Agata S.A. automates employee onboarding with Productive24
What are the benefits of digitizing the employee onboarding process, and what elements system is worth to being equipped with? We will discuss these and many other aspects associated with onboarding automation based on the results of introducing our solution to Agata S.A.
How to improve employee onboarding with the use of digital tools? What benefits does the digitalization of the process bring to the organization? What are key additional elements the system is supposed to be equipped with? We will discuss these and many other aspects associated with onboarding automation based on the results of introducing our solution to Agata S.A., a chain of interior accessories stores that is one of the largest distributors of furniture and interior accessories in Poland.
Onboarding is one of the first stages of the employee journey. The thoughtful and well-organized nature of this process determines the time necessary for the employee to achieve full independence in his/her role and the readiness to work as effectively as possible. During the onboarding process which usually lasts from a few to several weeks, the newly hired employee is introduced by the assigned “buddy” to his/her new responsibilities, superiors, and the team. What’s more, the new hire is getting familiar with the company’s structure, offerings, culture, and internal policies.
A properly designed onboarding plan has a huge impact on the entire employee adaptation process. Thus, new hires are provided with all the necessary information at the right time, which significantly reduces the time necessary to complete the process and achieve full independence. It also enhances comfort at work, strengthens the loyalty of new employees, and allows building a stable, competent team.
A good onboarding process typically involves numerous steps. While it can be relatively easy to “control” in SMEs, this might not be the case for large enterprises with several thousand or more employees. The bigger both the company and the volume of employment, the more variants of the process resulting in various specialized implementation paths, as well as the greater need for monitoring process indicators and data analysis. For such organizations, a systematic approach to onboarding – its standardization and automation, is definitely required.
Why put so much effort into digitizing and optimizing onboarding processes? Well, the answer is quite simple. A well-organized onboarding process lowers the turnover rate and brings measurable savings to the company. Approaching these processes without the right digital tool can be time-consuming and, despite their repetitive nature, very tedious.
Onboarding platform in Agata S.A. – Productive24
Onboarding automation
Agata S.A. as one of the leading furniture and interior accessories companies in Poland also faced the challenge of automating its unique onboarding processes. The company has more than 30 big-box stores nationwide and continues to expand each year. During their expansion, there was a need to implement digital knowledge sharing and support employee onboarding. In order to digitize these processes Agata S.A. decided to use the platform provided by Productive24.
Tailor-made onboarding process
The main challenge of the project was to map the company’s unique and complex processes. It was a demanding task, as each Agata’s onboarding process is quite specific and the location or assigned ”buddy” may differ depending on the stage of the process. It was also crucial to precisely map the comprehensive job structure along with the authorizations granted in accordance with the occupied positions. Hence, the first step of the project consisted in mapping the structure of Agata S.A., while maintaining and reflecting all hierarchical dependencies. Another important element of the project was to integrate Productive24 with other systems used by Agata S.A. so that the entire onboarding process could be initiated automatically. Thanks to this, not only does it start without any involvment of the person in charge of onboarding but also all subsequent stages of implementation are carried out automatically, in accordance with the workflow of a given process, path and chronology of onboarding established for given groups and positions.
Onboarding, L&D and feedback – many solutions in a single ecosystem
Apart from providing the basic features such as automatic creation of onboarding processes, the solution was also equipped with the functions for collecting feedback from supervisors nad buddies, as well as with some L&D components, such as a knowledge base and a comprehensive tool for creating and conducting employee surveys and quizzes.
These components are both an integral part of the implemented onboarding platform, and a standalone, widely available application, intended for other development initiatives at Agata S.A. The application for conducting surveys and quizzes is mostly used to verify the knowledge of new hires during their onboarding process. Furthermore, by using the knowledge base component, all employees can easily access all necessary resources at any time, anywhere. The combination of all these solutions in a single business application ecosystem is not only helpful in terms of improving work efficiency or user experience, but also in building a learning organization and the digital workplace.
As a result of the project, Agata S.A. has gained one consistent, tailor-made IT tool for the comprehensive management of customized onboarding processes.
About Agata S.A.:
Agata S.A. is a polish chain of furniture and interior accessories, comprising 33 big-box stores located all over the country. In both brick-and-mortar and online stores, Agata S.A. offers various collections for the living room, children’s room, bedroom, dining room, and kitchen, as well as a wide range of interior design products and accessories. The brand provides access to wares of more than 250 different manufacturers both domestic and foreign, dozens of private labels, and numerous advisors, designers, and experts. Learn more about Agata S.A: www.agatameble.pl/about-us
Productive24 – a new way of business software development
Productive24 is a modern platform for the accelerated delivery of advanced IT solutions which are created by business analysts – without the participation of software developers. This innovative technology shortens the time and lowers the costs of developing custom-class IT solutions. What’s more, each system built in Productive24 can fully map all individual business processes of companies from all industries.
By removing barriers to access tailor-made software, Productive24 allows companies to digitize key business areas (e.g. Sales, Human Resources Management, Asset Management, EDF, etc.) as well as all other processes that have not been so far digitized and are carried out e.g. using multiple extensive and unreliable spreadsheets, via e-mails or muliple non-integrated tools.
