6 reasons why your employee onboarding is so onboring [and how an EDP can help]

The only thing that’s worse than having to fill a hundred different forms during employee onboarding? Having to screen, validate and redirect those hundred forms to different teams and systems to get IDs created, IT assets allocated, benefits streamlined, payroll managed, and welcome kits delivered.

Employee onboarding is boring not just for the new hires, but clearly, for you too.

Ticking off checklists, following up, downloading sheets, collating data, sending out emails, pouring over reports, iterating, stressing about attrition, incomplete documents, pushing IT, pushing Admin, and following up some more isn’t fun. It isn’t the best use of your time nor is it the right recipe to deliver an exceptional onboarding experience. 

Why then do you find yourself stuck in that familiar, boring loop of paperwork and follow-ups?

Because compliance - you have no choice but to do it. Ouch!

What if we said there’s a better way to do what you got to do without being overburdened by paperwork and follow-ups? And without compromising on your employee onboarding experience?

This better way is called an Employee Data Platform (EDP).

In this article, you’ll discover the six aspects of employee onboarding that can be uncomplicated by using an EDP.

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1. Manual, complex, and time-consuming paperwork 

Paperwork is boring and cumbersome for the best of us. It is a process dreaded by both the new hires and HR teams. For new hires, it can be extremely frustrating to fill up so many different forms with repetitive information. HR teams, on the other hand, grapple with incorrect data or incomplete forms and unresponsive new hires.

With an EDP, paperwork issues can be resolved once and for all. Using the EDP smart form, you can have new hires fill just one form that will auto-populate the information into other forms. It will also flag data insufficiencies and duplication on its own without manual intervention. 

Imagine the amount of time your new hires and you can save with this one simple automation! And by streamlining all the administrative tasks, you can focus on building relationships and creating meaningful experiences for new hires, setting the stage for a positive and productive work environment.

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2. Lack of cross-functional team collaboration

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HR directs the entire employee onboarding experience show but there are a lot more actors in it. For instance, IT is responsible for asset allocation. The admin team is responsible for ID creation. The merchandise vendor is responsible for sending the welcome kit on time. The payroll team needs to onboard the new employee into the payroll system. The background check vendor needs to complete the verification on time. So on and so forth. 

Manual coordination between all of these teams for hundreds of new hires is a recipe for errors, delays, and unpleasant surprises. And it is not exactly the best use of your time and energy.

With an EDP, you can get all the teams, systems, and tools in the employee onboarding ecosystem onto one platform - enabling automated cross-functional communication and automation.

Here’s a quick example to help you understand this better. An EDP integrates with your IT Helpdesk to create a ticket for a new hire’s laptop allocation. The laptop configuration, image, access and more is auto-configured and automated thanks to an EDP, completely removing the need for manual coordination.

(We already hear you sighing in relief!)

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3. Employee data lying unused in different systems

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Once the compliance requirements are met, data - which we all agree is a gold mine of information - lies unused in multiple systems. This data can ideally be used to deliver an individualized employee experience not just during onboarding but throughout the employee lifecycle. Not utilizing this data is a huge missed opportunity for HR teams. Here’s a little trivia - customer experience teams work with almost half that data to deliver the kind of wow experiences we have from brands on a day-to-day basis.

An EDP can collect and unify data from every single system in your organization - be it, HR, Finance, Operations, or IT and even directly from employees to create a unified view of each employee. It not only eliminates silos but also shows you everything you need about the employee in one single screen. This means you can make informed decisions during onboarding and throughout the employee lifecycle. 

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4. Mass produced and cookie-cutter people processes

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We see you copy-pasting the exact same onboarding emails to every single new hire. 

Stop!

The employee onboarding experience of a fresher joining the Product team will ideally be very different from a senior executive joining the Marketing team. The training they’ll need, the access and assets they’ll require, and the level of knowledge transfer that will be necessary will all be very different. And no two individuals are the same in any case. The concerns, queries, and motivation of an individual who is a parent will be very different from that of an individual who is also a passionate cyclist on the side. To be able to individualize the onboarding experience is not possible manually, especially for large businesses. So you end up using the same cookie-cutter to dole out the same experience over and over again. 

So what does that do for your new hires who are expecting a consumer-grade individualized experience from their new employers?

We’ll say it again. They’re bored. They’ll go through the motions. But the same questions will come back to you a few months later. They know you’ve put no extra effort into making this time feel special for them.

An Employee Data Platform can segment and target employees, allowing you to create personalized onboarding journeys based on individual employee needs, interests, and learning styles. By creating a persona-based, tailored onboarding experience you can meet employees where they are, boosting engagement, accelerating productivity, and fostering a sense of belonging from day one.

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5. No access to real-time insights and analytics

It is the era of data-driven decision-making. And it is no different for HR teams. How do you know what your new hires are feeling about the onboarding experience? Can you make changes and improve the experience on the go? Can you receive early warnings about a new hire who may have a higher tendency to quit? Do you know if they watched the leadership video (that you spent 2 weeks making) helpful? 

An EDP can pull up real-time analytics and generate intelligent insights, giving you the ability to monitor and assess the onboarding process in real-time. From tracking progress to identifying bottlenecks, this will empower you to make quick adjustments and continuously optimize the onboarding experience for maximum impact and engagement.

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6. No sense of belonging or care right from the start

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Employee onboarding is a great way to show that the company cares about its new hires, giving them the much-needed handholding to be productive, and make them feel like they belong in the organization.

When onboarding experiences aren’t “wow” enough, the chances of an employee quitting within the first six months are really high. And we don’t say this off the top of our heads. Unilever saw a 65% drop in 1st-year attrition after using an EDP.

An EDP can help you deliver a smooth onboarding experience that demonstrates care and investment in your new hires. By helping your employees make connections, visualize their career path, providing personalized, relevant information and opportunities for growth, you can foster a strong sense of belonging, increase employee satisfaction and boost retention rates.

And we all know retention is often better than recruitment.

An Employee Data Platform for onboarding and beyond

By collecting and unifying data, fostering collaboration, delivering personalized experiences, and providing real-time analytics and insights, an EDP helps you deliver the best onboarding experience possible. One that is seamless, engaging, and productive, setting the stage for long-term employee satisfaction and organizational growth. With an EDP, you'll unlock the full potential of your employees from day one, fueling their success and the success of your company.

Want to see what the onboarding experience looks like with Tydy? Head here.