Behind closed doors leaders at the helm of corporations have been re-evaluating vendors, supply chains and seasonal demand forecasting, to respond to global macroeconomic shifts, while at the same time deliberating how best to distribute gained windfalls from lowered corporate taxes. To reap sustained dividends and rewards for—beyond short-term employee goodwill or the next earnings report—businesses should consider investing in the employee experience, as much as investing in bonuses, HR software or recruitment.

Digitate’s original survey (of over 1500 corporate professionals across industries ranging from Financial Services, Professional Services, Information Technology, Manufacturing) revealed that the New Hire Onboarding process is a largely under-addressed opportunity and may be a source of competitive disadvantage for many enterprises.

  • New Hire Onboard Experience Sets the Tone: Employees who had a negative new hire onboard experience are twice as likely to look for new opportunities in the near future.
  • “New Hire Remorse” and Opportunity Loss: After the New Hire Onboard experience, one in five new hires is unlikely to recommend an employer to a friend or family member.
  • By automating New Hire Onboarding tasks and processes, enterprises have realized Reduced New Hire Onboard time, saving as much as five days. This translates to a $2 million incremental revenue from new hires in the first year alone for a Digitate customer.

A 5-day New Hire Onboard process represents New Employee Revenue Productivity losses of $35M for Salesforce or $678M for Amazon in 2 years. Perhaps not unexpectedly, 3 out of 5 professionals expressed an optimism that Automation may benefit their employers – in areas such as IT support, New Hire Onboarding, and HR administration.

This leads us to a topic that affects our society, both in our professional and personal lives: Are Automation and Artificial Intelligence the proverbial threat to global employment in a battle of Man versus Machine? Or could it in fact become a superhero in disguise by helping businesses tackle real-world problems such as New Hire Onboarding and improve business performance, one employee or corporation at a time?

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