As the economy grows and job opportunities become more numerous, the workforce becomes more fluid. According to recent studies, more than a quarter of U.S. workers will experience some type of career transition this year. However, not all of these transitions will be successful. About half of all hourly workers leave their jobs within four months, and most upper-level managers will depart within 18. These high rates of turnover are costly in both tangible and intangible ways. So what creates these disruptions? A lack of onboarding might be to blame. The faster that new hires feel welcome and prepared to do their jobs, the faster they will contribute to the team and be more likely to stay. But if employees feel lost and overwhelmed, they likely won’t find many reasons to stay. Communication is central in this process. Employees need to know where they fit into the organizational framework and what their responsibilities will include. They need the tools to do their job, and they need to be trained on how these tools work. Strong onboarding procedures will dramatically improve the retention rates of any organization.