Generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) is onboarding employees across all sectors at a record pace. Traditionally a labor-intensive practice, Gen AI drastically reduces the time humans spend designing and implementing onboarding and might even improve the overall experience. 

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Gallup Research found that only 12% of new hires felt their organization performed well in onboarding incoming employees. The figure is striking, so if Gen AI could bring that figure up to half, the benefits on long-term retention would be significant. Gallup also found that satisfactorily onboarded employees are 3.3 times as likely to agree that their job is more favorable than expected. 

Gen AI can take company content – video, audio, and text – and distill and deliver the content in e-learning modules. For example, bringing a new warehouse manager up to speed with everything from company culture to day-to-day responsibilities can sometimes take three weeks to a month. With Gen AI, however, one can feed the language model the employee manual coupled with company video and audio that address specific areas of the job. Within minutes, the employee can follow a handful of modules in collaboration with a human being to guide the process. 

Proponents of Gen AI are quick to point out that human beings remain critical. The conventional argument against AI is it will destroy jobs. But Gen AI alone cannot replace a company’s voice. Rather, it’s a complement, and when guided by humans, makes the entire process more efficient.  

Experts in the field follow a 5-step process for integrating AI into onboarding. The first step is recognizing the urgency and what needs to be fixed within the current program. Second, data on the problem areas needs to be collected, the insights analyzed, and feedback from department heads is crucial. Third is a plan for company-wide AI literacy programming, and fourth is building AI activation into the plan. The AI is finally deployed, but only after metrics have been formulated to measure long-term success. 

Every company wants talented people who will grow and evolve within the company. If only 12% of new hires feel the onboarding process is working, the Gen AI upside is hard to ignore.