How to Measure the Success of Your Onboarding Program

Getting 1% better each day can lead to tremendous changes for your organization, especially when it comes to onboarding. According to Gallup, employees are 2.6x more likely to be satisfied at work if they have an amiable onboarding experience. How can your company measure the success of your onboarding program to retain all-star employees?

Metrics to Measure Success

Retention Rates

To measure the long-term effectiveness of your onboarding program, you’ll want to track retention rates. Fifty percent of employee turnover is estimated to happen during the first 18 months. Many firms use this as a standard to determine that if an employee stays past this timeframe, it’s safe to assume they’ll continue with the company.

How to Calculate:

1. Take the # of new hires who stay for at least 18 months.
2. Divide by the # of new hires in the same period.

Employee Performance Metrics

To evaluate how well new hires integrate into their roles, you can measure employee performance metrics. These quantifiable and qualitative indicators calculate an employee’s efficiency, effectiveness, and contributions to company goals. You can compare each employee’s data metrics annually to track progress and share feedback.

Pro Tip: To dive deeper into the calculations and metrics for each performance indicator, click here.

Employee Feedback Surveys

To gauge employee satisfaction and identify areas for improvement, you can collect feedback from new hires using surveys. Ask employees what they think is working, or what could be improved in the onboarding process. It’s best to survey employees throughout their first year to identify any pain points.

Examples of Survey Questions:

• Do you feel supported in your current role?
• Were you provided the tools you need to do your job effectively?
• How has your impression of the company changed since you started?

Time-to-Productivity

Time-to-productivity is the time it takes for an employee to ramp up so they can contribute to the team following their understanding of the onboarding program. To gauge how well the new hire is performing and the effectiveness of the onboarding, you can measure from an employee’s first day to when they are expected to produce.

How to Calculate:

1. Define what productivity means for each role, whether that’s measuring team milestones, onboarding checklists, or task management.
2. Calculate the # of days it takes new hires to produce.
3. Divide that # by the total # of new hires in that given period.

Which metrics are you the most excited to measure in your next role? Explore new opportunities to put your knowledge to the test.  

For more tips on onboarding, read these articles: 5 Ways to Support New Hires During Their First Week, Impact of Onboarding and Recruitment on Employee Satisfaction, and 5 Ways to Make Your Team More Visible.