Onboarding is the new buzzword in recruitment. Comprehensive, compassionate and the subject of much praise, it represents a new approach to the post-recruitment phase.
It often includes an element of training specific to the company.
This presents a great opportunity for freelance trainers and training organizations. Here are our tips for getting involved in this new approach.
What is onboarding?
Onboarding is a process structuring the arrival of a new employee in the company. The process can take various forms but includes several types of support to help the new employee get settled into their position. Those responsible for the onboarding process present:
- The colleagues;
- The tools, particularly technological tools;
- The obligations and various contracts;
- The company: its values, philosophy, culture and way of doing things.
Onboarding does not start and finish on the first day. The teams responsible for the process lay the groundwork in advance by preparing documents, discussing with the new hire and personalizing their workstation.
What interests us in the onboarding process is the transfer of expertise and soft skills from the company to the new employee. Charters, websites, welcome packs and meetings are all very well but are not enough. In order to help the employee quickly and effectively adapt to the company, onboarding managers like to include a training phase. This is where you come in.
The role of training in onboarding
Training is a valuable tool for welcoming new hires, as it can help to develop both soft and hard skills.
If they are lacking expertise, training is key to providing them with the skills they need to perform their work.
Others taking up a managerial position or just starting out in their career will probably need and welcome support on the right behaviour and conduct to adopt.
Onboarding is a business opportunity for trainers
Provided the companies implementing this type of approach are not already experts, with an experienced team and well-tested techniques, training organizations can easily find their place in the onboarding process.
We have drawn up a list of points to study to find your future partners.
Who is recruiting?
Onboarding goes hand-in-hand with recruitment. The first thing to check, therefore, is which companies are currently hiring.
There are several ways of finding this out, from job boards to the business and economic news. You can:
- Draw up a list company by company;
- Start by conducting a sector study.
If you offer very varied training, your search will be more effective if you study the opportunities on a case-by-case basis.
If you specialize in certain professions, skills or sectors, you will save time by studying the labour market at a more macro level. The digital sector, for example, is currently recruiting like never before and companies are hiring left, right and centre.
What is the maturity level?
Now that you have your list of leads per interest, you need to know where they stand with regard to onboarding.
Do they have a recruitment team? Do members of the Human Resources team apply certain principles? Have they set anything up for new arrivals?
By browsing their careers portal, their blog articles and their news on social media, you will easily find out their level of maturity with regard to onboarding.
Ignore the companies that apply the most advanced processes and concentrate on those with medium to weak maturity. How to recognise them? Companies with no process in place are easy to identify, but the difficulty arises with those claiming to have an onboarding process. They are unlikely to disclose the details of their process.
In this case, there is only one way of knowing: ask them. Contact them to find out whether they might need it, if they already use it or if they would be interested in what you have to offer.
How to become part of the process?
Companies on your list of prospects are there because their employees may need your training, because they are currently recruiting and because they don’t carry out onboarding themselves. This is exactly where you come in: where they are lacking in expertise, time or skills.
In order to find a way into their onboarding process, you will need to discuss with the company, meet people and become familiar with its culture in order to really get to know it. Or, the company can simply attach its logo to your materials. Whatever the case, training during the onboarding phase must embody the company and your proposal cannot therefore be too wide of the mark.
Technically speaking, you should also ensure that your training or modules are available in white-label format.
Onboarding represents a good business opportunity for trainers. By capitalizing on your work, you can gain time and expertise with each company looking to recruit. The labour market is dynamic; now is the time to go for it!
