Onboarding covers everything between an accepted offer and the point a person works without supervision.
Why it decides retention
A disproportionate share of departures happen in the first months, and they cluster around the same causes: no clarity about what is expected, no equipment, and nobody responsible for the person.
The cost of that is the whole of the recruiting spend plus the training already given — see employee retention.
Before the first day
Paperwork completed, equipment ordered, vehicle and access arranged, accounts created.
A first day spent waiting for tools sets an expectation that is difficult to reverse, and it is entirely avoidable.
The paperwork
Employment forms, tax withholding, licences and certifications verified, and any trade-specific qualifications recorded with their expiry dates.
Stored where they can be found — see employee documents — because several carry retention obligations.
The first weeks
Someone named as responsible for them. In a small business this is usually the owner or the senior technician, and it works when it is an assigned duty rather than an assumption.
Working alongside an experienced person rather than being sent out alone, for as long as the trade requires.
The standard stated explicitly, which requires that the standard exists — see quality control.
The ramp is a real cost
A new person is paid in full and produces less than full output for weeks or months. That gap belongs in the hiring decision and in labour cost, and shortening it is what onboarding is for.
The rules themselves, written once and given to everyone, belong in an employee handbook.