What Is Connected Onboarding, and Why Do You Need It?

You know how important good onboarding is. It sets the stage – on day one of a new job or new role – for success on every single day that follows.

You also know the importance of connection at work – connection to people, to the information you need to do your work, and to the organization as a whole. Connection makes all the difference in employee engagement, retention, and overall well-being. Time and again, research has shown the incredible power of simply connecting employees on a personal level – leading to better outcomes for workers and their companies.

These two ideas come together in the concept of connected onboarding. In a nutshell, connected onboarding is infusing onboarding with meaningful relationships and clearer communications. By prioritizing the messages that matter, establishing clear pathways to vital information, opening up important dialogues, and facilitating lasting ties within your company, you can ensure the success of your employees whenever they begin new roles. It’s about building a bridge between onboarding employees and your organization’s culture, goals, and people.

To be clear, we mean “onboarding” here in the larger sense – encompassing every meaningful transition in the employee journey. Onboarding is not simply welcoming new hires – it is also supporting internal promotions and easing returns from leave. It is also helping people move to a new team, role, or project, return as a boomerang employee, or even leave an organization.

Do you need connected onboarding? You tell us. Once the paperwork is complete and equipment issued, are your new employees left to drift and learn on their own – or perhaps buried and isolated beneath an impossible snowdrift of information? What about employees entering new roles or returning from leave – are they being forced to sink or swim on their own? Could you do better with cultivating belonging, reducing churn, or building up productivity? Do you care about building a better employee experience for joiners – and everyone else?

The short answer is yes. You need connected onboarding. Every organization does.

The Three Kinds of Connection Every Onboarding Employee Needs

Here are the three kinds of connections every employee needs – and why it’s so important to make each one a pillar of your connected onboarding experience.

1. Connections Among Humans: Creating a sense of belonging in the workplace starts with connecting people. Personal attachments, whether with colleagues, managers, or mentors, don’t just foster a pleasant work environment; they’re instrumental in reducing turnover, facilitating learning and innovation, and easing organizational change. Friendship at work, as evidenced by years of Gallup research, correlates strongly with improved business performance. To tap into human connection, your onboarding must include ways to cultivate friendships and connect to mentors, guides, and buddies.
2. Connection to the Organization: Being connected to the organization is about your sense of being valued and appreciated within the company, knowing your voice is heard, and understanding and trusting your leaders. It’s about feeling connected to the mission and purpose of your company – understanding what you all do and why, and knowing your place in the bigger picture. This kind of connection offers organizational resilience, helping people stay on track in times of stress or change. To get it, your onboarding should engage employees with your mission, values, and culture and help them understand the role they play in your success.
3. Connection to Information: The final pillar of connection is all about job support. You want to make sure employees are well-informed – and give them the resources they need to locate information and expertise, not just during onboarding, but for as long as they are with your company. This means establishing access to relevant information for learning, skill-building, task completion, and career development. It’s about guiding employees and elevating important information, letting them know what matters and helping them to succeed in their roles.

Who Is Connected Onboarding For?

For New Hires
An exceptional onboarding experience goes beyond administrative formalities. Connected onboarding turns this experience into a series of memorable and engaging moments. It encompasses everything from warm welcome messages to ensuring all necessary tools and information are readily available, making the new hire feel truly part of the team.

For Existing Employees
When changing roles or teams, or returning after time away, employees can often feel just as overwhelmed and anxious as they did on their first day – but they rarely have the depth of support a new starter has available. When you have workflows intended to re-orient and reconnect people in their roles it can help people to form new ties, get advice, and stay on track.

For Managers
Connected onboarding is a manager’s best friend. Since managers play a pivotal role in employee engagement, providing them with a system that offers prompts, guidance, and inspiration for onboarding is crucial. It also takes the entirety of the burden off of them, by introducing employees to other rich sources of information and people with expertise. With less of an information dump to deliver, managers can focus on creating meaningful experiences for new hires.

For the Company
Effective onboarding is more than just getting a good start; it’s a crucial strategy in talent retention and productivity. With a significant percentage of new hires leaving within the first six months, and the substantial cost associated with employees’ time to productivity, onboarding is one of the most critical programs for any business. Connected onboarding helps people get up to speed more quickly, and increases their chances of staying for the long term.

Getting Started with Connected Onboarding

How can you get started with connected onboarding? We’re so glad you asked.

At Enboarder®, we understand that onboarding is an ongoing connection process – of building relationships, knowledge, and integration. That’s why our platform is designed to bring the power of connection into every stage of the onboarding and reboarding process – ensuring that employees feel a sense of belonging, purpose, confidence and clarity at every stage of their journey.

Want to see how it works? Connect with our experts for a comprehensive tour of our platform.