Why Onboarding Needs a Makeover (& How Personality Unlocks Success)
Did you know that a poor onboarding experience can make new hires twice as likely to start job hunting?
Or that 20% of employee turnover happens within the first 45 days? Despite onboarding being the foundation of employee success, only 12% of employees feel their company does it well.
That’s a problem—especially when replacing an employee costs about 20% of their annual salary. Not to mention the impact on culture, engagement, productivity and more!
But here’s the good news: A strong onboarding process doesn’t just reduce turnover and save money. It creates stability, strengthens company culture, and boosts commitment—employees who experience great onboarding are 18x more committed to their employer.
At TALY, we believe onboarding should be more than a paperwork process—it should be a launchpad for success built on empathy.
Source: Oak’s Employee Onboarding Statistics
Given these high stakes, you’d think more HR leaders would rethink their onboarding strategy. Yet, too often, onboarding remains a box-ticking exercise.
So, how do we turn onboarding into an easily tailored experience that sets employees up for success?
The answer lies in understanding personality.
How Personality Transforms Onboarding into a Success Story
Onboarding is one of the most critical transition periods in an employee’s journey. It’s a time of change, but also a highly social event—one that can either strengthen or weaken an employee’s long-term commitment to the company.
Think about Day 1 for a new employee. The level of excitement and anticipation they feel in setting off on the next step in their career.
And for the team they are coming into, it’s also an exciting time – we’re all hoping for a great new addition to the team that we can connect with, that’s going to make an impact and more.
We have high expectations, and when the experience doesn’t align with expectations, we can quickly get critical.
Personality insights help us understand how people handle change and how they integrate into teams. By tailoring onboarding to individual differences, we can unlock the best in people during this crucial time.
The TALY Personality Profile brings together a unique combination of Five Factor Personality, Emotional Intelligence and Risk to build a holistic understanding. Within this, there are some traits to look out for that can help guide your understanding of what individuals will resonate with as part of their onboard journey…
How can understanding personality transform the onboarding experience?
By understanding personality we know what people value, what they pay attention to, and how to make sure we communicate to them in a way that resonates with their underlying motivations.
When looking at the onboarding experience, there are a few ways to approach this, with some examples:
Motivation: Do they prefer structure to reach goals or explore ideas?
Communication: Do they appreciate direct, blunt communication? Or warmer, softer communication?
Resilience: Will they prefer to be thrown into tougher situations earlier than others?
Structure: Does mapping out their first few weeks help them? Or do they prefer more flexibility and finding their own way around things?
Social: Are bigger social introduction events better? Or are they better suited to meeting with key stakeholders one-on-one, in more closed settings?
All of these considerations can help a new starter feel more at home quicker and start contributing earlier in a way that plays to their strengths rather than wasting their precious energy trying to adapt to situations that aren’t optimised for their performance.
Importantly, we’re not talking about tailoring the total onboarding experience for every new joiner—and you don’t need to. It’s the little things that can make a difference, that can make the new team member feel like you’re paying attention and welcoming them with empathy—and that goes a long way to improving engagement and retention long-term.
Time to start thinking about personality during onboarding – it’s easier than you think!
When it comes to onboarding new employees in a way that’s going to work for them, there are a few important things to keep in mind!
Understand the personality differences and what that means for managers, the existing team and the new employee. Finding a way to build connections early (and to manage any potential tensions) can make a huge impact in the long run.
Keep it simple. You don’t need to recreate your onboarding approach for every employee! It’s about little changes and adjustments around the core program that show the new team member you see and understand them – and they’ll be grateful for that.
Keep your perspective on the candidate – this is their experience. Ensure the adjustments you’re making are built around enhancing their experience
Keep it targeted – if there’s only one or two adjustments you can make, then focus on where the biggest skews in their personality are. E.g., if their introversion is higher than their order, prioritising smaller introductions may be more beneficial than giving them a detailed roadmap.
At TALY, we take the guesswork out of onboarding. Our platform delivers precise, research-backed personality insights that help managers onboard new hires faster and with more empathy, resulting in greater impact. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all onboarding. We help organisations deliver the right experience for the right person —whoever they may be.
Get in touch to find out more… we love talking about this stuff! Or Book a Demo today to see how easy it is to start using TALY in your business.