Leveraging Technology to Enhance IT Onboarding

Employee onboarding is a crucial process for any organization, and it’s especially important for the information technology (IT) department. If done correctly, onboarding can help new employees feel comfortable and confident in their roles and increase retention rates. However, onboarding is often a lengthy and complex process, and without the proper tools and resources, it can be difficult to get new hires up to speed quickly. Fortunately, technology can help streamline the onboarding process and make it more efficient, effective, and enjoyable for everyone involved.

In this post, we’ll explore how organizations can leverage technology to improve their IT onboarding process. Whether you’re a CIO, COO, CHRO, or IT Director, you’ll learn about the latest tools and strategies that can help you onboard new hires more effectively and quickly.  

Applying better technology to the IT onboarding can improve the process in four distinct ways:

1.     Reduced Time To Productivity

A study by Aberdeen Group found that an effective onboarding program can improve new hire time-to-productivity by 60% and reduce turnover by 50%. By using technology such as automation software and remote support, companies can speed up the onboarding process and get new employees up to speed faster.

2.     Increased Employee Engagement

A study conducted by Glassdoor found that effective onboarding processes led to higher employee engagement levels, which in turn led to higher productivity and lower turnover rates. By directly connecting HR onboarding software to IT onboarding software, companies can create a faster and more effective onboarding experience for new employees.

3.     Improved Talent Retention

According to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), effective onboarding can improve new hire retention by up to 25%. By using technology to streamline the onboarding process, companies can reduce the risk of new employees feeling overwhelmed or frustrated, which can lead to a higher rate of retention.

4.     Cost Savings

A survey by CareerBuilder found that the average cost of a bad hire is $14,900. By removing manual work through checklist and spreadsheets, companies can reduce the cost associated with the onboarding process. While no companies want to make a bad hire, reducing the costs associated with good hires or bad hires improves the company’s talent retention program overall

A tool that can help improve the IT onboarding process is automation software. Automation software can take over repetitive onboarding tasks such as provisioning new accounts, procuring new devices, configuring access to multiple SaaS applications, and assigning permissions to all those apps. By automating these tasks, companies can reduce errors and speed up the onboarding process, allowing new employees to become effective faster.

Montra is the innovator of “IT Management as a Service”, and Montra’s platform provides automation to help improve the IT onboarding process. With Montra, organizations can develop standard onboarding profiles that automate account and group creation while providing a centralized view of the location and assignment of all a company’s devices. Montra has helped companies streamline their IT onboarding process from weeks to hours, reducing the time and effort required to get a new employee fully effective.

In conclusion, technology can help make the IT onboarding process more efficient and effective, reducing the time and effort required to set up new employees while improving their understanding and engagement with the company. By using tools such as Montra or other automation software, companies can streamline IT onboarding, reducing errors, and improving productivity while improving the satisfaction of new employees. Ultimately, improving the IT onboarding process can have significant benefits for the company, its employees, and the bottom line.

References:

Aberdeen Group. (2013). Onboarding 2013: A New Look at New Hires. Retrieved from https://www.aberdeen.com/research/8777/rr-onboarding-new-hires/content.aspx

Glassdoor. (2015). The True Cost of a Bad Hire. Retrieved from https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/the-true-cost-of-a-bad-hire/

Society for Human Resource Management. (2017). Onboarding New Employees: Maximizing Success. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/onboardingnewemployees.aspx

CareerBuilder. (2017). The Real Cost of a Bad Hire. Retrieved from https://www.careerbuilder.com/advice/the-real-cost-of-a-bad-hire

3 Things an Employee Information Manager Needs 

Too many systems, too many self-service portals. How many times a month are you or your employees being asked to update information in one of your systems – addresses, phone numbers, personal emails, bank information, emergency contacts – who has time to update all the systems everywhere. 

Just think about it: 

  • Employees Move 
  • Employees Change Phone Numbers 
  • Employee Families Change 
  • Employees Learn New Skills 
  • Employees Get New Experience 
  • Employees Can Be Working from Anywhere 
  • Employees Work Flexible Hours 

So, every time an employee does work for a new customer, or moves, or changes job title, then they would need to update every system that tracks that. Most people don’t even know what systems hold their info, much less have the time to make changes. And with more dynamic information like where they are working for the day or are the currently online, keeping multiple systems up-to-date completely breaks down. 

Why do we have this problem? 

The problem is that there isn’t really a system of record for employee information in most companies. Instead, there are many systems of record. What most companies have today typically looks like the following: 

  • HRIS: maintains employee information for HR, benefits, pay, employee reviews, etc. For good reasons, it is usually a very limited access system. The employee address and/or bank info is always correct in the HRIS because people like to get paid. 
  • Email System: Email is so central to modern work-life, that the email provider tends to be the default system IT uses for employee information. The email is always correct here and that is usually about all. 
  • Employee Directory: Some companies will either license an inexpensive employee directory or have an internal person develop one. The information in them tends to get stale quickly, because it is yet another system to keep updated. 
  • LinkedIn: While not a system that companies need to license, almost every employee has a LinkedIn account. LinkedIn tends to be a reliable place for employee experience and skills and sometimes clubs, hobbies, and other interests. 
  • CRM Systems: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems like Salesforce are widely implemented and often used by any employee that touches the customer whether sales, marketing, support, etc. Because of this, the employee information inside the CRM has become a de facto system of record for contacting employees. Emails and phone numbers tend to stay accurate but other important info like job title, location, skills and experiences, tend to get stale fast. 
  • Slack: You may not think of this as an employee information system, but it does have information in it like “I’m logged in” and “I am actively working”. Slack and other services like Teams are also ways to contact an employee that are faster and easier than email. 
  • Other Functional Applications: Just about every department in a company has at least one system of record to assist them with all their work. Any user of these systems must have an account, and usually the developers of those systems have added deeper employee info that is either necessary or helpful for their application. The challenge is that these applications are often not broadly used and the employee information gets outdated and therefore the features in the app that rely on that information become less helpful. 

3 Functions an Employee Information Systems Provides 

What companies really need is a centralized repository of employee information with three primary functions: 

1. Employee Self-Service: Allow employees to update their own information easily and reliably 

2. Secure Employee Directory: A great benefit of having reliable employee information, is that the information can then be shared internally. That said, there is far more information in the HRIS than should be published for all employees. A good employee information manager needs to have privacy settings that allow the proper handling of employee data.  

3. APIs Everywhere: If the Employee Information System is going to stay valuable, it needs to have APIs to as many systems the affect employees as possible. This list can be long but should include the HRIS, Email, Slack/Teams, Phone Systems, Device Managers, Finance, CRM, and Employee Notification Systems. 

It cannot be understated how important having accurate employee information available to all people and systems within a company is – especially as we move into a continually hybrid working work. Great companies will stop treating employee knowledge as tribal information exchanged between employees close to one another and will instead treat employee info the way they treat customer info – as strategic corporate asset to be treated with care and importance it should have. 

Want to learn more about managing your employee information better? Contact us and we can tell you about the software and services Montra provides to get you on your own journey to great Employee Information Management. sales@montra.io 

Hybrid Workforces Need Employee Notifications Now More than Ever

Now more than ever in this hybrid working world, employees value transparency, connectedness, and timely communication. When your organization communicates with employees when an incident occurs, or when an announcement affects their safety, they know that their time and well-being are being respected. 

An employee notification system makes the immediate reception of important information possible anytime and anywhere. The messages can inform or alert to maximize productivity of your employees. 

Texts and messaging apps are already a central part of your employees’ lives. Texts and messaging app messages like Slack are mostly read within the first 3 minutes after being sent, as opposed to only 22% of emails. Using these systems can help you to connect to your employees, increase engagement, and ultimately boost the employee experience. They’re quick, easy to manage and utilize all the devices they are using, from laptops to smartphones. 

When to Use Employee Notifications 

When starting to use an employee notification system, the following use cases have been shown to be the most efficient and value-packed: 

  • Emergency Situations: Use employee notifications to inform your employees about weather emergencies, transportation outages, or office issues. Not only is this information highly relevant, but it can save time, and boost efficiency. 
  • Deadline Reminders: Remind teams of project deadlines or upcoming deals. Company-wide, you can use deadline announcements to inform employees about things like benefits enrollment periods. 
  • Upcoming Events: To add a bit of fun, you can use employee notifications to promote the next office party, sports event, or team getaway. 
  • Major Company News: While not every piece of company news is worth a notification push, major news alerts can increase employee connectedness o the company and excitement about the company victories. 
  • Software Updates: Since call software comes with regular updates, you can inform your employees about new features or improvements that they can use. 

The Rules of Employee Notifications 

Employee notifications work, but sending too many, sending them at the wrong time, not targeting your message, or simply not providing value can quickly lead employees to ignore them. Consider the following rules when you generate your next employee message: 

  • Be relevant: When you send out employee messages, always consider how they will be received during your employees’ daily lives. According to a Push Index data study, highly targeted messages increase response rates by 293%! Target your employee messages based on departments, locations, and teams. 
  • Align with your company culture: Take time to decide on the proper tone to use. Employee messages should reflect the values of your company and your relationship with your employees, so make sure that your tone is consistent. 
  • Be engaging: Provide timely and relevant information so your employees are the first to learn about company news, benefit plans, or severe weather updates, not that John won the karaoke contest. 
  • Measure and improve: Track your employee notifications and their engagement rates. This will help you to determine which messages are more interesting and engaging to your employees and will help you to fine-tune future messages. 

Pay Attention to Timing and Wording 

Timing. Localytics data shows that when using sending an employee message, Thursday is currently the best day to get high click rates. The data further shows that sending messages between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. results in the highest average click rate: 15%.  

Wording. Keep your messages clear, concise, and compact. The aim is to catch your employees’ attention and quickly communicate your message. Messages should offer clear, concrete value, and communicate the desired action. 

Educate Your Employees on the System 

Once you implement your notification system, announce to your employees that you will be using a new service to notify everyone within the organization of critical events or announcements. It’s key that all employees understand that these notifications are important to stay informed and in the loop. 

Use Multiple Channels and Groups 

Multi-Channel. If you have an important message that needs to get to your people ASAP, make sure you leverage your employee notification system’s multi-channel functionality. Select as many channels as you believe are appropriate for your notification, but if this is indeed an emergency, we recommend contacting your employees over text message, email, Teams or Slack, voice call, and social media. 

Groups. To reach them with the right message at the best time, you’ll want to be sure to create robust grouping hierarchies that reflect your organization’s structure, for example, groups based on department, office location, and role for example. And if your organization has many locations, send notifications from the map using geofencing, so you can capture all employees in an affected region.  

Engaging your employees through thoughtful, relevant messages will enable your organization to interact and communicate with your employees successfully. Correctly using an employee notification system can help you connect with your employees in meaningful ways, create value for them, increase engagement and ultimately boost your employee’s experience. 

Are you interested in leveraging employee notification capabilities of Montra VIA? Do you want to connect with your hybrid workforce faster and more completely? Don’t hesitate to contact us at sales@montra.io! 

Employee Information Management Infographic

Employee Information Management in 2022

Employee information management is an important topic for a lot of mid-sized companies, especially those that are experiencing or are planning for a lot of growth. Running efficient on-boarding and off-boarding processes, keeping track of the latest employee information, and maintaining proper access to the right systems and services, are all functions impacted by good employee information management. Click to download our infographic on the top Employee Infromation Management trends in 2022

Download Infographic

Employee Information Management Trends for 2022

The past two years have had a major impact on everyone’s lives, so we are looking forward to 2022 with anticipation (well, not as much as the anticipation last year leading into 2021.) Some of the biggest changes as it relates to work have been in how and where we work, the increasing number of cybersecurity threats, and the changes in how IT services are delivered. As we look forward to 2022, we can see that these trends will have a big impact on how and why companies manage their employee information.

Employee information management is an important topic for a lot of mid-sized companies, especially those that are experiencing or are planning for a lot of growth. Running efficient on-boarding and off-boarding processes, keeping track of the latest employee information, and maintaining proper access to the right systems and services, are all functions impacted by good employee information management.

One of the challenges for businesses with their people information management is that there are islands of data on employees and contractors that exist within most organizations. Recruiting databases, HRIS, email systems, physical security access systems, finance systems, and other services, all maintain subsets of data on employees. Due to security and privacy concerns, it is difficult to access and update all these systems either by employees or by the admins. Additionally, the systems almost never talk to each other to synchronize changes.

This leads to three critical areas of concern with poor employee information management:

1. Employee Onboarding Takes Too Long: it takes longer to get new employees operational and effective

2. Security Risk is High: it is difficult to track employee credentials across all the systems and services for which they should be granted access

3. Employee Data Gets Stale and Inaccurate: Applications that rely on this data – like disaster recovery services – can become completely ineffective.

With that in mind, here are our top trends for Employee Information Management in 2022:

1. Increasing Employee Churn Will Drive Need for Better Employee Onboarding / Offboarding

The economy will continue its post-lockdown expansion. This will continue to fuel the higher rates of employee departures and arrivals than ever before. Employers are more pressured than ever to make certain the onboarding process is as quick and accurate as possible, while the offboarding process is secure and trackable for cybersecurity and compliance purposes.

2. The Definition of the Employee Workplace Will Continue to Broaden

The workplace has been changed forever over the past couple of years. More employees are working at home, in a co-working space, or even a in a second home away from major cities. What used to be a special case (“We have 3 offices and a few people that work from home.”) will continue to move toward the norm in 2022. Systems that track employee location today are almost all static and assume that a limited number of workplace addresses exist. Employers need to rethink what an employee workplace is and how they plan to handle this more dynamic and fragmented nature of the workplace.

3. Workplace Information Will Need to Be More Dynamic Than Ever

Understanding where an employee is, was, and will be, will become critical for company IT staff and others needing accurate workplace information in 2022. For cybersecurity policies and compliance to work properly, accurate information about a person’s location is needed. Different access policies can be enforced, and audit trails can be created to trace issues when they occur. Additionally, in the case of a disaster or other emergency, employers can know who was in what workplace and how notifications and recovery processes should be handled.

4. Employee Offboarding Will Need to Be More Accurate

Most mid-sized and high-growth companies do not well-run offboarding processes. With more employees leaving a company, any inefficiencies in the offboarding process will get exposed in 2022. In the past when a person was exited, the accuracy of removing access to every system was not that critical. If physical access to the building and email access was removed, offboarding was “80% done”. The rest of the systems could be updated at leisure. The modern workplace in 2022 will drive the need for accuracy. Enabling this means employee information about account and systems credentials needs to be accurate and easily accessible to the appropriate people. If the information is accurate, the former employee could have access to data or services that put the company at risk.

5. Companies Subject to Cyber and Privacy Compliance Requirements Will Expand

In 2022, expansions to the compliance requirements in HIPAA, PCI-DSS, CCPA, and GDPR, will pull more companies under the cybersecurity compliance and data privacy umbrellas. The definition of “third party” has now been expanded to “fourth party” in these frameworks, which broadly expands which companies must comply. Think “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” but a lot less fun. So even if your company isn’t specifically in the healthcare business, if your company does business with a company that does business with a company in healthcare, then your company may be subject to HIPAA.

6. Demand for Better Employee Information Sharing Will Increase

With all these employees working from home or in smaller satellite offices, what happens to the serendipitous interactions that happen in larger centralized workplaces? What happens to the friendships and even marriages that routines developed in the workplace of the past? Collaboration tools like Zoom and Slack exist already to make communication happen easily and quickly, but the tools to enable the sharing of deeper information are almost non-existent. Think: LinkedIn but for internal use only. Enabling employees to publish workplace relevant information and search on the information of others will spike in demand in 2022. This new area will continue to expand and evolve as the need for better familiarity and collegiality will be needed to enable better teamwork.

Download our Employee Information Management Infographic here 

What do you think about managing your employee information? How do you think it will change in 2022? Let us know what you think at info@montra.io.