Revolutionize Your Onboarding Process: The Benefits of Service Design

How Service Design Can Cut Onboarding Costs by 66%, or $2,000 Per Employee.

04/06/2023
By: Union aka. #theGoodCultureAgency

Onboarding is a critical process for any organization, and a positive onboarding experience can set the tone for an employee's entire employment with the company. However, onboarding can also be a disjointed, overwhelming, and time-consuming process for both new hires and HR teams. This is where service design comes in.

Service design is a human-centered approach to creating and improving services, and it can help solve some of the biggest challenges facing HR teams today. By understanding the needs and expectations of users and designing services that meet those needs in a seamless and enjoyable way, service design can transform the onboarding experience for new hires.

Challenges with Onboarding
One of the biggest challenges with onboarding is that it can be a confusing and stressful experience for new hires, with information scattered across multiple systems and departments. Additionally, many new hires do not receive any pre-start communication from their employer or any onboarding at all, according to a survey by HR.com. Onboarding can also be a time-consuming and resource-intensive process for HR teams, with an average of 8 months for a new employee to reach full productivity, and up to $30,000 to replace an employee who leaves within the first year.

How Service Design Helps
Service design can help address these challenges in several ways. For example, HR teams can use a service design approach to map out the entire onboarding process from start to finish, identify pain points, and create a comprehensive onboarding portal that houses all the information new hires need in one place. Clear communication is also key to a successful onboarding experience, and service design can ensure that new hires receive timely and relevant information at every stage of the process.

Improving Employee Retention
Investing in service design for onboarding can have a significant impact on employee retention. Organizations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%, according to a study by Glassdoor. By creating a positive onboarding experience, organizations can set their new hires up for success and increase their likelihood of staying with the company long-term.

Hypothetical Scenario: ROI for a Company with 5,000 Employees
Let's consider a hypothetical scenario of a company with 5,000 employees that spends $30,000 to replace each employee who leaves within the first year. If this company could improve their onboarding process and reduce their first-year turnover rate by just 10%, they could save $15 million over the course of a decade.

Revolutionize Your Onboarding Process with Service Design
Service design is an innovative and effective approach to improving onboarding for new hires. By creating a seamless and enjoyable experience, HR teams can help set new employees up for success and increase retention rates. Investing in service design for onboarding can be a smart business decision that pays off in both the short and long term. Revolutionize your onboarding process with service design and transform the way your organization welcomes new hires.