It is a tough fight out there to attract, retain and engage people. On the battlefield where even the strongest are pushed to their limits. Employee Experience expertise must be part of your battle plan!
In short:
- Labor shortages and low engagement are critical challenges, with early employee dropout often caused by unmet expectations and poor induction practices.
- Many companies overinvest in recruitment marketing while neglecting the onboarding phase, leading to disengagement and high turnover.
- A strong induction experience is essential, combining personalized onboarding with delivery on employer brand promises to build trust from day one.
- DEVELOR urges leaders to reassess induction processes by asking if promises are fulfilled, first days are memorable, and training is engaging, because retention starts on day one.
The pain is real
Almost all companies face the brutal impacts of the labor force shortage. According to PwC’s 8th CEO Survey 75% of companies named lack of labor amongst top pain points, followed by another people-related topic of the changing demographic features. As a major consequence people costs are rising more than expected and companies are unable to pursue market opportunities. On top of these negative trends CEOs claim that they are not able to innovate effectively – we are concerned that this is not a volume issue but originated in low engagement mainly, as it will be described later here.
It is not a surprise that companies never spend more budget on various interventions aiming at better attraction and retention of employees. Recruitment marketing spending is in the air. Employer branding projects are everywhere. Still, results can be questioned.
Gallup reports (State of the Global Workplace, 2017) as low as 10% engaged workforce in Western Europe as the second worst region after East Asia (6%), and 15% in Eastern Europe, while the actively disengaged population exceeds these numbers with 19% and 16%. Generating significant growth, driving productivity and innovation with 1 engaged person in 10 is not an easy job. High time we stopped the decline and increased the ratio of our engaged people. But how?
First of all, company decision-makers have to widen their scope when coming to the topic of lack of labor force and disengagement of staff.
Promises fade, when reality hits…
Amongst many available HR surveys, the Develor ones also highlighted the priority of the topic of attracting talents. “Employer Branding” has become the number 1 priority for HR decision makers. When looking behind the numbers and asking these HR leaders what do they mean on Employer Branding most of the answers can be translated as recruitment marketing activities mainly or only, like reshaped job advertisements, redesigned career page, intensified social media use and better-crafted employee value propositions.
So, the full focus is on attracting talents (even less talented ones). It is a logical reaction to the increasing number of vacant positions. But a simple root cause analysis can easily pinpoint that much more efforts should be done on the retention of employees.
Recruitment campaigns – even successful ones – frequently lead to higher people turnover due to two reasons. In many cases, organizations overpromise because they feel that the reality is not attractive enough and cannot differentiate effectively the company from competitors on the labor market. So, let’s lie (just a little bit…), maybe the newly recruited colleagues won’t notice – sure they will. And on top of that, the existing labor force is also reading those never met promises and will increase dissatisfaction and frustration, and thus the turnover.
Early dropouts hurt a lot
Significant amount of employees are leaving in the first week and the first month due to promises not delivered. The second reason is the lack of adequate induction. Adequate means – in this case – not just the most efficient way of training of job-related knowledge and skills, but the engaging and seamless onboarding. People should feel that they are welcome, important and special. So even if there is a big volume of newcomers, we have to treat them in an embracing and personalized way: you and the work you do for us are important and we have big plans with you. If you can focus only on one phase of the Employee Journey, choose the induction phase.
Update your battle plan!
Look at your current practice with 3 simple questions below. Don’t be afraid to redesign it.
- Do we deliver our Employee Value Proposition promises in the induction?
- What makes the first day unique and sticky for the newcomer?
- What makes induction training a real positive experience?
Employee experience is the holistic approach focusing on the lifecycle of a newcomer on how to increase positive experience during the entire Candidate and Employee Journey in order to attract, retain and engage people.
Start with the revitalization of your induction phase to drive your retention power.
Frequently asked questions about employee induction and new hire retention
Induction is critical for employee retention because the first days and weeks strongly influence whether a new hire feels confident, welcome and committed to the organization. Many employees leave early when the reality of the workplace does not match what was promised during recruitment, or when the onboarding process feels confusing, impersonal or poorly organized. A strong induction experience helps newcomers understand their role, build relationships and see that their work matters. It also gives the organization an opportunity to turn employer branding promises into real employee experience. For HR and L&D professionals, induction should be treated as a strategic retention tool, not only as an administrative introduction.
Companies can align onboarding with employer branding promises by making sure the employee value proposition is visible in the newcomer’s real experience from day one. If the company promises development, support, flexibility, innovation or a strong team culture, these should appear in the induction process through concrete actions, not only in recruitment messages. This can include manager involvement, personalized welcome moments, clear role expectations, useful learning materials and meaningful first-week conversations. When new hires experience consistency between what they were told and what they actually receive, trust grows faster. For HR teams, this alignment is essential because broken promises can damage engagement, increase frustration and accelerate early turnover.
Induction training becomes engaging and effective when it helps newcomers feel prepared, connected and valued, rather than simply giving them a long list of rules and procedures. A good induction process should combine job-related knowledge, practical guidance, cultural orientation and opportunities to meet key people. Personalization is important, because even in high-volume hiring, employees need to feel that their role and contribution matter. Interactive formats, buddy systems, manager check-ins and clear learning paths can make the experience more memorable and useful. For L&D professionals, the goal is to design induction as the first step of the employee journey, where engagement and retention start immediately.
