On boarding or Onboarding?

Question: Is the process of integrating newly hired employees into your organization “on boarding” or “onboarding”? What about “on-boarding?”

Answer: The practice of ramping up your new hires should be referred to as onboarding (without a space). 

Onboarding is the process through which a new employee is integrated into an organization and its culture – with the end goal of greater productivity and higher retention. 

According to Wikipedia, this term originated in the 1970’s from management experts.  Today, onboarding is a broadly accepted term, and continues to be a vital area of Human Resources (HR) management across all organizations.

A well-defined onboarding process is increasingly valued as a strategic tool that allows newly hired employees to contribute faster and more effectively. When done well, it enables organizations to be more competitive, grow faster, and realize higher profits. 

 

 

What is On Boarding and How Is It Different From Onboarding?

Sometimes the process of employee onboarding is misspelled as “on boarding.”

It’s important to make the differentiation that the term “on board” is an adverb and prepositional phrase that typically refers to boarding any type of transport vessel or agreeing to something. 

And while employee onboarding is sometimes shortened to the verb onboard (example: “we will formally start to onboard our new accounting hire on Monday.”) just be sure to keep the “on” and the “board” together to use it in reference to the actual onboarding process. 

Lastly, don’t hyphenate on-boarding – the hyphen is not necessary.

 

 

More Onboarding Resources 

Now that you understand in the semantics of onboarding, you’re ready learn more about how to a successful onboarding process at your company. 

• Learn more about onboarding process best practices
• Get a free, comprehensive onboarding checklist
• Read more about the definition of onboarding