4 ways your intranet can supercharge employee onboarding experience

Hiring top talent is challenging enough, but keeping those star employees engaged and committed long-term is where many companies really struggle.

The facts are startling – only 12% of employees say their organization does an excellent job with onboarding, according to a recent Gallup study. Poor onboarding leads to significantly higher turnover within the first year and low engagement among remaining employees.

As remote and hybrid work becomes more common, traditional onboarding methods are becoming outdated. Creating an effective employee onboarding experience means much more than just ticking off administrative tasks.

In today’s competitive hiring market, it’s critical to have effective, engaging onboarding in place, or employees might quickly look elsewhere.

Your intranet is a valuable tool for delivering an exceptional onboarding experience from day one. Instead of a tedious checklist, leverage your intranet’s capabilities to craft an engaging, interactive and personalized journey.

With the right strategies it becomes an exciting, culturally-rich experience that inspires new team members to feel valued and motivated to succeed right from the start – making them want to grow with your company.

Why wait until their official start date to kickoff onboarding? Leading companies are using the weeks beforehand to get new hires pre-acquainted through dedicated pre-boarding portals on their intranets.

Create a dedicated pre-boarding portal on your intranet where new hires can access a sneak peek at core responsibilities, company culture and values insights, and any preliminary training.

This previewing period allows new team members to start getting excited and immersed before they even step through the door.

When employees join your company, it’s important to make them feel like a valued part of the team from day one. Use your intranet to give them a warm virtual welcome. Feature their profile and a greeting message on the homepage.

Better yet, publish a news article to introduce them to the team on the intranet! Share their photo, roles, skills, and fun facts to help everyone get to know them better.

Another idea is to use social tools like Viva Engage (the social network within the intranet if you’re using Microsoft 365) to create posts welcoming new hires to the community. Refer the post to the intranet article and relevant groups. This encourages friendly reactions and jumpstarts their sense of belonging.

In those first few days, new team members have to absorb a ton of new information – policies, procedures, org charts, training materials and more. Instead of having them bounce between different systems, make it easy by centralizing everything they need on your intranet.

This one-stop-shop ensures they can quickly get their hands on essential resources like an interactive org chart, employee directory and onboarding checklists so they can confidently find their footing.

Involv’s “Welcome Tour” is perfect for new hires. As they explore the intranet for the first time, webparts are highlighted with explanations to orient them.

Another helpful feature for new employees is “Mandatory Read.” Much of the information presented in an employee’s first few days on the job is essential reading, such as critical policies and procedures, guidelines, HR resources, etc. The Mandatory Read feature ensures these critical resources are easily accessible and trackable.

It’s important to strike a balance when onboarding. You want new hires to learn quickly, but bombarding them with too much info at once can backfire.

Top companies tailor their intranet homepages for each onboarding stage. For example, the first week might focus on setting up accounts and basic systems, while later stages introduce more resources bit-by-bit to avoid overwhelming people.

With the core onboarding pieces in place through your intranet, take the experience to the next level by also implementing these extra best practices:

• New hire buddies: Pair new employees with peer mentors who can show them the ropes and help build connections. This personal touch can foster connections and make the transition smoother for your new hire.

• Welcome email: Shoot over a friendly welcome email to your new hires on their first day, or even beforehand. It’s a simple gesture that can set a positive tone for their start.

• Detailed onboarding schedule: Ensure new employees have a structured schedule filled with various activities, so they can get to know their colleagues and understand the team’s dynamics. Showing up on the first day without a plan can quickly demotivate new hires.

• Feedback loops: Build feedback surveys right into your intranet so new hires can share their experiences and you can continually improve onboarding.

In today’s competitive landscape, an engaging and well-executed onboarding process isn’t just nice to have – it’s essential for engaging employees and reducing costly turnover.

By tapping into the power of your intranet, you can create an immersive, personalized onboarding journey that sets new team members up for success from the start while positioning your company as an employer of choice.

Explore the future of intranet solutions with Involv. Learn how our team of experts can help you create an effective internal communications platform and tackle today’s business challenges.