From Recruitment to Onboarding: How to create a seamless transition

Recruitment and onboarding are often referred to as separate processes, causing misalignment between the two, referred to as the ‘Recruitment-Onboarding gap’. This gap describes the silence new employees experience after being hired but before being onboarded.

Most of the time, recruitment and onboarding are performed by different people with different tasks. But this shouldn’t mean that they need to operate in isolated teams. From the new hire’s perspective, it’s all linked because recruitment and onboarding are all part of the whole employee journey.

The gap can confuse and disengage new hires, possibly even contributing to early turnover. Truthfully spoken, onboarding begins well before Day One, something which many companies struggle to see. An onboarding journey should begin when a new hire accepts a job offer to create a smooth and engaging transition.

So, why do many companies tend to separate recruitment from onboarding? And what can they do to bridge this gap? 

In this blog, we’ll explore the Recruitment-Onboarding gap, identifying its dangers, the importance of creating a seamless process, and 4 tips to bridge the gap.

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The dangers of the Recruitment-Onboarding gap

Recruitment and onboarding are two different phases within the employee journey, explaining why they’re so often separated. Recruitment searches for the right people for the right positions, whereas onboarding integrates these people within the company.

However, completely separating them from each other is problematic because they still share one main focus: the new hire. This means that despite having different intentions, recruitment and onboarding are still focused on the employee journey.

Still a little confused? Here’s a simple way to visualise it:

Because of this, when companies drastically separate recruitment from onboarding, new hires are negatively impacted. How you might ask? These are just a few examples: 

• Lower engagement and motivation → Recruitment is full of energy and personal attention. If onboarding doesn’t match up, new hires can feel let down
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• Delayed productivity → Leaving new hires ‘in the dark’ for too long can cause them to spend too much time catching up before making valuable contributions
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• Job dissatisfaction → If recruiters promise one thing and onboarding reveals something different, new hires are often left disappointed and frustrated
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• Poor cultural integration → Companies who preach certain values but do not practice them during onboarding can cause distrust within a new hire

From the HR perspective, these problems can all lead to high early turnover rates, costing a lot of time and money for a company.

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Why is it important to create a seamless transition?

It’s safe to say that the Recruitment-Onboarding gap benefits no one. On the other hand, a seamless transition between the two benefits everyone!

For new hires, a smooth transition builds trust by showing that the company is organised and consistent. This increases their engagement and motivation, ultimately helping them better integrate into the company and become more productive team members.

For HR, a seamless transition saves resources, increases retention rates, and improves the overall effectiveness of onboarding. Overall, this helps maintain relationships during the time between hiring and onboarding.

That all sounds great! Now let’s explore how to bridge the Recruitment-Onboarding gap.

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Bridging the gap between recruitment and onboarding

Creating a smooth transition between the recruitment and onboarding processes can be challenging. Luckily, these 4 tips can help provide a sense of direction!

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1. Preboard once the contract is signed

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Onboarding starts before Day One! Begin preboarding new hires the moment they sign their contract.

Preboarding is the process where you prepare new hires for their new job before their actual starting date. During preboarding, it is essential to share relevant information with new hires. For example, company culture, the organisation’s mission/vision, what to wear on the first day, and more.

By immediately preboarding new hires, you create a consistent flow of communication, which avoids awkward silences, helping new hires feel supported and valued. Since communication is crucial during recruitment–the process of getting to know each other–, be sure to maintain it throughout onboarding as well.

Overall, preboarding helps new hires feel prepared for their new position and avoid new job anxieties. It gives them a headstart since they already have information about their role and the company, and they will also feel more involved this way.

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2. Use technology and integrate

In the digital age we live in today, technology is your friend! You probably already use an ATS, but are you also using digital onboarding tools alongside recruitment tools? 

Integrate your ATS with onboarding technology, such as onboarding apps, to create a seamless transition between recruitment and onboarding. By integrating these technologies together, automated workflows can be triggered–such as sending automated preboarding emails–for consistent communication.

AI in recruitment and onboarding helps ease the process for both HR and new hires. Think of chatbots to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) in real time. New hires can receive the answers they need almost immediately and HR can reserve their time for other tasks instead.

Technology can help bridge the Recruitment-Onboarding gap by instantly reducing confusion. Through automated workflows or receiving real-time answers, new hires receive constant support and are no longer left in the dark, eliminating an awkward in-between phase.

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3. Personalise onboarding 

You’re gathering a lot of information about a new hire during recruitment, why not use it? 

As part of recruitment, you learn all about the candidate to assess whether or not they’re the right fit for the job and company. Use these valuable insights to create a seamless transition to an onboarding process perfectly suited to the new hire!

For example, having the job profile from the recruitment process means that you already know what the new hire’s responsibilities are. Use this to create an onboarding process specific to their role and responsibilities, focusing on the skills and information that are the most important to them.

Similarly, after going through the recruitment process, you’re already familiar with the new hire’s preferences. For example, their learning style. Some may prefer hands-on training, whereas others prefer to watch online videos in their own time. Be sure to keep this info in mind when creating their onboarding process.

💡Appical best practice: Think of personal details about the new hire you’ve learned during recruitment as a ‘cheat sheet’ for their onboarding! Did they mention a certain hobby? If they like watching movies, for example, add a cinema gift card in their welcome kit!

Giving new hires personalised attention can help them integrate within their new workplace more efficiently, helping them feel more seen and welcomed.

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4. Regular feedback loops

During the recruitment process, a lot is discussed, including the new hire’s responsibilities and goals. After the candidate has officially been hired, these initial agreements can get lost in the sea of onboarding, causing a misalignment between what was discussed during recruitment and what is actually happening during onboarding.

Instead, holding regular feedback loops helps keep everyone on the same page about the new hire’s role and expectations. This helps avoid the “This is not what expected” feeling if what was discussed during recruitment does not align with the reality of their new job.

Feedback loops also provide a sense of trust within new hires, allowing them to express any concerns or aspirations they may develop, helping them grow within the company. 

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How can an onboarding platform help?

Appical’s digital onboarding platform could be a practical solution for bridging the Recruitment-Onboarding gap. Let’s explore how our employee onboarding software helps create a seamless transition from recruitment to onboarding in various ways.

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1. Preboarding with Appical

Preboard new hires with Appical’s onboarding app immediately after they’ve been recruited! Prepare them for their first day by sharing crucial company information in an interactive way, such as quizzes. This keeps the enthusiasm and engagement of starting a new job. 

Preboarding with Appical allows you to break down information and spread it out to avoid overwhelming new hires. Rather than giving all the company info to a new hire on their first day, slowly share it with them during their preboarding. This info can range anywhere from data privacy policies to the dress code. Not only does this avoid overwhelming new hires, but it also keeps their interest over time.

Easily keep in contact with your new hire through in-app messaging. Managers and buddies can directly contact new hires to welcome them.

Appical’s preboarding builds a stronger transition from recruitment to onboarding by minimising moments of silence. It also creates a consistent experience for new hires across different departments.

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2. Automated onboarding

Integrate your ATS or HRM system into Appical’s app to easily build your onboarding program. The integration directly extracts information from the ATS or HRM systems and merges it within our platform (Appical Now). This information is basic, including your new hire’s name, employee ID, email, and more.

By directly integrating this information from ATS or HRM systems, you can smoothly create your onboarding program. No need to rummage through documents, all of the new hire’s primary information is already there!

Appical Now also features automated HR forms, where you can receive all the necessary HR information about your new hire within the app. For example, their bank account details, social security number, emergency contact information, and more. This info is gathered in one place, telling you the personal details about your new hire! For security reasons, only authorized people have access to this personal information.

Our app allows you to collect all of your new hires’ information during recruitment, and gathers it in a centralised place for your ease. This can help create a smoother transition from recruitment to onboarding since you already have everything you need to know. No more waiting for details, onboarding can begin right away!

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3. Digital feedback solutions

Appical’s built-in feedback tools help you identify what is working with your onboarding program, and what needs improvement. New hires can easily reflect on their onboarding experience through Likert scales and open ended questions.

For example, new hires can answer questions about whether or not their expectations were met and to what extent. This feedback is insightful for both recruitment and onboarding, offering insights into how to tie the two more closely together.

Use the feedback to make improvements to both the recruitment and onboarding processes. For example, if multiple hires mention that they felt surprised about their role’s responsibilities, you know there’s a Recruitment-Onboarding gap that needs to be fixed.

Use the insights gained from feedback to improve the transition. Your employees felt like they had to dig for information themselves? Then make sure your preboarding answers most practical questions, and let them know that they can always contact you for help.

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Concluding thoughts

Remember that recruitment and onboarding are just two different phases of the same process: the employee journey. By treating them as entirely separate, you’re creating a dangerous gap. 

If your new hires ‘fall’ into this gap, you risk strong feelings of job dissatisfaction and employees thinking “this is not what I expected when I accepted this job”. In time, this lowers engagement and motivation levels, delays productivity, and creates poor cultural integration.

Luckily, the gap can be bridged through a well-planned preboarding, the right technology, personalising the experience, and gathering regular feedback.