Many companies spend months finding a great candidate and then give them a few hours of onboarding. According to SHRM, 31% of new hires quit within their first six months. They make excuses, find another job, and usually leave before they've become effective. Poor onboarding is directly linked to that outcome.
Why do new hires leave within six months?
1. Poor onboarding and lack of preparation
Most people are nervous on their first day. Make it easy for them:
- send a welcome letter and employee handbook before they start
- phone them to confirm arrival details and what day one looks like
- make sure IT is ready: laptop, email and system access
- assign a peer buddy, not a manager, to show them around on day one
- consider a welcome bag with branded hoodies or other merchandise
- give them orientation and training so they understand what's expected
2. Unclear goals, tasks and objectives
Set clear goals so new starters can achieve small wins from day one, and every day after.
3. Infrequent check-ins
Ask simple questions such as "How was your first week?" and be open to honest answers. Fresh eyes are often the first to spot a broken process.
What does early turnover cost the organisation?
- Lost output: work is slowed or left undone while the new hire is still learning the role and systems.
- Colleague burden: teammates absorb the extra workload, which adds strain and creates a second retention risk.
- Replacement cost: recruiting and training a replacement starts the bill again.
- Errors: disengaged staff make more mistakes.
Few organisations measure this. Those that do can usually justify a small budget to fix onboarding very quickly.
Which metrics reveal the hidden cost?
- Average time to effectiveness, in time and cost. A call handler might contribute nothing in week one and 10% in week two. Sales reps often contribute little for two to three months, and in large, complex sales it can take a year.
- Average time in post, company-wide and by department
- Staff attrition this year versus last
- Skill proficiency, valued in financial terms, and what losing those skills costs
- Reasons for leaving, from exit interviews and surveys
Skills Velocity tracks onboarding and retention data automatically, and most clients link an off-boarding process to the same system. Our clients typically go from average or poor onboarding to fixed within a month, then refine from there, and our onboarding tools remove around 90% of the manual burden for stakeholders, especially HR.
What's the upside of onboarding well?
Research from NBRII found that organisations with structured onboarding saw a 60% year-on-year increase in revenue and a 63% year-on-year increase in customer satisfaction. Proficient employees make fewer errors, keep clients happy and grow the brand.
If your onboarding is poor today, ask your current intake to help you fix it. They know exactly where it hurts. See how faster onboarding works in Skills Velocity, or read our employee onboarding LMS guide.
