding
increases in importance.
Successful onboarding is not
simply an improved orientation
to the organization. It is woven
into the entire experience of
your new hires’ first year and
beyond.
A panel at SilkRoad’s 2014
Connections conference
discussed the current
onboarding issues of
automation, socialization,
duration, and ownership.

3. Automation
Scarcely one in 10 HR professionals fully automates the
onboarding process. Although many recognize automation
technology’s time and money-saving merits, they fear the
displacement of human workers. Most automation tools in
the onboarding space are currently limited to form and
compliance management.

4. Socialization
Socialization, or the process by
which an individual acquires
the attitudes, behaviors and
knowledge needed to
successfully participate in an
organization, is not a new
concept in HR. The automation
of socialization, however, is a
fresh take. Companies like
Tenneco have customized new
hire portals that provide a
flavor of what it’s like to work
in each location and teach
people what to expect culture-wise.

5. Duration
According to analyst firm
Aberdeen, 80 percent of
companies spend less than
three months onboarding
new hires, and in general
spend fewer days in 2013
than they did in 2012.
Consider communicating your
onboarding messaging prior
to the official offer and
certainly prior to the first day.
And once new hires have
started the onboarding
process, don’t forget to
monitor their progress and
check in repeatedly.

6. Ownership
Most organizations still consider onboarding to be the
jurisdiction of HR, with involved functions including learning and
development and recruiting. More, however, are leaving HR to
cover the mechanics while individual managers and teams work
with new hires on long-term cultural assimilation, relationship
building, and responsibility ramp-up.

7. Look at onboarding as an evolution, not a revolution. As an
engine to deliver culture, it requires continuous
improvement. If you’ve already automated your forms,
perhaps now you can move on to automating buddy lunches.
If you’ve done buddy lunches, try tying onboarding activities
to performance management. There is always more that can
be achieved.

8. About SilkRoad
SilkRoad®
is
a
leading
global
provider
of
cloud-­‐based,
end-­‐to-­‐end
talent
management
solu:ons
that
enable
customers
to
find,
a=ract,
develop,
and
retain
the
best
talent.
The
award-­‐winning
SilkRoad®
Life
Suite®
includes
Talent
Acquisi:on,
Talent
Development,
and
HRMS
solu:ons
that
are
delivered
through
a
Talent
Portal
to
drive
greater
engagement,
collabora:on,
and
user
adop:on.
The
suite
is
easy
to
deploy,
easy
to
use,
and
affordable
for
businesses
of
every
size.
Visit
www.silkroad.com
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9. Thank you.
Want to learn more about onbaording?
Download the Ultimate Guide to Onboarding