Employee turnover is a major challenge across organizations. The issue has a major cost implication on organizations in terms of hiring and training new workers. In addition to the replacement costs, employee turnover also results in a loss in company productivity, weakens work relations, and leads to loss of intellectual capital, as employees are considered critical assets in an organization. Considering the serious implication of employee turnover on organizations, there is a need to develop workable solutions that organizations could implement in order to address this challenge. To solve employee turnover, organizations can use a hybrid solution that involves employee onboarding and adequate compensation.
Justification for the Solution
Employee Onboarding
Employee onboarding entails getting new employees accustomed to the expectations of their new duties more easily. The process enables employees to acquire knowledge and skills on how to perform their jobs.[1] Furthermore, it helps them to learn attitudes and behaviors that will enable them to function effectively within the organization. The extent to which a firm welcomes and prepares its employees for their new jobs determines how they are more likely to contribute to the organization’s mission and ensure its success.[2] The nature of the onboarding process differs from one organization to the next depending on the policies in place. However, the primary role is to enable employees to get acquainted with their jobs. In this case, the employee onboarding process determines the effectiveness and efficiency of employees within an organization.
All new employees in an organization experience some type of onboarding. However, the nature of the programs differs in their formality and comprehensiveness. Some firms prefer to have a more structured and systematic approach, whereas others have an unstructured and disorganized procedure. In an unsystematic employee onboarding structure, new employees struggle to figure out their roles within the positions they hold.[3] Furthermore, the programs differ regarding formality, the number of employees on board at the same time, as well as the extent of support that the programs offer to the new employees. Some organizations have rigid formal structures, which require following various procedures to the latter whereas others have informal ones.[4] Therefore, employee onboarding is not a defined process, but instead, a company defines the procedures that it will follow as well as the rules that will guide the entire process.
Employee orientation has various best practices that organizations can follow for best results, and they include having a formal orientation program in writing. An organization also considers other issues such as whether the company warmly welcomes employees on their first day.[5] Firms further determine whether employees should be provided with a workstation immediately and whether they are provided with lunch on the first day. Therefore, the first day is the most important one for an employee on the job; hence, firms should try to make them feel special as early as two weeks into the job.[6] In this case, employee onboarding is an essential process for new employees within a firm and determines the long-run productivity of a firm depending on how it treats new hires.
Employee onboarding goes on even after paperwork and orientation involving the history of the company are complete. The training of new recruits continues to involve guidelines on the performance of daily duties, mentorship opportunities, round-the-clock feedback, and introduction to important members of the firm.[7] An organization should incorporate the tasks of orientation with its cultural and organizational training to ensure that the new employees understand where they fit in the firm. The human resource can create a checklist that will enable them to ensure that the employee onboarding process covers all topics. Accountability is a critical component that the firm can achieve by having a sheet that will contain the file of the new employees.[8] If a company incorporates these practices, it will enhance the employee onboarding process and elevate it towards success. Therefore, an organization should measure the level of employee onboarding best practices’ effectiveness over time and the strength of their contribution.
Adequate Compensation
A company that does not offer adequate compensation for its personnel risks losing its employees to rivals. Losing talented and experienced staff is a big blow to any company, thus adequate compensation of staff for their roles is considered as a workable way of retaining them.
Alternative Identification
The company needs to implement an effective compensation plan that is in line with the industry standards. This can be achieved by checking available resources with such information so that comparison can be conducted annually.[9] Providing fringe benefits to personnel such as health insurance, holiday perks, and retirement benefits could make employees prefer working for the company to rivals. The steps taken to achieve effective employee compensation entail developing a compensation schedule that conforms to employee roles and industry standards and allocating benefit package to personnel.
Actor Involvement
The actors engaged in employee compensation include the human resource department, the accounting department, and the top management. The human resource department sets the level of employee compensation that each employee is entitled to in accordance with their roles and responsibilities. The accounting department is tasked with payroll preparation and ensuring all employees get the relevant benefits and perks.[10] The top management is engaged in reviewing the employee pay and benefits system from time to time so that employees do not leave the organization to join competitors with a better compensation scheme.
Implementation
Implementing an effective compensation system is a rigorous task that is undertaken on an ongoing basis so that the company’s compensation system reflects the industry standards and is attractive to personnel.
The amalgamation of employee onboarding and adequate compensation enables a company to form a viable solution to the issue of high employee turnover. This hybrid solution enables a company to retain highly qualified workers who are satisfied. By embracing such a move, a company will gain a competitive edge over its rivals.
Bibliography
- Cable, Daniel M., Francesca Gino, and Bradley R. Staats. “Reinventing employee onboarding.” MIT Sloan Management Review 54, no. 3 (2013): 23.
- Graybill, Jolie O., Maria Taesil Hudson Carpenter, Jerome Offord Jr, Mary Piorun, and Gary Shaffer. “Employee onboarding: Identification of best practices in ACRL libraries.” Library Management 34, no. 3 (2013): 200-218.
- Timms, Carolyn, Paula Brough, Michael O’Driscoll, Thomas Kalliath, Oi Ling Siu, Cindy Sit, and Danny Lo. “Flexible work arrangements, work engagement, turnover intentions and psychological health.” Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 53, no. 1 (2015): 83-103.
[1] Cable, Daniel M., Francesca Gino, and Bradley R. Staats. “Reinventing employee onboarding.” MIT Sloan Management Review 54, no. 3 (2013): 23.
[3] Graybill, Jolie O., Maria Taesil Hudson Carpenter, Jerome Offord Jr, Mary Piorun, and Gary Shaffer. “Employee onboarding: Identification of best practices in ACRL libraries.” Library Management 34, no. 3 (2013): 200-218.
[6] Graybill, Jolie O., Maria Taesil Hudson Carpenter, Jerome Offord Jr, Mary Piorun, and Gary Shaffer. “Employee onboarding: Identification of best practices in ACRL libraries.” Library Management 34, no. 3 (2013): 200-218.
[9] Timms, Carolyn, Paula Brough, Michael O’Driscoll, Thomas Kalliath, Oi Ling Siu, Cindy Sit, and Danny Lo. “Flexible work arrangements, work engagement, turnover intentions and psychological health.” Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 53, no. 1 (2015): 83-103.