Building a Tech Employee Onboarding Program to Aid Retention

Tech onboarding is a crucial aspect of the candidate journey, yet overlooked in recruitment. In many places, employee onboarding stops within weeks of hiring. Why? Companies view it as a one-off thing and not an ongoing exercise. Once fresh employees complete their orientation, they are left to figure out other things on their own. This leaves them confused, frustrated and disengaged. HR leaders and recruiters need to rethink this approach as it does not set candidates up for long-term success.

Effective onboarding ensures employees transition into their roles and lays the groundwork for their future. For most recruiters, the real challenge is creating an effective tech employee onboarding program that supports talent acquisition and technical employee retention strategies. Let’s look at how to create and roll out an onboarding plan for the first 90 days. 

The Importance of a Strong Tech Onboarding Program

Most companies expect new hires to hit the ground running after orientation, but the reality is different. Only 40% of employees reach peak productivity. The rest are coasting at work because they didn’t receive enough structured support early on.  Sad as this situation sounds, it underscores the importance of an effective tech onboarding program.

A well-structured program can accelerate time to productivity and ensure new hires contribute to teams within weeks of joining the company. In addition, it can drive up employee engagement and improve their job satisfaction. 

Onboarding is also important as it influences the impression new tech employees have about your company. The reality of the job versus expectations becomes clear at this stage. If the onboarding is smooth, new employees will have a smooth start.

Preboarding: Setting the Stage for Success

A strong preboarding can instill confidence in your newest team member. Here’s how HR leaders and recruiters can build excitement and anticipation:

• Send a warm, welcoming email to the new employee with helpful tips for their first day.
• Share the employee handbook with the code of conduct, benefits and workplace health and safety information.
• Create a FAQ document to address common concerns or questions.
• Complete tax forms, benefit enrollment and other vital paperwork.
• Set up the employee’s email account and grant network and software access to productivity and communication tools.
• Introduce the new employee to their team virtually.

The First 30 Days: Immersion and Foundation

Fourty four percent of employees regret joining a company within the first week. To increase retention, recruiters need to do the following things in the first 30 days:

• Schedule orientation sessions that cover the company culture, values and policies.
• Provide technical training on proprietary tools and in-house systems.
• Introduce the new employees to team members and other key stakeholders.
• Assign the employee their first task or project.
• Check in regularly with managers and mentors on the employee’s progress.

Implementing a Mentorship Framework

Approximately 19% of employees quit their jobs because of a lack of growth opportunities, including mentoring programs. As part of tech onboarding, recruiters and HR leaders should establish a mentorship framework for new hires. Here are some tips for starting a mentoring program:

• Identify competent and passionate employees with strong interpersonal skills to share their expertise with fresh hires.
• Define expectations and responsibilities for the program, including the scope, nature of interactions and number of meetings.
• Structure interactions and activities. Will meetings be in person or virtual? Will there be Q&A sessions and room for discussion?
• Get feedback from mentees, and track key performance indicators such as job performance and retention to evaluate how effective mentorships are. 

Days 31-60: Deepening Engagement and Contribution

Only 31% of US employees are engaged at their workplace. Tech recruiters and HR leaders need to deepen employee engagement and contribution. During this critical period, recruiters should:

• Gradually increase the employee’s responsibilities by allowing them to take ownership of smaller projects.
• Encourage the new employee to collaborate with different teams and departments.
• Provide employees with opportunities for learning and upskilling.
• Perform weekly check-ins and feedback sessions.
• Offer mentorship to develop the employee’s problem-solving capacity, leadership and coaching skills.

Tech recruiters should strike a balance between supporting employees and giving them more freedom. This way, employees can become confident and competent. 

Days 61-90: Integration and Long-Term Success

The 2024 State of Employee Report shows that 34% of employees will stay with a company longer if they have a great onboarding experience:

• Let employees tackle more complex tasks, make decisions and take full ownership of projects.
• Find out the career aspirations of employees, provide upskilling opportunities and continue mentoring them.
• Encourage new employees to participate in events, contribute to discussions, and learn from peers to strengthen their sense of belonging.
• Use performance reviews to evaluate the employee’s performance against SMART goals.
• Use surveys or on-on-one interviews to get feedback on the employee’s onboarding experience.

KPIs for Onboarding Tech Employees

KPIs in tech recruitment evaluate how effective a 90-day tech onboarding program is. Some of the vital metrics to track include:

• Completion rates
• Time to productivity
• Retention rate 
• Employee engagement 
• New hire turnover 

Gathering Feedback from New Hires and Managers

Tech recruiters can gather feedback in different ways. They can use daily check-ins, structured monthly surveys or input from managers. After collecting feedback, recruiters need to perform qualitative and quantitative analysis of onboarding data. This way, they can uncover trends and patterns.

Strategies for Iterating and Improving the Onboarding Process

These strategies can help recruiters fine-tune the onboarding of tech employees:

• Use the insights from the data to update training material and fast-track communication with new hires.
• Tailor your company’s onboarding to individual needs or roles.
• Use surveys or meetings to get input from new employees and managers.
• Invest in onboarding software to automate and streamline tasks, such as communication and learning.
• Provide managers with an updated onboarding checklist, role-specific training guides and tools they need to ensure smooth onboarding .

Because the tech landscape keeps changing, recruiters must adapt their onboarding program to market changes and needs.

Driving Retention Through Effective Tech Onboarding

An effective 90-day employee onboarding program can help fresh hires settle in quickly, drive retention and set up your tech team for long-term success. 

Are you a tech recruiter? Start investing in tech onboarding programs and give new employees a reason to stay with your company. Our guide on onboarding Gen Z in tech recruitment will give you a head start.

Key Takeaways:

• Recruiters should tailor onboarding to the needs of tech professionals.
• Tracking and measuring onboarding KPIs helps recruiters improve onboarding processes.
• When onboarding, it’s crucial to balance technical training and cultural integration.
• Mentoring and supporting new employees helps them navigate workplace dynamics and successfully transition into their roles.