Chapter I

Definition of onboarding

The key figures

He is responsible for the resignation of nearly 1 in 3 managers during a trial period

90% of employees think that the process needs to be improved

Loupé, it costs between €30,000 and €60,000 per employee

The numbers don't lie, and in the field of onboarding, they reveal an undeniable reality: it is a strategic step that is often underestimated. Onboarding, although often considered to be a simple administrative process, actually holds some of the keys to a company's organizational success.

Imagine this: nearly a third of managers resign during the trial period, a striking figure that reveals the critical importance of first impressions and integration into a new team.

But that is not all. Far from being limited to purely human considerations, onboarding has a significant financial impact. The costs associated with a failed onboarding amount to tens of thousands of euros per employee. These colossal amounts, often overlooked in initial calculations, reveal the magnitude of the challenges: a poorly thought-out process can quickly become a financial abyss for a company.

However, beyond the numbers, lies an essential truth: onboarding is much more than a formality. This is the time when relationships are forged, values are transmitted, and collective identity, commitment and productivity are shaped!

Thus, if 90% of employees believe that the process needs to be improved, it is because they instinctively know that well-thought-out onboarding is the key to successful integration and therefore to good performance. By investing in this phase, businesses will cultivate an environment conducive to the professional development of everyone.

Onboarding comes from the English expression “to get on board” which literally means “to get on board”. Often used by the airline sector to define the fact of getting passengers on a plane, it has a second definition within companies. If you describe onboarding in a simple way, it is the process or the journey that a new employee goes through from the moment he is informed of his hiring (Pre-boarding) until the complete assumption of his position (integration). The objective is to implement actions that will facilitate the arrival of the new employee within the company.

For some, onboarding starts with the first email exchange. For others, the employee's first day in the company. This process is generally carried out in a positive and sustainable manner and can last between three months and one year. The more the onboarding process is implemented prior to the arrival of the new employee, the more quickly the new employee will be productive and operational in his functions.

This period will determine the employee's first impression of the new company. Effective onboarding offers a continuous experience with clearly defined stages of the integration journey: pre-boarding, orientation and integration.

• Pre-boarding : the period between the signing of the contract and the arrival of the new employee in the company. It is a sensitive period where it is important to create a bond with him, reassure him and give him visibility on his first steps within the team.
  
  
• Orientation: the first day in business. This day is important to quickly create a sense of belonging and reassure the new employee.
  
  
• Integration: the onboarding follow-up period to retain and engage the new recruit.

A successful onboarding must above all be in accordance with the culture of the company, its specificities and its sector of activity. Successful onboarding is above all about adapting to the culture and particularities of the company.

A personalized welcome appeals to newcomers and facilitates their integration. By being welcomed, they quickly find their place and are more motivated to get involved. Winning winning.

So how Succeed in the onboarding of your employees ?

Examples of onboarding

facebook

Multinationals have taken on the onboarding challenge. This is the case of the giant Facebook. For the chief information officer, if the company does not arouse curiosity within 45 minutes of the arrival of new employees, it is because their onboarding is not up to date. All activities to present values, roles, practices, and missions are planned in advance. The group organizes Boot Camps for its new engineers that last for a period of six months. The aim is to give them a real and practical experience: insight into the company culture, introduction to problem solving, discovery of the code base, inspiration, motivation, and gratification. At the end of the program, employees choose their teams and the project that motivated them the most.

Orange

Orange has established a two-step application to facilitate the arrival of new employees: Welcom'App. The first step (before D-Day) allows for a smooth integration. The new employee receives personalized content to keep him on the edge of his seat., make him want and show him that he is really expected and welcomed. It is a digitization of classical onboarding. The second stage (D-Day and after) allows you to follow up on the new employee. Even if the link is virtual, the application allows you to consult the new recruit, and to collect their feelings. There is the possibility of reporting alerts in the event of a problem but above all to improve the commitment and satisfaction of employees. The application makes it possible to prepare for the arrival of the future collaborator by sending him fun information. It allows the visit of the premises in Virtual Reality, the reception of the President in Augmented Reality or the use of gamification.

Pinterest

For Pinterest, A whole week is dedicated to the integration of new employees. They receive an email with the details of the first day's program: the “Hire Class” with collective breakfast. From day one the main value of the company was introduced, “knitting”, which means “to collaborate with others” in English. The founders compose the rooms so that they are as heterogeneous as possible. They take the time to listen, discuss, and communicate with new collaborators. The second day is reserved for the introduction of technical details, engineers join the bootcamp, and teams form or complement each other. At the end of the week, the new employees come together to volunteer and toast their first week of integration together.

google

Google has chosen to set up “Ice breaker” or “icebreaker” onboarding in French. New employees do not go unnoticed: cap over their heads with the words “Noogle” (a mixture of Google and English novice) and a huge ball that they have to hang at the office. Google onboarding is based on teamwork activities. The giant relies on practical and cognitive learning to create a sense of connection between new employees. No time to stay in your corner, everything is done to break the ice. Managers welcome and support new hires by listing 5 proven tips to boost productivity:

• Discuss roles and responsibilities
• Pairing the new collaborator with a “Peer Buddy” or “referent” in French.
• Establish the Onboarding check-ins once a month for the first six months.
• Start the building a network within the company.
• Encourage the open dialogue to avoid major internal conflicts.

LinkedIn

Linkedin has defined an integration process so that each new employee has a personalized experience. This journey starts as soon as they arrive in the morning. From the presentation of the premises to the lunch with the teams, everything is meticulous. The afternoon is composed of various meetings. At the end of their first day they receive a backpack containing a ready-to-use computer with the configured software and a “Roadmap”. This “Roadmap” also called “90 days New Hire Onboarding Plan” brings together information you need to know about LinkedIn and their future projects. This document allows them to monitor their progress in their integration.

Apple

When applying to Apple, candidates do not know in advance what position they will have. Apple relies on an onboarding packager with packages distributed to new employees : stickers, forms from human resources, company t-shirt and an iMac. The main purpose of onboarding for Apple is to let employees interact together, to create group cohesion right from the start.

BlaBlaCar

BlaBlaCar's onboarding is known to be very comprehensive. The company organizes Onboarding Days lasting three days. On the program, presentation of the history of the company, its values and discovery of their future colleagues. BlaBlaCar also offers access to their “BlaBla Learn” platform. This internal company platform brings together all the information necessary for a new employee.

What to remember

Onboarding has taken an important place in the management of human factors in companies. But with these various onboarding examples and templates, we notice that all the paths of these different companies are similar in some respects:

• We note the importance of the stage of pre-boarding : the period between his recruitment and his first day in business. This period defines the future of the relationship between the company and the new employee.
• Most businesses define a referent, to supervise and support the new employee.
• Onboarding is numerous preparatory actions, which requires time or at least some time.
• Some businesses prefer Package the arrival with “gift boxes” Which in French means a gift box. All the employee has to do is sit down and start working, everything is done to make their arrival and integration as easy as possible.
• The use intuitive applications internal to the company : these applications make it possible to improve the skills of the newcomer in a fun way.

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Chapter II

The benefits of onboarding

Successfully completing the integration process can bring a lot to the company: saving time, improving productivity, a better engagement rate and a better return on investment.

Here are the main benefits to remember:

• Reducing newcomer stress

It is obvious, but effective onboarding reduces the stress of new employees when they arrive by familiarizing them with the company and its expectations. Their integration is more fluid and their questions and tensions are less.

• Accelerating learning

By providing appropriate coaching and support, onboarding shortens the time needed to learn the new position. Using the company's internal know-how to train new employees also promotes team cohesion.

• Improving satisfaction and retention

It cannot be repeated enough, but a well-designed onboarding process contributes to employee satisfaction and long-term retention. In companies that have an onboarding strategy, there is a 33% increase in employees with a strong commitment to their employer (1). Employees who feel listened to are 4.6 times more likely to give their best (2). High-quality onboarding can potentially improve your retention rate by 82% (3).

• A positive impact on business results

By reducing recruiting costs and optimizing the productivity of new employees, onboarding helps improve financial results and company reputation. An employee who is well informed and trained on his job is an employee who can immediately devote himself to value-added tasks, those for which you hired him.

• Strengthening the employer brand

A well-orchestrated onboarding process strengthens the company's brand image and attracts top talent. Well-received employees become ambassadors for the company much more easily, thus contributing to its attractiveness on the job market.

• Better internal mobility

For those who are already in the company and want to change jobs, onboarding makes it possible to facilitate this change. Many companies do not apply onboarding for internal mobility. However, a change is still a change. Supporting talent in internal mobility is also a way of retaining talent!

Chapter III

How to succeed in your onboarding process?

The onboarding process starts as soon as the first contact is made, well before the real integration of the employee. In order to successfully complete an onboarding process, There should be a formal exchange between new collaborators and the company's human resources staff from the start of the process. This is not often the case most of the time. Indeed 77% of newcomers are welcomed by their manager rather than by human resources professionals (2).

Onboarding in a nutshell

For a Successful onboarding, you have to know how to respect certain rules, regardless of the tools used!

• Do not abandon the newcomer: you can offer a digital welcome before arrival and a physical welcome upon arrival. Preparing your equipment beforehand is also important: badge, desk and computer station...
  
  
• Involve other employees: warning all employees beforehand, mobilizing them and defining a referent will improve the well-being of the newcomer and avoid embarrassing situations.
  
  
• Introduce the team, the premises and the corporate culture: it is important to immerse the newcomer in the corporate world. The employer brand is essential for successful onboarding. They need to feel good!

The steps of a good onboarding

But where do you start? What are the essential steps that work for all profile types?

There are more than 150 tasks to be completed to set up a complete onboarding (3). Here are a few steps to follow and which are necessary for a successful onboarding process:

STEP 1: Preparing for the arrival of the new collaborator

• Prepare the mutual insurance contract and documents.
  
  
• Give a digital welcome: why not introduce him to his future colleagues before he arrives?
  
  
• Gather the equipment: keys and badges.
  
  
• Preparing the new collaborator's workplace: desk, chair, computer, etc.
  
  
• Create the computer identifiers and email address of the new employee.
  
  
• Configure the new collaborator's computer with internal software.
  
  
• Give access to the server and access to the corporate social network.
  
  
• Make a checklist to avoid oversights.
  
  
• Bring business cards.

STEP 2: Inform and mobilize employees

• Prevent support functions : the accounting department, the human resources department and the other various departments of the company.
• Informing the teams, to specify the recruitment objectives and the date of arrival of the new employee in the form of a meeting.
• Mobilize the team in which he will work directly and Define a voluntary referent who will become his privileged interlocutor: this referent will send him all the information he needs in the best possible conditions.

Many businesses don't take all of this advice into account. 13% of new employees are not introduced to their team. For 17% of them, their arrival was not even announced (2).

STEP 3: Welcome digitally and physically

The first day in the company is a key and decisive moment. Simply because it is the first impression of the functioning of the company that the new employee will have. Care must therefore be taken on the first day so that everything goes according to plan and that the new employee does not want to leave as soon as he arrives.

• D-1: Digital onboarding
  
  
  • Send an email or a message to the new employee to start a relationship of trust.
    
    
  • Send a welcome email from all employees of the company to integrate him into the team.
• D-Day: Physical welcome
  
  
  
  • Be creative: delivery of a welcome booklet, corporate accessories or a welcome pack.
    
    
  • Share a welcome meal: breakfast, lunch or aperitif so that he can get to know the whole team.

STEP 4: Introduce the team, the premises and the corporate culture

• Introduce the team in which the person will be working. The referent will be able to take care of the presentation of the employees and the team in which the new collaborator will evolve. Think of the microlearning to facilitate onboarding of your newcomers.
  
  
• Give him a tour of the premises: find his way around and give safety instructions.
  
  
• Present the position with a road map: mission and important deadlines.
  
  
• Present corporate culture.

STEP 5: Create a training plan adapted to the new collaborator's position

• Set up a “typical course” of training over a given period of time.
  
  
• Involve employees to train the newcomer on tasks they know well.

STEP 6: Integrate the new collaborator and ensure regular follow-up

• Federating the team with team building: a method that emerged in the 1980s whose objective is to strengthen social ties within a group of people belonging to a company or an institution.
  
  
• Do not hesitate to plan a small outdoor activity to strengthen relationships in a different context: seminars, group games, treasure hunts, team sports...
  
  
• Provide a report of astonishment/satisfaction the 1st month after the arrival of the employee.
  
  
• Schedule formal feedback in the middle of the trial period.
  
  
• Finalize the trial period with a future-oriented interview (Feedforward).

A large number of employees in a company makes the process more formalized, with dedicated content such as integration checklists or welcome booklets. However, in one out of two cases, all companies combined, the newcomer does not complete an “integration journey” as such. According to the employee experience barometer conducted by Let's Talk HR in partnership with Global Payroll (2):

• 51% of respondents say that there is management of the integration of new employees into their company.
  
  
• 40% of them mention an implementation project in their company.

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Mistakes you should absolutely avoid during onboarding

In order to succeed in onboarding it is important toavoid some mistakes Do too often:

• Lack of clarity in the onboarding program : It is essential to provide a specific program so that newcomers know what to expect and who to contact when needed.
  
  
• Absence of a referent: Having an assigned referent is crucial (manager, sponsor, member of the integrated team, etc.) to help new employees adapt quickly to their new work environment and answer their questions.
  
  
• Poor preparation of managers: Managers need to establish a connection from the start with new employees to ensure a smooth transition and adequate support. They must therefore anticipate new arrivals so that they are well integrated into their schedule!

• Irrelevant content: Onboarding content should reflect company culture and values, and stakeholders should be prepared to provide valuable, high-quality information.

• Non-scalable process: Onboarding is not fixed. It should be reevaluated from time to time, both in substance and in form. Available new technologies can be used and the available content must also be updated according to company news and developments.

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Chapter IV

How to choose the right solution to digitize your onboarding?

Choosing the right solution to digitize your onboarding is not easy due to the multiplication of choices and offers available on the market: virtual assistant, mobile learning, HRIS and SAAS platform... But before choosing the right solution to digitize your onboarding, you must first ask yourself a few questions.

The 4 questions to ask yourself before choosing your onboarding solution?

1 - What are my goals?

Before starting any process, Setting goals is a key step of the onboarding digitization process. Without goals it will be impossible to measure the effectiveness of your process later, its return on investment and the achievement of its goals. They allow you to frame your process. The use ofrecruitment software ensures that the goals set for onboarding are in line with your organization's overall strategy.

2 - When will I contact the future onboarder?

The time chosen to address the future onboarder can play a crucial role and define the future of their relationship with the company. If she talks to him too late, he may feel left out. It is recommended to contact him well before arriving at the company. so that he feels comfortable afterwards. This creates a climate of trust.

3 - What type of career do I want to offer my collaborator?

Choosing the course is an important step in choosing the right solution to digitize onboarding. The course can be formative, by ensuring the development of skills, managerial to establish the manager-manager relationship. It can also use the team building.

4 - What are the indicators I want to follow to measure the onboarding process?

Several factors can measure the effectiveness of the onboarding process: the productivity of the employee, his motivation and his commitment. Knowing the indicators that you will use next allows you to have a before/after of your indicators.

Choosing the best solution for your business

Digitizing your process brings a large number of advantages:

• automate all repetitive actions;
• inform and coordinate all stakeholders;
• disseminate and collect documents;
• transfer skills, connect training modules;
• support the development of the new recruit;
• assess the success of the integration.

Many solutions exist to digitize your integration process, it's up to you to choose the solution that best suits your company and your sector:

• SAAS platform : Software as a service or SAAS allows users to connect to and use cloud applications via the Internet.
• Les SIRH : covers all HR management processes, from recruitment management to training and career management.
• Digital tools for collaboration are also called instant messaging : communicate, collaborate, transfer information and knowledge.
• Mobile learning : learning with fun content.

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Chapter V

How do you measure the success of onboarding?

What does it mean to measure the success of onboarding? First of all it is draw lessons from the main indicators of the integration process, whether positive or negative, to guarantee the success of the business. This makes it possible to improve it on faulty points or to add other information to the integration process. As said before, effective onboarding improves retention at work, to increase the productivity of employees, and to promote their commitment. However to optimize these processes, they must first be analyzed. The results should be interpreted according to the company and the references within its sector. For example, the average retention rate at work varies across industries.

Many businesses (55%) still don't measure the effectiveness of their onboarding program at all (11). Measuring these factors is very important for the successful development of the company. However, for 33% of companies, reducing time is an important objective in their integration program and only 7% of them measure it (11).

Today many businesses still can't figure out what factors they really need to measure. Most don't have an effective system for collecting and analyzing data after onboarding is in place.

It is important to measure the effectiveness of your onboarding. But what factors should be measured? And how can they be measured?

Measuring engagement

Before measuring employee engagement at work, you must first be able to understand what engagement at work is. Each company has its own definition and expectations of what employee engagement is. There are two types of engagement:

• Organizational commitment : it is the relationship between the employee and the company. In general, it is correlated to the performance of the employee in contributing to the achievement of company objectives.
• Professional commitment : this second form of commitment is more oriented to the activity and the specific task that he performs during his work.

The distinction between the two commitments is important. An employee hired by his company but not very much by his activity can easily be a loss of income for the company. With internal mobility this problem can be easily solved. And vice versa for the opposite situation.

To measure employee engagement, surveys must be submitted to them regularly. They will make it possible to verify the influence of company improvement actions. Consulting is a good solution. Outsourcing surveys allows you to have a higher participation rate and to have more honest answers from your employees. Following these surveys, it is recommended to conduct personal interviews with each collaborator to talk openly about the results.

After collecting the data, there are two ways to go about it. If the survey reveals little room for improvement and a high level of engagement among employees, now is the time to communicate these results. to improve the company's brand image. However, if the results come back negative, the company must take corrective measures.

Measuring motivation

Motivation at work is the set of personal, economic, social, but also environmental factors that lead employees to invest fully and effectively in the achievement and completion of their tasks. Unlike commitment, which is collective, motivation is personal. The motivation of an employee also leads to the success of the company.

Work motivation is difficult to assess. To get a first idea of the motivation of employees in a company, it is possible to set up individual and personal interviews for each employee. Most of the time, employees prefer to keep their opinion to themselves for fear of being judged by their superiors. In this case, a solution exists: Set up a suggestion box where all responses are anonymous.

Some figures can also reflect employee satisfaction: the absenteeism rate and the turnover rate. Analyzing which part of employees take sick leave and why they take sick leave can be beneficial in improving this problem.

Keeping employees motivated is a daily job. Human resources professionals and managers can take courses on management methods to adopt for employees. Motivation is maintained daily through actions that are often simple: tour of the department every morning, corporate events, regular feedback, congratulations for all the small victories.

Measuring productivity

Assessing the productivity of an employee can seem complicated. However, it is possible to measure productivity objectively, this relates to results and subjectively, that is to say, the behaviors of the individual.

• Objective measurement : this measurement is very often carried out on the analysis of quantitative criteria because they are easier to standardize. They can be analyzed by looking at the results of the actions of employees (number of sales, number of cases processed).
• Subjective measurement : the subjective measurement of performance focuses mainly on qualitative criteria. We no longer look at the results but how the collaborator arrived at this result and his behaviors.

There are 4 steps to calculate employee productivity:

• What is productivity for the company: before evaluating it, you must Define productivity by asking three questions:
  • What is the ultimate goal of the team?
  • What are the prerequisite for that?
  • When do you want this goal to be achieved?

• Define goals : by setting goals and deadlines in a nutshell, it will be easier to see things clearly.
• Watch the competition : identify standards and benchmarks according to the business sector.
• Measure constantly and systematically : it is important to compare data from one week to another to see if there are changes and to be able to act quickly.

Individual interviews

In the onboarding process it is important to communicate with the new recruit, especially if the process is digitized. To ensure that this integration time is well optimized, follow-up must be ensured by organizing regular meetings with the new recruit. In this way, it will be possible to monitor its evolution, to assess its capabilities throughout its trial period and to react quickly if necessary. The impact of successful integration on an employee's performance should not be minimized. The investment in this approach will pay off in the long term. These follow-ups make it possible to avoid a negative final assessment of onboarding.

It is recommended to take stock on the D-Day of integration, on D+7 and D+30 to maintain a constant link with the candidate and on the success of the onboarding. Other points can be made after the first month to continue this momentum.

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Chapter VI

The 5 onboarding trends of 2025

Onboarding should be renewed as often as possible. Effective onboarding is up-to-date onboarding on news and new technological and social trends. If it is done according to the rules of the art, it will have a positive impact on the entire business ecosystem. Some trends for the future of onboarding stand out.

Onboarding even more prior to the arrival of the employee

The key to future onboarding is first of all onboarding as early as possible before the employee arrives. A pre-onboarding period allows for a smooth integration. The new employee will be more serene during their first day in the company. Indeed, 22% of new hires leave their jobs within the first 45 days and 4% of them do not follow up after their first day (6). Having a pre-boarding period limits the risk of abandonment by the new recruit. A recruit who goes through a complete Onboarding process is about 58% more likely to stay with the company (4).

Include onboarding in your job offers

Offering more immersive recruitment experiences is a way to have onboarding already present in your job offers and to intensify your brand image. The candidate experience can take the form of 360° videos, an interactive application for virtual reality headsets or an interactive virtual tour for the web.

Automate onboarding

Automation doesn't happen overnight. It is done all at once and offers lasting benefits. This saves money and time. up to 5 hours per recruit just for administrative tasks (10). Moreover, 57% of HR directors consider that a lack of time is one of the main obstacles to successful onboarding (12). Automation also makes it possible to continuously inform the main contacts of new hires. and to roll out the courses on several sites and in several departments in a single click.

To function properly, automation must meet three main functions:

• With ever more stringent laws on the security of personal data, he must manage employee data securely.
• Enabling human resources professionals tosimply adapt the proposed content according to each recruit.
• Guider new employees and administrators by message along the way.

Focus on augmented reality and virtual reality

Imagine being welcomed into your new work environment without even having to physically go there. Using augmented and virtual reality, businesses will be able to create immersive onboarding experiences where new employees can virtually explore the premises, meet colleagues, and even practice simulated business tasks.

An ongoing commitment

Onboarding won't be limited to the first few weeks or months of employment. It will be an ongoing process aimed at supporting the professional and personal development of employees throughout their career with the company. Mentoring programs, coaching sessions, and lifelong learning opportunities will be integrated into the onboarding experience, ensuring lasting engagement.

Chapter VII

Onboarding field populations with Beedeez

More than an LMS, Beedeez is the platform that allows you to create, automate your onboarding process and measure its impact. But Why is the onboarding of your field teams important ?

The retention of your talents starts as soon as they arrive, thanks to an effective, field-based and automated onboarding process. We explain to you how.


Onboarding field teams: create, broadcast, measure... And automate!

Script your onboarding, alone or in collaborative mode
Thanks to the capsules and tips, Beedeez's traditional formats, transmit all the knowledge essential to taking up the job of your employees. Upon arrival: information that circulates in various formats, with fun quizzes for maximum memory anchoring.

Broadcast the right content to the right field collaborator, at the right time
Create groups of collaborators who will receive the right onboarding content at every stage of arrival. Make reminders if necessary and involve managers in the follow-up, from the first days!

Focus on gamification
In the case of onboarding, gamification makes it possible to engage employees and train them with fun content. It improves the digital onboarding process. This technique allows you to discover the company in a positive and immersive way, by going through various game stages: quizzes, videos, games... There are many formats!

Simply measure onboarding performance
Our new statistics interface offers you a range of key indicators and functionalities to cover all your reporting needs. Make immediate decisions to take action when needed and adjust your onboarding.

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