Vol. 17 N° 2
Julio - Diciembre 2025
This article aims to highlight the need for every organization to have an appropriate integration process for new employees, and to emphasize the numerous advantages of its proper implementation. Any approach, method or program aimed at integrating a new employee into an organization, whether public or private, must consider that the processes of incorporation, induction and socialization of the newcomer constitute a fundamental link in the objectives that guide the criteria for obtaining human capital, which also includes recruitment, selection, hiring and retention of talented workers. This post-selection process should be guided and inspired by senior management in a clear attempt to incorporate the philosophy of both professional and social integration of the employee into the corporate culture. The methodology used is based on a systematic review of the available literature in order to assess the state of art on this topic. The main conclusion reached, is that even today, major flaws and gaps persist in many companies regarding the implementation of an appropriate new employee onboarding process, due precisely to a lack of appreciation and/or awareness of the numerous benefits and advantages of its use. This article may be very useful in reversing these strategic errors in human capital management.
Este artículo busca destacar la necesidad de que toda organización tenga un apropiado proceso de integración de nuevos empleados y poner énfasis en las numerosas ventajas de su adecuada implementación. Cualquier enfoque, método o programa orientado a la integración de una nueva persona en una organización, ya sea pública o privada, debe considerar que los procesos de incorporación, inducción y socialización del recién llegado constituyen un eslabón fundamental en los objetivos que rigen los criterios de atracción de capital humano, lo que también incluye el reclutamiento, selección, contratación y retención de trabajadores talentosos. Este proceso de post selección debe ser guiado e inspirado por la alta dirección, en un claro intento de incorporar la filosofía de integración profesional y social del empleado a la cultura corporativa. La metodología utilizada se basa en una revisión sistemática de la literatura disponible a fin de dar cuenta del estado del arte al respecto de esta temática. La principal conclusión, es que aun hoy subsisten grandes fallas y vacíos en muchas empresas en relación con la implementación de un buen proceso de integración de nuevos empleados, debido, justamente, a la no valoración y/o desconocimiento de los numerosos beneficios y ventajas de su uso. Este artículo puede ser de gran utilidad para revertir estos errores estratégicos en la gestión del capital humano.
Once the organization, which undertakes the process of obtaining personnel has completed the previous phases of: (a) specifying the job position to be offered, (b) identifying the competency profile that the ideal candidate must meet, (c) recruiting potentially qualified candidates, (d) selecting from among these, the one who appears to best fit the required profile, and ultimately the job position, (e) hiring and formalizing the company-employee relationship in accordance with current legislation, then the integration process appears in the time continuum as another crucial phase of the employment cycle (Bradt and Vonnegut, 2009; Stein and Christiansen, 2010; Figueroa Isaza, 2014; Martínez, Portales et al., 2015; Arthur, 2020; Rodríguez and Vargas, 2021; Iradat and Haji-Othman, 2021; Hamza, Othman et al., 2021; Painter and Haire, 2022; Baiesu, 2024; Jyothika and Ganesh, 2025).
The integration phase can be considered as the psychological aspect that new employees will experience and live through in their new work environment. This aims to facilitate the incorporation and adaptation of the newcomers under the best possible conditions, which will foster the symbiotic nature of the individual-organization relationship (Basahal, 2025).
Stein and Christiansen (2010, p. 3) state that “strategic onboarding not only reduces operating costs and helps new hires improve their personal contribution to the enterprise it also reduces regrettable attrition and helps the organization deliver against its strategic goals”.
According to Buckley and Starnes (2023) the process of integrating new employees into organizations is not only vital, but crucial for their productivity, personal satisfaction and staff retention, as well as for the efficiency of the company and a positive organizational culture.
When an employee starts a new job, it is important that they can understand the company’s organizational culture. To put it simple: by helping new employees orient themselves within a company and clarifying what is expected of their work and performance, they can figure out how things are done in this organization, and clear their path toward a successful integration into the company, especially in a diverse, large and very complex work environment like the one we have nowadays (Jeske and Olson, 2021; Painter and Haire, 2022; Buckley and Starnes, 2023; Basahal, 2025).
As stated by Jeske and Olson (2021, p. 63) the “onboarding of new hires represents a unique opportunity for mutual learning between the new hires and the organization regardless of the company size”, and later they point out that “onboarding represents a meaningful transition for employees as they enter new work environments, become part of teams and take on new responsibilities” (p. 63).
At this point, it is important to highlight that for the purposes of this literature review article, the integration process and the onboarding process of a new employee will be considered complementary processes, making it clear, however, that “onboarding” is a structured, time-bound process to get a new employee started, while “integration” is the longer, ongoing process of fully embedding the new employee into company culture and team, helping the employee feel like a part of the team and contributes to its success.
The reason for making this clarification is due to the fact that some of the authors cited in the article –as the reader will be able to verify– seem to consider the concepts of “integration” and “onboarding” (the equivalent of “incorporation”) to be the same, whereas for us, that is not the case (Bradt and Vonnegut, 2009; Stein and Christiansen, 2010; Wang et al., 2012; Du Toit, 2019; Shufutinsky and Cox, 2019; Dglawi and Hassel, 2021; Jeske and Olson, 2021; Painter and Haire, 2022; Buckley and Starnes, 2023; CornerStone Staffing, 2024; Maurer, 2024; Phelan, 2024).
In this context, a successful integration process involves: (a) the design of a well-structured on-boarding program, (b) the assignment of a mentor, supervisor, coach (or buddy), (c) handling clear goals, objectives and expectations, (d) fostering direct and open communications, (e) connection within the organizational culture, principles and values, (f) practicing a good leadership style, among other relevant actions. At the precise moment when the company puts its focus on clarification, compliance, connections and culture, the organization may ensure a smooth, effective and positive transition for new employees and hires, especially when it comes to human talent management and its performance (Scullion et al., 2014; Ott et al., 2018; Sateesh, 2019; Buckley and Starnes, 2023; CornerStone Staffing, 2024; Sánchez and Delgado, 2024; Lotito, 2025; Jyothika and Ganesh 2025).
Undoubtedly a systematic integration program has a lot of benefits, not least that they can be more efficient and cost-effective than many of the disjoined programs that are currently in use today. Strategic integration programs for new staff must take into account crucial structural elements, including clear and precise diagnostics, as well as a system of feedback and accountability.
The reason for doing this is very simple. According to Branham (2005), Bernstein et al., (2024), and Ballesteros et al., (2024), there are several reasons why an employee might stay in their job or resign. The employee feels that: (a) his job or workplace is not what he expected, (b) there is not much training and feedback about his performance, (c) he feels unrecognized and devalued, (d) the employee sees few opportunities for growth and progress, (e) he feels stressed due to overwork with the result of an imbalance between life and work, (f) there is a loss of confidence in leaders and managers.
Painter and Haire (2022) highlight seven stages –or steps– to avoid turnover after hiring new employees, namely: 1. Promote and foster collaboration with the team to achieve a successful integration process. 2. Identify and specify what needs to be communicated, how and when. 3. Provide solutions to the most common challenges in the process of integrating new employees. 4. Clarify the main compliances necessary to take care of the organization and its workers. 5. Clarify expectations at each stage or step of the journey for the new employee. 6. Proceed to connect the new employee with the people and tools necessary to be successful. 7. Define strategies to integrate the new employee into the company’s organizational culture.
On the other hand, Smith and Galbraith (2012) assert that key strategies in the process of integrating a new employee are actions such as offering a good working environment, a positive company culture, fostering continuous –or at least regular– communication and feedback, and ensure that leaders act as inspiring mentors to new employees rather than micromanagers. In direct relation to the above, Lipman (2024) states that micromanagement stifles staff creativity, reduces employee motivation and productivity, and can also increase staff turnover, which represents a very costly consequence for the organization.
Given the fact that employee turnover is financially very costly and that a set of tools is needed to speed up the integration of new employees, it is necessary to establish certain commitments and proceedings to empower the newcomers. In this regard, this article aims to highlight the importance and significance of the employee integration process, point out the advantages derived from its correct implementation, and to provide the necessary arguments that support it.
The money invested by business organizations in the recruitment and selection process is relatively high, given that the process of recruiting human capital is viewed in professional terms. Therefore, it doesn’t seem logical that once the people who will join the organization are selected a large percentage of companies abandon the planned monitoring and follow-up of those individuals, running the risk of losing talented people in the meantime (Hamza et al., 2021; Iradat et al., 2021; Baiesu, 2024; CornerStone Staffing, 2024; Jyothika and Ganesh, 2025).
Maylett and Wride (2017) as well as Morgan (2017), highlight the importance of employees having a positive integration process as well as a satisfactory work experience at the company where they will be employed, as this becomes a significant advantage in retaining talented people.
Wrong organizational decisions can be reflected in a deficient or careless integration process, which, according to Al-Suraihi et al. (2021) can quickly turn a carefully recruited and selected employee into a turnover statistic, as this means more work and more money wasted for the organization, as the entire process will have to be started all over again. Furthermore, according to Al-Suraihi et al. (2021, p. 1) employee turnover “can negatively impact the productivity, sustainability competitiveness, and profitability of an organization”.
The integration process represents a strategic process of welcoming, training and immersing the new employees in an organization in order to turn them committed, productive and, of course, long-lasting members of the team. Its importance lies in finding and using ways to reduce employee turnover, to increase productivity and job satisfaction, to build a reliable and cohesive team, reinforce and strengthen the organization’s culture, and finally, to enhance the employer’s brand image, something that ultimately benefits both the company and collaborators (Arasamni and Krishna, 2019; Jeske and Olson, 2021; Painter and Haire, 2022).
At a time when issues related to mobilizing workers through philosophies such as quality circles, autonomous work groups, high-performance teams, total quality management (TQM), just-in-time (JIT), Ubuntu, etc., are constantly being discussed and for whose implementation voluntary participation of organizational members is absolutely essential, it is paradoxical that most organizations continue to pay insufficient attention to the integration process, which can and should foster the development of these and other philosophies (Arasamni and Krishna, 2019; Lotito, 2022; Deshmukh et al., 2023; Rugare et al., 2023; Urohman et al., 2023; Anofuechi and Klaassen, 2024).
Offering clear career paths, fostering work-life balance, and developing leadership skills are key actions to achieving high results and goals. Phelan (2024) agrees with this by stating that a well-conceived onboarding process that has: (a) clear information on job requirements, (b) well known organizational norms, and (c) clear performance expectations, not only will improve employee productivity, but also help increase employee loyalty and commitment, while simultaneously decreasing turnover.
In this regard, it is important that employees receive regular feedback from the beginning of their work activities on their performance in the area of the company to which they have been assigned, according to their capabilities, skills and talents for which they were hired.
Bernstein et al. (2024, p. 44) assure that in the so-called “war for talent” many employers are still “relying on the same hiring and retention strategies they’ve been using for decades, even though those approaches aren’t working” and that such employers have not been able to address a “more fundamental problem: the widespread failure to provide gratifying work experiences”. These authors aim to provide new employees experiences such as: colleagues and managers who value, respect, and trust them, give them opportunities to grow and advance in their careers, and a meaningful work, among other things.
Nevertheless, taking into consideration what Bernstein et al. (2024) have pointed out, there is not very much research on the topic of “individual integration in the organization”. The scarcity that characterizes this type of research and the erroneous value judgment that accompanies it is very worrying, especially if it is symptomatic of the correlation between the amount of gray literature on the topic and the high concern this issue raises in business life.
When we talk about “gray literature”, we are referring to information produced outside of traditional publication channels, such as reports, working papers, conference proceedings, theses, and government documents. This type of literature is valuable for research, but it’s often not indexed in conventional databases, which requires specific search strategies.
In the bibliography consulted for this paper, the negative discrimination that the integration process suffers compared to the literature dedicated to recruitment, personnel selection and hiring is quite evident.
Similarly, due to the “war for talent” that exists today among companies because of its scarcity, research and publications dedicated to the processes of selecting, attracting and retaining talented people, as well as retaining the millennial generation, has become abundant. (Chambers et al., 1998; Cappelli, 1999; Michaels et al., 2003; Smith and Galbraith, 2012; Thompson and Gregory, 2012; Piedras, 2015; Ott et al., 2018; Álvarez, 2019; Sateesh, 2019; Shufutinsky and Cox, 2019; Sarraille and Randle, 2020; Ali et al., 2022; Ames-Guerrero, 2022; Lotito, 2023; Larson, 2023; Maurer, 2024; Jyothika and Ganesh, 2025).
In relation to the topic “retention of human talent”, researchers such as Ott et al. (2018, p. 1) are very clear when they point out that “retaining talent has always been, and will continue to be, essential for organizations to survive and thrive”, and later in their article they conclude that “talent retention should not be left only to human resource managers; commitment and involvement of direct supervisors and top executives in the form of support, mentoring, and development opportunities is critical” (p. 4).
Integration can be defined as a process of progressive adaptation of people to the organizations with which they work and maintain relationships, culminating in a mental state that fosters their internalization of organizational objectives, strategies, and values, and also develop a sense of belonging to the group.
In this sense, the integration process can be understood as the alignment of an employee’s personal goals with each of the company’s objectives. It can also be conceived as one of the extremes of the continuum that represents possible attitudes towards work characterized by a high rate of voluntary participation, while the other extreme represents the feeling of alienation at work: frustration at the impossibility –or inability– to apply one’s own skills and abilities. As Jakubiec (2019, p. 5) states, in order to achieve such an alignment the organization needs to have a good internal communication system, and according to this researcher, the reason is very simple to understand: “Internal communication serves many functions in organizations. There are six functions that seem to dominate communication in the organizational context. The functions are: inform, regulate, integrate, manage, persuade, and socialize”.
The final purpose of the integration process is to achieve the effective incorporation of individuals into the various dimensions of organizational life, that is: achieving social, technical, and economic integration that confirms the previously adopted decision to join the organization. This incorporation should lead to the individual adoption of the organizational identity –identification with the company’s vision, mission, and values– as well as a spirit of active belonging or affiliation (Orhan et al., 2014; Maurer, 2024).
Both attitudes are essential requirements for achieving efficient performance levels, while maintaining –or improving– the quality of the work environment (economic and social performance).
The importance of this process lies in the positive consequences that arise from its proper implementation, both for the organization and the individual. From an organizational perspective, these consequences are centered on the willingness to collaborate, the efficient use of staff knowledge and skills to achieve business objectives, and efficient collaboration among the different workers who belong to the company.
From an individual perspective, as Buckley and Starnes (2023) point out, the new employee’s needs for security, belonging, esteem, and meaningful recognition for contributions can be met through effective integration. Integration provides a certain emotional balance and the satisfaction of certain needs.
Davis and Newstrom (2003), as well as Deshmukh et al., (2023) assert that a well-formulated and executed integration program increases organizational identification, job satisfaction, productivity and product quality, in addition to improving motivation, because workers feel more accepted and committed with the objectives and values of the company.
Du Toit, (2019), Selvam and Christopher (2024) point out that the stronger the identification with organization, the weaker the propensity to leave voluntarily. Time served in it-self leads to an increase in identification with the company. In this regard, Selvam and Christopher (2024, p. 18) conclude that “recognizing and fostering organizational identification can help firms build a more engaged, productive and inventive workforce. This can result in a variety of benefits, including increased performance, lower turnover, better customer service, and a stronger reputation”.
In parallel to the above, a well-conducted integration process implies overcoming a long-held attitude in social ideology: that the managers of some companies seek only to generate profits at the expense of the work and effort of employees.
These comments would allow us to affirm that the survival of the modern company depends on its ability to take care and maintain its human capital in a state of satisfaction and awareness of their own value and importance. In this sense, the integration process may be the first employee management process that enables this state of internal motivation. What’s more: as Katzenbach (2004) suggests, the pride of belonging to a successful and excellent business organization, with a good reputation, can become an extremely important intangible strategic asset, as this factor could be transformed –similar to a particle accelerator in physics– into a powerful driver and motivator of individual and collective performance.
On the other hand, Tracy and Roberts (2007, p. 147) highlight, that when “it comes to motivating social behavior, pride may be the most important emotion. Our most meaningful achievement, both every day and life changing, are accompanied by feelings of pride. (…) Adults feel pride in response to a promotion at work”.
Taking into account the organization’s interest in having the best workers on its staff, the integration process can be handled in two distinct phases or stages: the onboarding process and the organizational socialization process. Both processes are the main causal factors in determining the degree of integration that a person experiences in their organization. Its success –that of individual integration– depend on the quality of the integration procedures, the monitoring carried out during the adaptation period, and the results derived from the organizational socialization process (Caldwell, 1998; Kowtha, 2018).
As we did previously, in order to avoid any confusion regarding the contents of this article, it’s necessary to clarify the meaning of some other concepts. Although the onboarding and integration process shares certain similarities with “induction programs” (or “induction processes”) there is also a significant difference between these concepts: while induction is viewed as a short-term, task-focused introduction to a new job with an emphasis on essential policies (procedures, rules) and the organization’s safety regulations, usually lasting from one day up to a week, integration –as we stated before– is a broader, longer-term process that can last weeks, months, or even up to a year, and aims to fully integrate the new employee into the company culture and help them reach their maximum productivity (Caldwell, 1998; Jeske and Olson, 2021; Patel et al., 2023; Maurer, 2024).
For example, Patel et al. (2023, p. 77) conducted a study with a sample of 775 individuals to test the effectiveness of a two-day induction training program in a big hospital. One of their conclusions was that “the induction training program effectively improved the employees’ knowledge regarding their rights and responsibilities as well as clinical knowledge”, which grew “significantly from 60% to 84%”, and that “there was a positive relationship between clinical audit results and benchmarks for quality indicators” (p. 80).
Strictly speaking, we could say that the induction program, along with presenting the new employees with the company’s policies, its mission and vision, brief introduction to immediate team members, and basic workplace orientation, would be a first step within the larger and broader framework of the integration and onboarding process of a new hire.
Every company needs well-trained workers so that they can perform their work activities effectively and efficiently. From this point of view, the integration process is a comprehensive strategy that seeks the best formula to integrate newcomers into an organization. It goes beyond initial orientation, can last a long time and includes various stages such as: socialization, strategic training, goal-setting, and cultural adaptation or assimilation. These actions help new employees gain confidence and become more productive, feel comfortable and committed to the company by clarifying their role within the organization, establishing clear expectations, and also building good relationships with colleagues and managers.
As previously stated, an effective and efficient integration process is a long-term investment for the organization, often lasting up to a year, and is crucial for employee retention and long-term success.
On the other hand, socialization is another relevant concept that is frequently mentioned in relation to the induction and integration process of new personnel. In this sense, as highlighted by Kowtha (2018, p. 87) “organizational socialization is the process by which newcomers acquire the social and task knowledge necessary to resolve role uncertainty and become members of the organization”.
The integration process, whether prior to or parallel to the socialization process, must be managed by members of the organization with management skills. This could be defined as a process that seeks to promote both the professional and social integration of the employee, although its impact is greater on the first dimension. The integration process, along with socialization, takes place through personal contact between individuals who maintain relationships with each other and with their superiors within the organization. This concept encompasses a whole series of adaptations that the newly hired employee makes to integrate into the work team, without having to give up his personality and individuality (Caldwell, 1998; Kowtha, 2018; Jeske and Olson, 2021: Maurer, 2024).
Furthermore integration is the desired outcome for which the organization initiates the onboarding, reception or induction process. However, the organization must be aware that the socialization process also determines the employee’s degree of integration and that, to a certain extent, is beyond the worker’s ability to act and control. In short, integration is the vector resulting from the combination of two processes: one designed to foster it, such as onboarding, and the other called socialization, a consequence of the social nature of individuals.
In order to verify the effective development of an integration program, the human resources unit will have a monitoring method that records both the progress and difficulties experienced by individuals in their adaptation process. The organization should be aware that the final integration period may be longer than the initial onboarding period. This means that integration monitoring must extend beyond the period established for the onboarding process. It has been found that in many companies there is a high turnover of staff and that this can happen months, or even a year after the person has joined the organization.
It is for this reason, that Larson (2023) raises the need for companies to keep employees engaged and motivated by going beyond traditional compensation to focus on culture, growth, flexibility and psychological safety. It is generally recognized that during the period in which a new employee is trying to adapt to their new role, there is a higher likelihood of turnover than in subsequent periods. This is due to the pressure placed on the new employee to learn the nature of their duties and responsibilities, in addition to changes in the environment and adaptation to the prevailing company’s current policies, regulations, and idiosyncrasies. Additionally, mistakes employees make during the crucial first three months in a new job can jeopardize their success (Watkins, 2013).
Another reason lies in the possibility that, in this initial period, they may be recruited by another organization, to which the worker applied before being offered the position they currently hold; this is quite likely, considering that unemployed people typically apply to several companies rather than just one.
Within the integration process, special attention is paid to the interviews held between the manager responsible for the process and the new hire. These are held to assess the progress of the new employee’s integration. They are usually held during the first year, at a rate of one every three months. Monitoring this integration can be done through shorts interviews and brief visits to the new employee’s workplace. This could be staggered as follows:
According to Asmuss (2008, p. 409) “the term performance appraisal interviews means recurrent strategic interviews between a superior in an organization and an employee that focus on employee performance and development. Other terms used to cover this kind of interviews are employee performance appraisal, job appraisal interview, employee review, and employee appraisal”.
It is appropriate at this point to recall the warning made by Asmuss (2008) when the author points out, that we often forget that the performance appraisal interview is, above all, about how the new employee’s integration process has been over time, and in the integration process we should not ignore the strategic importance of a transparent and adequate communication process between employee and employer. That is, we very often receive from others what we give or hand over to them.
Recruitment, selection, and hiring costs are only part of the total cost of bringing a new worker to the company, since the costs of the induction and integration process must also be added to the above. The study of these costs would be incomplete without analyzing the costs of integration or adaptation of the individual into the organization. Among the integration costs, there are some that can be considered hidden or invisible because they are not quickly recognized; they are costs derived from training periods, as well as from low or poor performance. This is easily explained: any new employee does not reach full performance until they are integrated into their work group and have completed the learning process. These costs can also imply a loss of time not only for the employee, but also for their colleagues and superiors (Florea, 2013; Forest, 2024).
According to Peretti (2007), an individual selected for a job, regardless of the company sector where they have to provide their service, successively goes through three phases: information, learning and personal contribution. The information phase begins with the individual’s incorporation into the organization and corresponds to the previously mentioned period of learning about the activity or service that he or she will have to carry out, introduction to colleagues, delivery of rules of conduct and internal regulations, job description, level of responsibility, etc. During this first phase, the person plays an essentially passive role, and their effectiveness is considered practically zero.
The second phase corresponds to learning the position or activity in the field in a practical way. The task is considered completed when the subject can manage the work on his own without making mistakes, or at least significant mistakes.
In the third phase, the workers have the necessary experience and begin to see the results of their work. They begin, subsequently, to develop a critical sense and initiative in their jobs. Figure 1 shows the cost of the time during which the individual has failed to achieve a normal level of effectiveness. To determine the cost, simple calculate the area between the curve representing the evolution of the individual´s contribution in his adaptation process and the dashed line parallel to the X-axis, representing the standard contribution of staff workers currently in the organization (See Figure 1).
To do this, it is necessary to determine the time (in days, weeks or months) that this area represents, the average efficiency achieved (considering errors, own delays, delays caused by poor quality levels, etc.), and how this affects the employee’s performance, work contributions, training provided, etc. The time of ineffectiveness is an excellent indicator for comparing different policies and/or adaptation methods. It is necessary to consider not only the total duration of the adaptation time, but also the speed of the increase in efficiency during the familiarization period (Bradt and Vonnegut, 2009).
Here we are faced with one of the most important current issues in people management: diverse methodologies for developing indicators that measure the value generated by employees to the company (Louffat, 2018).
In this regard, just as important as the company’s overall performance in innovation, quality products, provision of services, and other aspects of its business, is the performance of its employees, both new and long-standing (Aydiner et al., 2019; Maurer, 2024).
The research for this literature review article has focused its attention primarily on a quantitative approach with the objective of collecting and analyzing a series of data and information extracted from different sources, in order to verify and demonstrate the importance and significant benefits for a company of carrying out an adequate integration process for new employees.
Del Canto and Silva (2013, p. 29) point out, that in relation to quantitative methodology one of its main characteristics and contribution is the conduct of research with “objectivity as the only form of knowledge”, that is, it seeks “knowledge that is unassailable” and that provides certainty to people, since scientific knowledge is equivalent to “the discovery of causal relationships that exist and that shape a given reality” (p. 29). Meanwhile, Pita and Pértegas (2002, p. 2) emphasize that quantitative research is “objective, results-oriented” and based on “solid data” that anyone interested in the topic can re-identify and/or repeat.
On the other hand, according to Tancara (1993, p. 94), documentary research is related to “a series of methods and techniques for searching, processing, and storing the information contained in the analyzed documents” and their subsequent presentation in a “new scientific document in a systematic, coherent, and sufficiently argued” manner.
In addition to the above, Arias-Odón (2023, p. 12) defines documentary research as “a process aimed at the search for new knowledge through the recovery, analysis, and interpretation of secondary data, that is, data obtained and published by other researchers or scientific institutions in documentary sources: print, audiovisual, or electronic”.
This article is based on an extensive review of the available literature and grounded on a careful, analytical, and critical approach of the 80 selected sources of information, with the goal of establishing relationships, arguments and/or associations between the analyzed sources and the topic under discussion. The research was conducted by analyzing material extracted from various sources of information, such as scientific journals, websites, and books by authors recognized for their knowledge and expertise on the subject under investigation.
One of the search criteria was the use of key concepts such as “integration process”, “onboarding process”, “talent retention” “talent management”, “war for talent”, “induction process” among others. Based on the above, a total of 54 scientific articles, 19 books and 7 websites were finally selected, with the aim of obtaining bibliographic references in Spanish and English, taking into consideration the relevance of their content.
To select the articles we used the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) database, the Portal for the Dissemination of Hispanic Scientific Production (DIALNET), a collaboration tool aimed at people who do science (ResearchGate.net), and the Network of Scientific Journals of Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal (REDALIC). Emphasis was placed on selecting books and articles directly related to the topic under discussion that have been published in the last 25 years –with the exception of four articles, published one in 1993, two in 1998 and one in 1999, due to its importance for this article– in order to provide the broadest possible literature on the state of the art of the process of integrating new employees into companies.
If business organizations have waged a veritable “war for talent” at a global level in recent years, it is because they view people as human capital and a truly strategic element that can provide them with a source of competitive advantage and differentiate them from their competitors (Chambers et al., 1998; Alles, 2009; González Aspuru, 2018; Sarraille and Randle, 2020; Lotito, 2023; Bernstein et al., 2024). However, in our view, it is not enough to simply attract them based on financial compensation. We know that this talent is diverse and generationally distinct and that they have different interests and needs, as a result of which, it is necessary that companies must respond, precisely, to those interests and needs (Dychtwald et al., 2007).
It cannot be denied, that financial compensation is important to attract new employees, but much more important and critical is the investment the company makes in the long-term growth of its people in relation to their level of commitment, satisfaction and retention.
Today, it is possible to verify that many organizations have hired people from different backgrounds: from traditional generations, as well as baby boomers, generations X and Y, foreigners, people with different values, gender diversity, racial diversity, etc. In this regard Tlaiss et al. (2017) state that nowadays workplaces have become more multigenerational and multi-ethnic, a fact that makes it necessary for employers to balance the needs of a diverse group of workers and not take into consideration exclusively the salary factor or financial compensation.
Gonzalez and DeNisi (2009) point out that as the issue of diversity has grown and evolved, researchers have also increasingly focused their attention on the ways in which diversity can help improve work process, as well as the organizational mechanisms that promote the potential value of diversity that workers represent. Therefore, we must consider not only their acquisition, but also their maintenance and development. Companies cannot afford to let individual talent weaken, once incorporated, due to failure to adapt to the organizational philosophy, values and culture.
Regarding the above, both, Chamberlain (2017) and McFarlin (2019) emphasize that more important than the money they have been offered in their employment contracts, the workforce of a company values aspects such as positive relationship with coworkers, challenging working conditions, company culture and values, career opportunities, manager leadership quality, and work-life balance. Davis and Newstrom (2003) point out that the exercise of positive leadership by managers facilitates the possibility of influencing employees through teamwork, with the purpose of encouraging them to work enthusiastically toward achieving their goals.
According to Serrano and Portalanza (2014) leadership is one of the most decisive and influential factors in employees perception of the organizational climate. Given the importance of organizational climate in achieving organizational goals, a positive climate generates a greater sense of belonging to the organization, automatically leading to better employee performance. On the other hand, Sánchez and Delgado (2024) highlight that the leader fosters an environment of trust and provides support and training, which in turn increases the employee’s sense of autonomy and creativity.
It has already been noted that the costs of recruitment, selection, hiring, and initial training are high, but the loss of talent can represent an even higher cost, and one that is difficult to overcome; companies fight for the best talent, but there are not enough of the best.
Multiculturalism and the diversity that human talent normally represents make it essential to define clear policies and strategies that value –and put into practice– the processes of welcome and socialization, that is, an integration process that allows for prompt adaptation and, therefore, the permanence of human talent.
We must not forget that talented people seek growth opportunities and the possibility to work in a good organizational environment, something that many other companies could offer; they ultimately seek personal and professional satisfaction. A company that fails to retain talented people can stagnate and self-mutilate when they leave (Birt et al., 2004).
A rationally and systematically planned integration process could become a valuable strategic tool to achieve their commitment and personal involvement, especially: (a) when there is recognition of the individual contributions made by employees, (b) when they experience a sense of worth, respect and importance, (c) when people feel proud to belong to a particular company, (d) when employees can grow, develop professionally, and have a successful career within organization. Those are, ultimately, the winning companies, those that have made the necessary investments to integrate, nurture and develop their human capital, the only capital that never depreciates, but on the contrary, increases in value as time goes by.
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