People Analytics in the Era of Big Data

CHAPTER 7 Onboarding and Culture Fit

 

A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

All employees create a personal curve of achievement. Some get off to a fast start and then falter, whereas others get up to speed at a good pace and still have the resources to build momentum. Employees engage the organization in a virtuous cycle of productivity and personal growth. Getting off to the right start, as opposed to just a fast start, can make the difference.

Sirota Consulting has been conducting employee research on behalf of companies for the past 40 years, and has discovered some surprising facts when it comes to new hires.¹ The good news is that approximately 90 percent of employees are engaged and motivated when they start a new job. But track employee engagement over time, and a different story emerges. New employee engagement levels often drop dramatically—as much as 20 percentage points—during the first six months on the job. Sirota found that just 10 percent of companies are able to successfully maintain engagement levels over the course of the first year. That means that in most companies, much of the positive energy and enthusiasm that employees arrived with on day one has dissipated six months later. In order to help guard against this erosion of engagement during the first year, analytics must play a key role in ensuring that the new hire experience is successful and leads to positive outcomes for the employee ...