Getting Behind the Nonprofit Onboarding Process
Welcoming a new employee into your nonprofit can be an exciting time for your team. With this excitement, it can be easy just to throw them into their new position, while overlooking the importance of properly onboarding them. Creating a new onboarding process can help alleviate the anxiety that comes with starting a new job and show your new employees that you are here to support them through every step of this new prospect.
A well-planned new employee orientation has proven to help productivity with new hires. In fact, The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that employees who benefit from a strong onboarding process are 50% more productive and are more likely to continue working with the organization after three years. Consequently, taking the time to train your new employees can come with long-lasting benefits for both your new team members as well as your organization as a whole.
Having a structured onboarding process includes an introduction to expectations, skills, knowledge, and your organization’s culture. Additionally, the onboarding process must be more than just explaining how to do the job, but also why you do the job. In the world of nonprofits, this aspect is fundamental and ensuring that your employees fully understand your organization’s mission is essential to your organization’s success.
The newest workforce generation, made up primarily of Millennials, are more likely than any other generation to switch jobs. Millennials were dubbed the “Job Hopping Generation,” with 21% of Millennials having switched jobs every year. To appeal to these job-hopping Millennials, creating an excellent onboarding process is necessary to retain these members of the new workforce.
Creating the Right Onboarding Process
There are many ways to approach creating an effective onboarding process, and there’s not just one right way to go about creating one. Making the right onboarding process depends on your organization’s expectations. It’s important to remember that the new excitement that comes with a new hire should also come with a strategic approach that will continue to train, educate, and support your new employees even after the first few weeks of working.
For assistance with creating the right onboarding process for your organization, contact the DCM team. Our experience with nonprofit success gives us the knowledge of what works and what doesn’t to keep new employees happy and sticking around.
