Employee turnover is costly, potentially costing 6-9 months' salary to replace a salaried employee and up to 2x annual salary for higher-level roles. Onboarding is key to retention, but many companies rely on inefficient paper-based processes that negatively impact the employee experience. To improve retention, companies should implement electronic onboarding solutions, create new-hire portals, track onboarding progress, and empower self-service options for employees.

1. Improve Retention
With Better
Onboarding
Employee
Turnover
Costs More
Than You
Think

2. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 2
The Problem
Employee turnover costs money. A lot of money. Money that you can’t
afford to lose. Just how much money are we talking about? Check out
these statistics:
Some studies predict that every time a company replaces a
salaried employee, it costs 6 to 9 months’ salary on aver-
age. For a manager making $40,000 a year, that’s $20,000
to $30,000 in recruiting and training expenses.
But others predict the cost is even more and that losing a
salaried employee can cost as much as 2x their annual
salary, especially for a high earner or executive-level employee.
Source:http://www.zanebenefits.com/blog/bid/312123/Employee-Retention-The-Real-Cost-of-Losing-an-Employee

3. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 3
These large numbers make sense when you break down
the actual total costs of losing an employee. These costs
include the following:
Source: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130816200159-131079-employee-retention-now-a-big-issue-why-the-tide-has-turned
• Customer service and errors:
(given the assumption that new
employees take longer and are
often less adept at solving probl-
ems).
• Training: Over 2-3 years you
likely invest 10-20% of an em-
ployee’s salary or more in train-
ing.
• Cultural impact: Whenever
someone leaves, others take time
to ask “why?”
• Hiring a new person: Factor in
the costs of advertising, interview-
ing, screening, hiring, etc.
• Onboarding a new person: Cal-
culate the costs of training, mana-
gement time, meetings with other
coworkers, etc.
• Lost productivity (if the new per-
son takes 1-2 years to reach the
productivity of an existing person)
• Lost engagement: Other employ-
ees who see high turnover disen-
gage and lose productivity.

4. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 4
A Balancing Act
Praised for its physical benefits, like toning and working out your core muscles,
paddle boarding is probably harder than it looks. You get to kneel or stand on an
object that’s basically a big, wobbly surfboard and then try to keep your balance
while you push yourself forward with a paddle the length of an oar.
The first hurdle is just getting on board. Once on
board, the only way to remain steady and not fall off
is to keep your balance with unsteady equipment.
Unfortunately, too many companies have onboard-
ing/orientation programs that are a lot like paddle
boarding: difficult and unstable.

5. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 5
Direct Impact
Getting “on board” is a difficult balancing act whether or not you’re standing
on a surfboard. Onboarding, the formal business process of orienting new
hires to an organization and giving them the necessary knowledge to be pro-
ductive and effective, is one of the primary keys of employee retention.
A report published by the Aberdeen Group (On-
boarding Benchmark Report: Technology Driv-
ers Help Improve the New Hire Experience)
says that although onboarding has evolved into
more of an integrated experience than simply
a checklist, many more companies need to
enhance this process.
And why is that? Because your orientation
procedures directly impact your employees’ desire to stay.
Effective onboarding
is one of the primary
keys of employee
retention.

6. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 6
“Although 90% of companies believe that their
employees make their decision to stay at the
company within the first 6 months, many of these
companies do not recognize or acknowledge how
onboarding impacts retention rates and time to
productivity. Instead, they rely on paper-based
solutions that create added costs and often leave
a bad first impression that negatively affects the
company brand. Thirty-six percent of companies
still do not use any technology for their onboard-
ing solution.”
~ Aberdeen Report

7. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 7
In other words, once hired and “on board,” many em-
ployees are still left to balance unsteadily in their new
jobs. The transition from recruitment to becoming an
established employee is often as insecure as standing
on a wobbly surfboard in the ocean. Most employees
won’t want to balance there for long.

8. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 8
The Challenge
New hires quitting is not a new problem. A recent survey by the Society for Hu-
man Resource Management says that one of the top three challenges fac-
ing HR professionals in the next ten years is retaining and rewarding
the best employees.
This means that if a company’s onboarding process is indeed a key factor in
retention, more companies and HR professionals must examine their current
internal communication practices and improve them if necessary.
The Aberdeen Report also points out that, “how effective a company is
at its onboarding process determines how successful that company is
at retaining its employees, yet many companies do not recognize this
connection.”

9. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 9
Applying Solutions
Because acclimation and engagement are key factors in employee retention, on-
boarding needs to be clear, proactive, and engaging.
According to the Aberdeen Report, companies who recognize this are improving the
new-hire experience by doing the following:
• eliminating paper-based processes
and spreadsheet procedures
• researching and investing in
technology

10. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 10
Researching and investing in technology to enable their new
hires to have a smoother transition from the recruitment stages.
Why? Because automated solutions can help companies address
pressures to improve retention rates, improve time to produc-
tivity, and improve the company brand.
Eliminating paper-based and spreadsheet procedures and con-
sidering web-based technology solutions. These tools propel
companies toward reducing costs and staff turnover and creat-
ing faster start times.
Companies that are serious about improving their onboarding
programs are doing the following:

11. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 11
Check out the next section for
5 onboarding best practice tips.

12. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 12
As soon as the candidate accepts the position,
start sending multimedia materials, such as
welcome messages from the leadership team,
to get your new hires excited about their new
job.
Source: http://www.workforce.com/articles/19977-onboarding-tips-and-best-practices-for-bringing-new-workers-on-board)
1
Onboarding Best Practice Tips

13. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 13
Adopt electronic solutions that automate the
completion of forms both before a candidate
starts and on their first day to reduce ineffi-
ciency, costs, and extra time associated with
paper-based form completion.
Source: http://www.hreonline.com/pdfs/10022007Extra_AberdeenReport.pdf
2
Onboarding Best Practice Tips

14. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 14
Create new-hire portals and social networks
for new employees to learn about company
culture, complete trainings, and socialize/
connect with other coworkers to make new
friends. These portals should basically provide
anything a new employee would need to more
productive and engaged.
Source: http://www.workforce.com/articles/19977-onboarding-tips-and-best-practices-for-bringing-new-workers-on-board
3
Onboarding Best Practice Tips

15. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 15
Keep track of a new hire’s progress using task
management tools. A number of these tools
also provide automatic reminders when em-
ployees fail to progress with their onboarding
tasks at the desired pace.
Source: http://www.workforce.com/articles/19977-onboarding-tips-and-best-practices-for-bringing-new-workers-on-board
4
Onboarding Best Practice Tips

16. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 16
Trust your employees to “serve themselves”
using their own technological capabilities.
“Self-service HR has become so invaluable
that a September 2006 Forrester Research re-
port termed it ‘an essential core application’
for businesses.” Self-service HR has the added
benefit of freeing up time for HR managers to
concentrate on more pressing issues.
Source: http://www.allthingsworkplace.com/2010/03/overcoming-top-myths-in-hr.html
5
Onboarding Best Practice Tips

17. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 17
So what’s the bottom line?

18. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 18
Employee turnover costs more
than you think.
Improve your retention rates
with better onboarding!

19. Employee Turnover Costs More Than You Think 19
Ving is an engagement tool that en-
sures your most important messages are
understood and acted on.
With Ving, you create and share multi-
media messages that capture real-time
recipient interactions viewable on your
engagement dashboard.
Businesses and organizations use this
dynamic communication tool to:
►► Streamline onboarding procedures
►► Communicate policy updates
►► Increase employee engagement
►► Enhance compliance training
►► Improve management
communications
Get started now.
Just $5 a month!
Click here