Process automation company Nintex has unveiled a new pre-built solution designed to address what research shows is a costly problem for employers: poor employee onboarding that drives early departures and wastes thousands of dollars per hire.

The company's new Nintex Employee Onboarding platform aims to streamline the complex, multi-departmental process that often leaves new hires frustrated and employers scrambling to coordinate between HR, IT, and finance teams.

According to studies cited by Nintex, 80% of employees who experience poor onboarding plan to leave their jobs soon after starting, while 17% of new hires actually do quit within their first 90 days.

With the average cost to onboard a single employee reaching $US1,500, the financial impact adds up quickly. For a company hiring 100 people, that translates to $25,500 wasted on the 17 employees who leave within three months due to onboarding problems.

"Employee onboarding touches every employee that enters an organization," said Niranjan Vijayaragavan, Chief Product Officer at Nintex. "Getting it right isn't only important for employee experience and retention, but delays and disruptions throughout onboarding can negatively impact a business's bottom line."

The challenge stems from onboarding's complexity. While many organizations have automated core HR functions through applicant tracking and human resources information systems, the onboarding process typically requires coordination across multiple departments and systems, often leaving critical workflows manual and prone to delays.

Nintex's solution attempts to solve this by providing a centralized platform that integrates with existing HR systems while eliminating the need for multiple bolt-on applications. The system allows HR teams to create branded portals where new hires can complete tasks through self-service interfaces, while automatically importing employee data to reduce redundant entry work.

Key features include customizable approval workflows, document management with electronic signatures, and role-specific onboarding paths. An internal operations portal gives administrators a single view to track progress and manage the entire process.

The employee onboarding solution was built using Nintex's Solution Studio platform and represents the company's expanding focus on pre-built industry solutions. The Bellevue-based company, which serves more than 8,000 organizations across 90 countries, previously launched a licensing and permitting solution for government agencies.

Nintex is now expanding that government solution to the Asia-Pacific region after initially rolling it out to U.S. state and local agencies in 2024.

The employee onboarding platform addresses what Vijayaragavan describes as a coordination challenge requiring "tight coordination across HR, Finance, IT, and hiring managers across all business units."