Dan Schawbel* says the most successful organisations realise it’s important to gather team members’ feedback throughout their employment journey.
Organisations that are successfully able to recruit candidates in today’s difficult job market should remember that an employee’s journey doesn’t end once they sign their job offer letter.
It’s critical that new hires have a great on-boarding experience that transitions them into their new role and makes them want to stick around.
A Glassdoor survey found that organisations with effective on-boarding can increase retention by 82 per cent and productivity by more than 70 per cent.
Negative effects of poor on-boarding include lower morale and engagement and a lack of trust in the organisation.
As important as on-boarding is, it’s not the only step of the employee journey that can impact outcomes.
There’s also the pre-boarding or pre-hire phase, the post-hire work experience, and exit processes.
Most organisations are missing out on opportunities to collect valuable feedback at all of these touch-points.
Gathering the right data at the right times can help businesses make informed decisions that can improve both engagement and retention.
Pre-hire employee feedback can help organisations tailor their on-boarding program.
Most people believe that the best time to start collecting feedback is after a new team member has settled into their position.
However, this leaves a great deal of potential data untapped.
Gathering insights during the pre-hire period can help personalise the on-boarding step of the employee journey.
Pre-hire feedback from references on candidate’s strengths and areas of improvement can guide employers on specific areas to address.
This is one of the major values of having a detailed reference feedback report.
Employers can use this information to address any candidate shortcomings and set new hires up for greater success.
Employee feedback can help improve the on-boarding process.
Gallup finds that only 12 per cent of workers report that their organisation does a great job of on-boarding new employees.
On-boarding surveys can be used to find out what new team members liked about the process and how the experience could be improved for future hires.
On-boarding feedback can help improve the hiring manager experience.
When managers are satisfied, new hires benefit from more managerial support and better integration into the team, both of which are factors that boost retention.
A manager experience survey can provide insights that can help refine the on-boarding experience for both hiring managers and new hires.
Post-hire data can help engage and retain employees.
The post-hire period includes an employee’s entire working experience up until their departure.
Although just 30 per cent of companies use new-hire engagement surveys, obtaining this data can create significant long-term value for employers.
That’s because by addressing the root causes of turnover through post-hire engagement, organisations can benefit from up to 41 per cent less disengagement or absenteeism and up to a 59 per cent reduction in turnover.
Exit data can help leaders understand why employees are leaving.
Whether an employee leaves by choice or they are asked to go, gathering exit feedback can offer invaluable insights into the employee experience.
Organisations can learn why workers are leaving and how to better support people in the future.
Collecting exit feedback from managers can help leaders understand what’s going on in the organisation and whether recruiting efforts are bringing in the right talent.
Managers who have a close working relationship with their team members can provide valuable insight into why an employee didn’t work out.
In addition, reviewing manager feedback alongside employees’ input provides a more complete picture of the current state of engagement.
Whether you’re gathering feedback from workers, managers, or references, there’s a treasure trove of information waiting to be uncovered that can help you reshape the entire employee journey.
However, in order to be successful, your surveys have to be properly designed and you’ll most likely need to automate some of the processes.
The right technology solution can help you gather the information you need, so you can make informed decisions that are backed by data.
*Dan Schawbel is a bestselling author and Managing Partner of Workplace Intelligence, a research and advisory firm helping HR adapt to trends, drive performance and prepare for the future.
A fuller version of this article appeared in Dan’s Workplace Intelligence Weekly series.
