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Revolutionize HR with a Modern Intranet: A Guide to Employee Onboarding Best Practices


improve hr onboarding with modern intranet

Are you fed up with the disorganized and often haphazard process of welcoming new recruits? Would you like a smoother onboarding experience for your staff? According to Gallup’s onboarding report, employees who have a positive onboarding experience are three times more likely to feel prepared and supported in their role, boosting their confidence and improving their ability to perform their role well. So let's make sure your new recruits start off on the right foot!




The Importance Of An Intranet For HR Pre-Boarding And Onboarding Employees

hr employee intranet onboarding

Today, it's essential for companies to have an up-to-date intranet if they want to pre board and onboard new hires in an effective manner. Gallup's report, 'Creating an Exceptional Onboarding Journey for New Employees', found that having a strong onboarding process can lead to a dramatic increase in new hire retention - up to 82% - and a 70% improvement in productivity [Gallup].


Giving your newbies a kick-start to success is key for giving your organization an edge. An intranet can be the perfect tool to do just that—storing employee data, simplifying communication, and taking care of tedious tasks are just some of its possibilities. Here's how you can use it for onboarding your fresh off the block recruits:


  • By streamlining preboarding with automated communications, self-assessment tools, and training materials, organizations can reduce onboarding time, decrease paperwork, and improve the overall onboarding experience for new hires.

  • Easily track progress throughout the entire onboarding process.

  • Create a warm and inviting environment before their first day on the job by utilizing all of the modern intranet features at your disposal. You can even build a bespoke environment specifically for onboarding new employees, so the homepage, navigation and content are tailored to their onboarding needs.

  • Reduce time spent doing paperwork so both employers and employees can focus more on engagement ("hit the ground running") and less on administrative tasks.


Now that we've discussed the benefits of using an Intranet like The Hub for pre-boarding and onboarding, let's take a look at some real-life examples of successful modern intranet pre-boarding and onboarding practices.





Pre-Boarding: Getting Ready for Boarding with a Modern Intranet

streamline employee onboarding

Time to ditch emails and paperwork, and get your pre-boarding process up to speed with a state-of-the art intranet. With digital forms, optimized workflows, collaboration tools and reporting capabilities on usage and engagement, it has become easier than ever for HR departments to make sure everyone has an amazing onboarding experience.


Here's how:

  • Automation: Bye-bye manual labor! Hooking up your HR system to your intranet means new employees are automatically added to your intranet as a new user. Automated workflows manage the necessary information such as adding them to the right department, group chats, offices, etc., quickly giving you more time to focus on what matters most, and ensuring this new employee is served content that's relevant to them as soon as they join.

  • Accessibility: New employees will be able to access your onboarding information from anywhere and at any time – all you need is one login and everything related to pre-boarding becomes accessible in mere moments. You'll also be able to complete the onboarding process without having to be in the office!

  • Collaboration tools: Communication between team members is streamlined when multiple stakeholders are involved, with discussion boards, task lists and form workflows with the ability to assign work and employees to ensure everyone is doing their part to keep everyone in the loop and help onboard the new recruit.

  • Reporting & analytics: Easily track performance metrics such as new hire success rates or average onboarding completion times – so your Human Resources team can stay ahead of the game while recruiting new talent. You'll also be able to track how your new recruits are using and engaging with your content, and track their confirmation of reading mandatory content.

Key Takeaways:

  • Automated workflows can manage necessary documents quickly, allowing HR departments to focus on what matters most.

  • Real-time reporting allow HR teams to track performance metrics for new hire success rates and onboarding completion times.



Onboarding With A Modern Intranet

hr employee intranet hub

Once you've got your pre-boarding process sorted, it's time to make sure onboarding is as smooth as silk. Intranet onboarding gives both HR experts and incoming employees fast access to company culture, policies, procedures and more. More importantly, it ensures your new team member feels part of your connected community from Day 1, by not only providing the support so they know what they're doing in their role, but also to deliver a great workplace experience so that your new employee has a long-term outlook in your company culture.


Get it right and the transition from pre-boarding through to being part of the team will be seamless:

  • Ensure newbies have instant access to all relevant info by setting up automated workflows so training and company materials are immediately available when each step in the onboarding process kicks off.

  • Have FAQs on hand for quickly dealing with common queries without taking attention away from the important stuff. (Hub QuickLinks and FAQs are a great way to readily supply this information to new employees).

  • And don't forget transparency; by regularly sharing news and developments - good or bad - within your organization you'll create a trusting atmosphere that makes everyone feel involved and part of a connected team right away.

If you master these steps, then not only will employee engagement levels skyrocket during orientation – they'll stay nice and high even after first impressions have been made.





Tips for Customizing Your HR Intranet to Meet Your Company's Unique Needs


To make sure you get the most out of your intranet, you’ll want to customize it to meet your company's exact requirements.


Here are our top tips to get you started:

  1. Identify which elements your business needs - consider workforce size, industry specifics (like HIPAA compliance for healthcare) and even inventory tracking for manufacturing companies.

  2. Get creative with personalization - bring on-brand logos into play, craft color schemes and layouts that guarantee easy navigation between different areas of the portal.

  3. Adapt platform settings according to what works best within your specific industry to maximize efficiency - like project management may be an absolute must-have feature for construction companies while a law practice requires document services & legal research etc..

  4. Integrate current tools within your intranet like an HR software or project management platforms to streamline communication across teams too!

  5. Don't forget about testing & refining things once implemented; check all is running smoothly then ask someone from the team how they find it so any necessary refinements can be made quickly!

For instance, retailers customizing their intranets might benefit from POS systems integration alongside inventory management; nonprofits should include volunteer management and donation analysis & tech-based businesses need software development and project tracking tools on board for certain


Key Takeaways:

  • Identify which elements your business needs based on workforce size, industry specifics, and inventory tracking.

  • Get creative with personalization, such as on-brand logos and layouts.

  • Adapt platform settings to maximize efficiency, such as project management for construction companies.

  • Integrate current tools within the intranet to streamline communication across teams




How to Create an Engaging Intranet Pre-Boarding and Onboarding Experience

hr employee intranet features

If you want to make sure your company's HR employee intranet is top-notch, consider strategies tailored to your pre-boarding and onboarding processes that are both simple and downright stimulating:




  • Add videos, interactive quizzes, or informational guides as part of your pre-boarding process so potential hires can learn about what makes your organization unique.

  • Consider using automated surveys or feedback forms to streamline your onboarding process, – this way not only can new hires become oriented quickly but you can also easily identify areas needing improvement throughout the organization.

  • Consider creating a dedicated Onboarding Environment within your intranet site. The Hub's multi-site feature allows you to build a completely separate intranet environment for new employees, with homepage content, navigation, and training materials all front-and-center for them to easily access. When they are fully onboarded, simply move them to your main company community in just 3 clicks.

When used strategically these tools can work wonders for creating a successful atmosphere - so don't miss out on their potential!





Real-Life Examples of Successful Modern Intranet Pre-Boarding and Onboarding Practices


Onboarding and pre-boarding have become necessities in the modern workplace. Take Salesforce, and Airbnb for example: they each possess stellar models of top notch intranet pre-boarding and onboarding practices. Salesforce to start with, have innovated onboarding into a game-like experience more addictive than Candy Crush! Interactive modules enable new hires to learn about their colleagues' values and customs while having fun.


And then there’s Airbnb - offering up a personalized pre-boarding plan. They deliver welcome kits plus virtual office tours so employees are set up for success. Companies utilizing these dynamic initiatives report increased employee satisfaction levels along with productivity growth rates plus retention boosts – now that’s real power buying!





Challenges and Solutions for Using a Modern Intranet for Pre-Boarding and Onboarding


Challenge #1: Collecting essential documents in a timely fashion

Solution: Leverage digital forms within your intranet platform for quickly collecting data like job history, contact details and emergency contacts.



Challenge #2: Gathering employee information with minimal effort

Solution: Post orientation materials across readily available resources such as chat tools or discussion forums.



Challenge #3: Navigating the integration of a modern intranet

Solution: Provide interactive content such as videos, quizzes, or informational guides to make pre-boarding more engaging.



Challenge #4: Ensuring new hires have access to relevant information

Solution: Encourage engagement opportunities so that new hires have an easy understanding of the company's policies & culture plus their roles & responsibilities.



Challenge #5: Encouraging employee engagement

Solution: Use automated surveys or feedback forms to quickly identify areas needing improvement throughout the organization


Streamlined and efficient, these solutions can help eliminate the common challenges that arise during this process. Through this, everyone involved can enjoy a better experience.






Strategies for Boosting Employee Engagement Before, During and After Onboarding

human resources onboarding intranet

To measure engagement, HR pros should use surveys and feedback forms to collect meaningful insights into areas of improvement. Strong engagement drives retention, productivity improvements, and a healthier company culture—building trust in their workplace, offering growth and development opportunities plus regular recognition for contributions are key ingredients here.


And don't forget good communication channels: providing employees with clear guidance and meaningful work experiences contributes a great deal towards keeping morale high. By prioritizing employee engagement during this process, you can reap the rewards!



 



Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How Can A Modern Intranet Improve The Pre-Boarding And Onboarding Experience For New Hires?

An intranet today offers a whole lot of potential for HR processes, like pre-boarding and onboarding! It gives new hires an easy to use platform where all the info and materials they need are easily accessible - no more searching around in frustration.


But that's not all - it also encourages employee engagement by providing them with a clear overview of company news and activities. And surveys & polls make sure you're kept up to date on how satisfied new employees (or any employee!) feels about things like onboarding; managers know exactly what needs improving as soon as possible!


What Are Some Examples Of Companies That Have Successfully Used A Modern Intranet For Pre-Boarding And Onboarding?

What Are Some Common Challenges Associated With Using A Modern Intranet For Pre-Boarding And Onboarding, And How Can They Be Addressed?


Some tips to help jumpstart your journey:

Leverage digital forms within your intranet platform for quickly collecting data like job history, contact details and emergency contacts; post orientation materials across readily available resources such as chat tools or discussion forums; encourage engagement opportunities so that new hires have an easy understanding of the company’s policies & culture plus their roles & responsibilities.





Final Thoughts

hr onboarding portal

Are you looking to revolutionize your pre-boarding and onboarding processes? Take a cue from other successful companies - because modernizing your HR strategy with a modern intranet has been proven to bring about greater efficiency, improved employee engagement and retention, as well as cost savings!


Let's take our HR strategies into the 21st century and start experiencing these amazing benefits. With just some creative resourcefulness, we can design pre-boarding and onboarding experiences that work for both employers and employees - streamlining the process while simultaneously increasing engagement (all without breaking our budgets). It's time to break into the future of HR!






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