Gjensidige: Inspiring long-term retention through good preboarding

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Gjensidige uses Talentech's powerful onboarding software in the preboarding phase to build meaningful connections with new hires before day 1, with the aim to give all new employees a good start, increase connection as well as reduce employee turnover.

175

new hires in 2020

89%

App activation rate

4.44/5

average app rating

Gjensidige
in numbers

A short introduction to Gjensidige

For more than 200 years, Gjensidige has ensured life, health and values for their customers.

As one of Norway's most recognizable institutions, Gjensidige Forsikring alone has more than 3700 employees in total across Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Baltic States, and is renowned as a top employer that leads with forward-thinking recruitment & a strong employer brand.

Gjensidige wanted to reduce turnover and ensure that all their new employees received a great start from the moment their employment contract was signed.

Unwanted turnover is costly

Many companies struggle to retain their hard-won recruits, and statistics show that up to 31% of new hires quit their job within the first 6 months of starting.

Estimates vary, but the average cost of hiring a new employee starts at around $3328 for a newly created entry-level role, and balloons to almost $213,000 to fill highly educated executive positions.

Wanting to make a difference

With Gjensidige hiring for more than 300 roles per year, there was a LOT to be gained by reducing new hire turnover.

HR Specialist Margareta Paul has been very involved in trying to find a solution:

"We’ve had a focus on onboarding for a long time and have been good in a lot of areas. Many of our positions require a fairly formal onboarding, especially in the sales and customer care divisions."

"We saw that it was in the preboarding process that we could make a real difference."

Margareta Paul
HR Specialist, Gjensidige

The importance of preboarding

Gjensidige saw that they had a great potential to improve the new employees’ experience between the initial job offer and the first working day, - what is commonly referred to as the preboarding process.

Without a good process in place that effectively introduces the new employee to the company and role, this can contribute to a poor overall experience and in some instances, the new employee may start to consider whether or not they have made the right decision to join the company.

"Although we had a large number of leaders that understood the importance of a good preboarding process, we also saw that some leaders didn’t fully recognize the importance or had the time to ensure a good preboarding for all new employees" says Paul.

"We want to ensure that all our new employees get a good start when they join Gjensidige, regardless of position."

Margareta Paul
HR Specialist, Gjensidige

Choosing the right preboarding software

Gjensidige undertook a thorough process to consider different systems available in the market but ultimately landed on Talentech:

“Talentech was the onboarding software we considered most suitable for filling our preboarding gap. We considered it easy to use, engaging for the new employee, and usable across multiple countries.” says Paul.

With Talentech, preboarding activities are managed through an interactive web app made available for all new hires.

HR creates content in the ‘admin portal’ which is then delivered to new employees at relevant moments in their onboarding process, along with reminder email notifications to keep them engaged.

At the same time, managers and other preboarding stakeholders receive email notifications to complete important activities on their end, such as preparing a welcome day pack or scheduling a pre-start introduction meeting.

"The fact that we could manage the content ourselves, and not have to change each journey on a case-by-case basis has been very positive."

Margareta Paul
HR Specialist, Gjensidige

Implementation in record time

Gjensidige joined the Talentech family in September 2019 and went live with their preboarding solution in December of that same year.

Their dedicated project team worked in tandem with Talentech's onboarding experts to craft a bespoke experience combining best-practice strategy, engaging content, and interactive journeys - all in less than three months.

Early success

Gjensidige are utilizing several of Talentech's interactive features including the 360 virtual office tour, feedback ‘pulse checks’, and ‘Introduce yourself’ option.

They have been particularly innovative in their use of Talentech's customizable learning pages - a flexible feature that allows administrators to create dynamic, personalized content directly in the app.

The Gjensidige team has used the builder to create a wide range of interesting content – from company history & values to nice-to-know statements, a company dictionary and an engaging welcome film.

That content is then delivered to new hires at crucial moments throughout the preboarding timeline.

"We love the flexibility that Talentech offers in terms of what information can be made available for the new employees and when, and that we ourselves can adjust the information as and when required."

Margareta Paul
HR Specialist, Gjensidige

On the horizon

Already Gjensidige is adding value to their new hire process.

Recently they have begun to involve managers even more in the preboarding process - imparting key information about the program through company-wide training webinars designed to create long-term engagement with the app.

The future holds many possibilities and Gjensidige is looking forward to introducing additional features in due course such as the digital Q&A chatbot that offers 24/7 new hire support!