How to Retain Staff in Healthcare? The Role of Onboarding

3 key takeaways from the article:

• Onboarding is crucial for employee retention: With 70% of new employees deciding in the first month whether to stay, a strong start is not a luxury but a necessity. A good onboarding program can increase retention by 82%.
  
  
• Combine digitalization with personal attention: Automate standard processes (contracts, forms) and personalize per role and location.
  
  
• Get inspired by success stories: For example, at Humanitas DMH, digital onboarding led to a rating of 8.5 from new employees.
  
  

Read the full article for more tips.

Healthcare under pressure: shortages, workload, and turnover

Healthcare is under immense pressure. Like other industries, there is a tight labor market, but in healthcare, the consequences are particularly concerning. The shortage of qualified staff is growing rapidly while demand for care keeps increasing—a trend set to continue in the coming years.

The numbers speak for themselves:

• In 2025, more than 60,000 healthcare vacancies will be open (CBS).
  
  
• AZW predicts that the shortage in health and welfare will rise to 305,000 employees by 2034.
  
  

The workload in healthcare is high, partly due to understaffing. This heavy workload, in turn, leads to higher absenteeism (over 7%). The result is a self-reinforcing problem: while demand for care increases, the number of available workers decreases. Rising pressure makes the sector less attractive for new talent and accelerates the departure of experienced staff.

What’s Behind the Turnover in Healthcare?

At first glance, turnover in health and welfare doesn’t seem extreme, it’s the highest since records began, but still lower than in other sectors (CBS). However, healthcare employers experience it differently: they report high turnover rates (Working in Healthcare Committee Report).

One explanation is that many healthcare workers don’t leave the sector but do switch jobs within it. They move to another employer in the same field. With many vacancies available, finding a new position is relatively easy.

The departure of experienced healthcare workers comes at a high cost, financial and otherwise. Research by healthcare consultancy Porres shows replacement costs per employee can reach €42,000. But the real damage is often greater: you lose valuable expertise, disrupt team dynamics, affect patient care quality, and waste significant time.

In today’s competitive market, retaining staff is no longer a “nice-to-have” but an absolute necessity. One factor that can help is onboarding healthcare staff quickly and effectively. Here’s how that works.

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How Strategic Onboarding Boosts Retention and Productivity

44 days, that’s the average time you have to make a lasting positive impression (BambooHR). The first weeks are therefore crucial to connecting new colleagues to the organization and laying the foundation for productive employees. In healthcare. Where team connection and quick integration are essential—this is even more critical.

Let’s look deeper into how onboarding can help your organization thrive.

Less Turnover, More Engagement

First impressions often determine the course of events. Research shows that 70% of new employees decide within the first month if the organization is right for them—29% do so in the first week (BambooHR). A rocky start can quickly lead to departure.

But these numbers also show huge potential: organizations that invest in strong onboarding can improve retention by up to 82% (Brandon Hall Group). The message is clear: those first weeks are not only a risk but also a golden opportunity to engage new colleagues.

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Administrative Efficiency and Faster Productivity

Every new employee brings a stack of paperwork, from contracts to important protocols. In healthcare, there’s an extra layer: strict rules and compliance requirements that every employee must follow. This takes time—HR managers spend an average of 14 hours a week on manual tasks that could easily be automated (Careerbird).

This is where digital solutions make a real difference. For example, an onboarding app allows you to process forms and data digitally, saving time and ensuring consistency. You can also share information and interactive content before day one, helping new employees absorb the material more effectively. This pays off: good onboarding can increase productivity by up to 70% (Brandon Hall Group).

Employer Branding

First impressions last: 62% of employees form a lasting opinion about the organization during onboarding. In healthcare, where the competition for talent is fierce, positive experiences spread quickly. A professional onboarding process not only strengthens your employer brand but also actively attracts new talent in a market where every employee counts.

We’ve covered the theory, now let’s move on to some practical tips to get your onboarding in shape.

Practical onboarding tips for the healthcare sector

Tip 1: Start the onboarding process before the first working day

How does your organization stay in touch with new employees between signing the contract and their first day? Unfortunately, many teams miss this opportunity. Yet this is the perfect moment to strengthen the connection so that new colleagues do not start doubting or even drop out.

Imagine this: after the excitement of a new job, there are weeks of silence. The enthusiasm fades and doubts creep in. By making contact now, you keep that spark alive. A short message, an introduction to the team or practical information about the first day are small gestures with a big impact.

This way, new healthcare employees feel like they already belong before they even work their first shift. That makes all the difference in how they will feel when they finally start.

How to avoid radio silence before day one:

• Send a digital or physical welcome package with a small gift (the more personal, the better) and a welcome message
• Share information about the company, culture and team in advance. Prepare them for their first day to reduce stress, for example through an onboarding app
• Although less exciting, let new employees complete important documents digitally before day one so they can focus on their role and meeting the team when they arrive
• Ask colleagues to send a message via LinkedIn or email

Tip 2: Provide a buddy system

A new workplace brings many questions. Where can I find this? How do we do that here? Sometimes it feels intimidating to ask a manager. A buddy can make all the difference. This colleague explains practical work processes, introduces the new hire to the organization’s culture and is always available for questions.

[.callout-small]Read how to set up a buddy program easily. [.callout-small]

Tip 3: Avoid overwhelming colleagues with information

A common mistake in onboarding is giving new employees too much information at once. Research shows that 81 percent of new employees feel overwhelmed by the amount of information (Glean). This can be done better.

How to make information manageable:

• Share information gradually and spread it over the first weeks
• Personalize it so they only see what is relevant for their specific role, location or department
• Use micro learning with short learning blocks of 5 to 10 minutes
• Offer interactive content such as videos, quizzes and practical exercises to improve knowledge retention and match different learning styles
• Ensure the new hire always has access to the information to revisit it later (see next tip)

[.callout-small] Discover more tips to avoid information overload. [.callout-small]

Tip 4: Create one central place for all information

Research shows that 42 percent of new employees believe essential information is too scattered across different systems (Glean). This costs time and causes frustration.

For healthcare workers, who work in shifts or are often on the move, this is even more problematic. They cannot always access a computer and need mobile access to information.

The solution is a central digital environment that:

• Is always accessible via desktop and app
• Offers up-to-date protocols and clear guidelines
• Contains practical information, FAQs and instruction videos for immediate support

With this, healthcare workers always have the information they need without having to search multiple systems.

Tip 5: Ask for feedback regularly

It pays to actively monitor the onboarding process. Plan regular evaluation moments, for example after day one, after the first week, after the first month and after three months. These conversations give insight into how the new hire is experiencing their start and where adjustments may be needed.

By identifying signals early, you significantly reduce the risk of early turnover. It also shows that the organization invests in its people, as their opinion is heard and taken seriously.

Tip: request feedback in different ways, such as anonymously via surveys, automatically through an onboarding app or in one-to-one meetings with the manager.

[.callout-small] Find more tips for collecting feedback, including sample questions. [.callout-small]

Tip 6: Make onboarding a team responsibility

Who in your organization ensures a good start for new colleagues? The truth is onboarding only succeeds if the whole team is involved. HR can organize it perfectly, but without the engagement of the full team it remains a paper exercise. It requires involvement from different parties:

• The manager for setting goals, role-specific onboarding and coaching
• The buddy for practical guidance and being a friendly face for all questions
• IT for quick access to software and technical support
• The entire team for social integration

Approaching onboarding as a shared responsibility not only shortens the time to full productivity but also creates stronger team connections. This is crucial for retention: research from Virgin Pulse shows that nearly 40 percent of employees name their colleagues as the main reason they love their organization.

[.callout-small] See all stakeholders in a successful onboarding process. [.callout-small]

Tip 7: Automate the basics and personalize per role and location

In healthcare, where every minute counts and no two roles are the same, the most effective approach is a smart combination of standardization and personalization.

Automate standard tasks:

• Digital signatures for contracts
• Sharing organization-wide information and general procedures
• Task assignments and reminders for stakeholders
• Structured collection of feedback
• Tracking new employee progress

Because healthcare workers operate in different roles and settings, good onboarding also requires customization. Add role or team-specific modules (for example via your onboarding app) and location-based information. Examples include department-specific protocols and procedures, building maps and facilities, team structures and contact persons.

This way, new employees receive exactly what they need without being overwhelmed by irrelevant details.

Digital onboarding: less hassle, more care

We know that traditional onboarding takes up a lot of time for healthcare teams. But you do not want to compromise on the quality of the process or the warm welcome for new colleagues. How can you achieve this without losing even more time? An onboarding app can help.

How a digital solution makes a difference:

• Automates standard tasks such as contracts, basic information, automatic messages and reminders
• Personalizes content per role, team and location. For example, an ICU nurse receives different content than someone in the cardiology department
• Makes the process interactive with quizzes, videos and practical cases so the material sticks better
• Offers full visibility of progress to see at a glance how far new colleagues are in the process
• Requests feedback to ensure the onboarding meets expectations
• Starts right after the contract is signed and spreads information over the first weeks

This turns onboarding from an administrative obligation into a meaningful process with less paperwork and more focus on a warm welcome and smooth integration into the healthcare team.

Retain your healthcare talent with the Appical onboarding platform

Case study: Humanitas DMH

Sometimes you simply want to know how other healthcare organizations approach onboarding. Let’s look at Humanitas DMH, a nationwide healthcare organization that completely renewed its onboarding. They faced the challenge of engaging new hires with long notice periods before their first day while also relieving their team managers.

Together with Appical, they developed a digital onboarding program that starts as soon as the contract is signed. Through an app, new colleagues receive practical information and get to know the organization’s culture and DNA through personal stories. The result speaks for itself: employees rate their onboarding experience with an 8.5 and feel part of the team from day one.

[.callout-small] Discover how the Humanitas DMH onboarding app works [.callout-small]

Good onboarding means less chance of turnover

In a sector where every pair of hands is urgently needed, we cannot afford to lose talent because of a poor start. A strong onboarding process is one of the best investments healthcare organizations can make to retain staff. With the right approach and tools, you make the process not only more efficient but also more personal and effective.