First Impressions That Last Too Long: The Hidden Cost of Poor Onboarding in Sri Lanka's IT Companies
Introduction Think back to your first week at your current job. Were you handed a laptop, pointed at a desk, and told to "figure things out"? Or did someone actually walk with you through the role, the culture, the team? For many new joiners in Sri Lanka's IT companies, that first week looks more like the former. And the cost of that neglect is much higher than most HR managers realize. Poor onboarding is the key reason, as it creates negative first impressions that stay with employees throughout their time in the company. These early experiences strongly impact employee engagement, performance, and retention, so onboarding should be treated as a key priority, not just an administrative task. As highlighted by scholars, managing and developing the “human resource flow” is essential, yet the first stage after hiring which is onboarding is often neglected by most of the organizations (Henderson, 2017). What the Researches Says A comprehensive model of onboarding t...
